The Burkhart family’s academic lessons often take place at night. Because the Hodgdon family homeschools, the children can pick their days, times and educational activities as long as they meet the state mandated 175 school days a year. “My kids help on our farm, work for others, come to work with me and have the opportunity to plan ahead if an event is coming up,” Erica Burkhart said.
“We have the ability to say ‘yes’ to travel and other opportunities because of our flexibility.” The Burkharts are among a growing number of families around Maine and the nation who find the flexibility, choice and family togetherness of homeschooling meets their needs and goals better than public education. Erica Burkhart, a state licensed teacher, said she and her husband have been homeschooling for many years and choose this path for their five children because of religious freedom, a flexible schedule, the ability to meet the various learning styles of their children and more time to do other things with the family.
“I know public school teachers do the absolute best they can in differentiated learning, but our home has a classroom of five, not 25,” Burkhart said. “It’s simple math, two parents to five students is a better ratio.” Homeschool enrollments are rising in Maine with some districts seeing increases of nearly 100 percent or more in four years.
Bangor’s school district went from 104 registered homeschoolers in 2020 to 206 in 2024; Houlton, from 46 to 84; H.
