Emily Bute, special education teacher, on why she prefers homeschooling: “students benefit from small learning environments”

All parents strive to provide the best for their offspring as they grow up. One fundamental aspect of raising a child, beyond making sure that all their basic needs are met, is ensuring that they get the best education possible to improve their chances of having a successful and fulfilling life.

Over the years, more and more families have been choosing alternatives to public schools. This has led states to establish voucher programs, which provide money to parents so that their children can attend private or charter schools, and there are currently 34 that now have one according to edChoice.

Likewise, there are 26 states that have ESA (Education Savings Account) programs for families that wish to homeschool their kids. Since the covid-19 pandemic, this option has exploded in popularity with the number more than doubling to around 3.7 million, or almost 7% of school-age children, being homeschooled in 2024 according to Crown Counseling.

In a TikTok video, public school teacher Emily Bute provided an answer to what may be driving this trend and sparked a debate at the same time. She shared that she plans to homeschool any future children she has.

Not anti-teacher, just anti-system

The special education teacher in Oahu, Hawaii, started off her explanation of why she will be homeschooling her children saying that she is “in absolutely no way anti-teacher,” as she is one and she considers them to be “incredible.” Instead she says that she is “anti-system, because the system we’re working in now does not address the needs of the way that children actually learn.”

Bute then went through point by point how she came to her decision. Firstly, she said that class sizes are too big in public schools, and “are increasing every year.” This goes against recommendations from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics for smaller groups sizes that allow classes to be tailored to how children learn as well as an environment appropriate for development.

“Similarly, curriculum is standardized, but children are not,” Bute says. “Research in child development shows that children learn at wildly different rates for reading, writing, math, and executive functioning.”

This “rigid” structure forces students to “move on before they fully understand what they’re being taught. One size fits all instruction doesn’t actually fit anyone,” she explains.

Furthermore, the public school environment is to blame for kids’ behavior of acting up in class she says. “It’s not because kids are bad. It’s because their nervous systems are completely overwhelmed.”

Finally, that children are being over-evaluated. “Kids are being evaluated more than they’re being nurtured. And the research is clear that over evaluation not only increases anxiety, but it also decreases any intrinsic motivation.”

The benefits of homeschooling:

Bute explains that through her research she has found studies which “show outdoor and hands on learning not only boost engagement, but play-based learning strengthens executive functioning.” Additionally, “small relationship driven environments correlate directly to learning.”

“Movement increases memory retention, and curiosity-based learning improves long-term outcomes,” she says.

“When I’m picturing my own future kids, I want them to be in an environment that values what we know based on research and not what the system mandates,” Bute continues. “This is exactly why I will be choosing to homeschool one day.”

She then went on to share that she has been developing a program for her own homeschool co-op. “I’ve lived the reality, and now I know that there definitely is a better way to educate our children,” Bute added.

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