True loves exploring the outside world. This photo was taken after a summer storm. She excitedly ran out to show off her new hula hoop skills.
The Catskill Mountains, located about two hours' drive from New York, are considered an “earthly paradise” by Americans.
They lie west of the Hudson River in New York State, preserving pristine natural scenery with breathtaking views—serving as the “backyard garden” for New Yorkers tired of the hustle and bustle. In a woodland filled with fresh air, a 7-year-old blond boy named Morgan sat reading in a slightly rustic cabin, wearing a T-shirt. Occasionally, one or two birds would land by his feet to peck for food, and squirrels passing by the cabin would sometimes poke their heads inside to take a look.
Morgan has reached the legal school age in the U.S., but his classroom has no four white walls—it’s his very own woodland cabin. Morgan’s mother, a former full-time middle school teacher, was deeply inspired by Waldorf education philosophy. She believes that children in their early years need an emphasis on imagination in learning, so she quit her job to become Morgan’s dedicated private tutor.
On the wall of Morgan’s room is a colorful schedule chart covered in childlike crayon drawings—all created by Morgan himself. Photographer Rachel Papo was invited to visit this homeschooling family and captured Morgan’s daily morning schedule: Monday for word study and forest exploration, Tuesday for music and library reading, Wednesday for poetry and free play, Thursday for music and play, and Friday for music and crafts. The afternoons are what Morgan calls “noontime adventures,” which require not just mental effort but also physical activity—like baking on Mondays, soccer on Tuesdays, sewing on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and biking around the woods on Fridays.
Over the past year and a half, Israeli-American photographer Rachel Papo has used her lens to document Morgan and several other homeschooling families living in the small town of the Catskill Mountains.
In December 2012, Rachel completed this personal photography project titled “Homeschooled.” On her official website, she wrote: “I hope these photos help people set aside various prejudices and more authentically present the state, mood, environment, and differences of children growing up in this alternative form of education compared to those raised in classrooms.”
Two years ago, after Rachel and her husband moved from another state to New York, they often took their then one-year-old toddler daughter to the Catskill Mountains to connect with nature on weekends. On a wide playground, she met a mother who had brought her child to exercise. That mother told her: “I homeschool my child.”
Before that, Rachel had heard of this educational model but never imagined it existed so close to her. At a local café, Rachel got to know several more parents who were homeschooling their children through introductions. She found that in this beautiful and secluded mountain area, homeschooling was not an isolated phenomenon.
“Homeschooling was once a long-standing method of education. Today, it may be pushed back into the spotlight and become mainstream again,” Rachel said in an exclusive interview with The Bund.
“Homeschooling” is a unique form of education that began emerging in the United States in the late 19th century and flourished in the 1950s. At that time, some middle-class families, recognizing the drawbacks of standardized and mechanized school education and considering factors such as religion and safety, chose not to send their children to school and instead opted to educate them at home. They personally guided their children’s learning, paying closer attention to the child’s personality, talents, and interests, and selected appropriate teaching methods and learning priorities accordingly.
Before the 1970s, “homeschooling” was considered illegal in most U.S. states and was constantly “cracked down” on by public authorities. Many parents, in order to implement homeschooling, had no choice but to hide. After much effort, starting in the 1980s, U.S. states gradually enacted laws confirming the legality of homeschooling and introduced corresponding support systems. By the fall of 1993, “homeschooling” was finally legalized in all 50 U.S. states. Although these children do not receive a formal high school diploma, they can still take the SAT (the national college entrance examination), and SAT scores are recognized by the vast majority of higher education institutions, including Harvard University, as an important reference for admissions.
The proportion of homeschooled children in the U.S. has grown rapidly. In 1985, there were only 50,000 homeschooled children; by 1992, there were 300,000; in 1999, the U.S. Department of Education estimated the number had reached 850,000; in 2004, data from the U.S. Embassy in China showed that as many as 1.2 million American children were being homeschooled; in 2010, U.S. Department of Education survey data indicated the figure was about 2 million, and it has now reached 2.5 million.
While Rachel was working on this photography project in 2011 and 2012, “homeschooling” once again became a hot topic in the U.S. due to former Republican Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum announcing his candidacy for president. Rick is a well-known advocate of “homeschooling,” with seven children—two of whom are adults—all of whom were homeschooled. Rick once publicly described American public universities as “a bunch of mechanized mega-factories.”
The “Homeschooling” Practices of Four Families
Rachel’s lens documented the homeschooling practices of four families in the small town of the Catskill Mountains.
Morgan and her former teacher mother are among them. Rachel recalled that Morgan’s mother was the most meticulous in scheduling among all the families, changing the curriculum content every month based on different teaching themes. The teaching content of the other three families was somewhat looser.
When Rachel first met 12-year-old Iris, she felt the pretty and tall girl didn’t dress up like city girls. She preferred loose casual wear, looking natural and graceful.
Her 10-year-old brother Roan liked to follow their dad, wearing a hunter’s hat and carrying a shotgun into the forest. Iris, Roan, and their family live on a family farm. Their parents believe that instead of spending over an hour on a school bus every day, it’s better to receive an education in a natural environment. Normally, the parents teach the children math, reading, and vocabulary. At the same time, they encourage the children to pursue their hobbies, such as American history. In addition, Iris and Roan’s daily studies include chopping wood, making fires, preparing meals, and feeding farm animals. On weekends, the parents send the children to the local soccer club to play.
6-year-old True has a smile as pure and innocent as a little angel. When she was 4, her mom—who used to be a full-time homemaker—went back to work at a local coffee shop, so her dad chose to quit his job to homeschool the children full-time. True comes from a religious family, and her parents take her to church for lessons a few times a week, while she is also taking beginner ballet classes.
True’s dad told Rachel: “Sending your daughter to a public school is like putting her on a plane where the pilots haven’t even passed their exams. Parents who do that are just being too careless.”
8-year-old Grisha and 3-year-old Anastasia’s parents also don’t trust the “system,” especially the “school system.” They believe childhood is the most impressionable period and that children’s imagination should be fully developed and utilized. They think school education causes this trait to disappear quickly.
Rachel told The Bund that in the Catskill region, homeschooling families were originally mostly religious ones—for example, conservative Christians who wanted their children to receive more religious or moral education and thus chose homeschooling. Now, as parents grow increasingly skeptical of the current education system, the concept of homeschooling is being accepted by more and more ordinary families.
“The main reason is that this area is quite remote, with no well-regarded public schools nearby, and if you want to go to private school, the tuition is prohibitively expensive. In addition, some parents mentioned the serious issue of bullying in American schools, where dominant students often pick on the weak, and teachers have a hard time managing it. Also, frequent school shootings in the U.S. make parents anxious,” Rachel analyzed the reasons behind the homeschooling trend in the area.
Rachel found that although there are many families choosing homeschooling locally, their educational model doesn’t mean the children are taught at home 24/7. Five or six families often form “study groups,” inviting retired public high school teachers to serve as tutors for more targeted academic guidance. Sometimes they also take students to nearby colleges or museums for lectures or tours.
Iris and Roan are members of a “study group.” Unlike local public school children who have to get up at 5:30 a.m., they can sleep until 8. After waking up, the two make cookies with their mother while chatting about algebra. After eating the breakfast they made themselves, their mother takes them to the “study group.” Back home, they sometimes continue with online courses or finish homework. Occasionally, the siblings also need to review material and take tests.
The Catskills belong to New York State, and along with Massachusetts, Vermont, and others, it is one of the U.S. states with the strictest policies and regulations on homeschooling. The New York State government requires all homeschooling families to register, the curriculum must be reviewed, and educational outcomes are subject to regular inspections by education authorities. Therefore, local children also need to take standardized tests periodically.
Children receiving homeschooling don’t need to worry about college transition issues. When a child turns 13 and reaches middle school age, local public schools are open to them, and they can attend classes irregularly. In the U.S., half of the states allow homeschooled children to participate in certain aspects of public school education, and the “hybrid” education model has become quite typical.
To outsiders, homeschooling seems to have countless benefits, but there is one drawback that cannot be avoided: children who are homeschooled lack the social life of a formal school. Rachel observed that parents arranged a wide variety of enriching group activities for their children—for example, Iris and Roan would join the local soccer club, Morgan participated in a reading group organized by the local library, True learned ballet and attended religious classes with peers, and Grisha regularly joined children's gatherings.
A Wonderful and Fantastical Journey
Rachel referred to the year and a half she spent documenting "homeschooling" as a "wonderful and fantastical journey." "The small pond in Iris and Roan's backyard is the most magical place I've ever seen," she told The Bund.
Rachel recalled that during the winter of 2011, the children invited her to visit the frozen pond. As she rubbed her hands together and took out her camera, ready to look for the children, they had silently disappeared. Minutes later, laughter and cheers came from the pond—the kids had already put on their skates and were waving at her. She can still vividly recall that wild, joyful innocence. "The entire pond was surrounded by lush woods, covered in thick, creamy snow, and the children looked endlessly happy and carefree."
In the summer of 2012, when Rachel visited the pond again with her daughter, she found it had completely transformed. The once "frozen wonderland" had become a cradle of life, buzzing with vitality—frogs croaked, fish swam joyfully in the clear water, and Rachel’s daughter crouched down, playing with worms on tender grass with her fingers. Iris and Roan quickly jumped into the pond and soon pushed over a small wooden boat, inviting Rachel’s daughter aboard. They sang songs and paddled across the lake...
"They are very different from other children I’ve seen. Homeschooling has made them free and creative," Rachel summarized. When asked by a reporter to recall the child who impressed her the most, she shook her head, unable to choose—she felt every child was unique. "In most cases, they are more mature than their peers. So far, they seem happy, though maybe sometimes a bit bored, but all children feel a bit bored at their age, more or less."
In Rachel’s impression, Iris had an astonishing reading speed, finishing a book a day. She was deeply interested in history and loved anything ancient. Rachel once saw a letter Iris wrote to her relative Mimi, written in elegant handwriting with a vintage pen and ink.
Grisha was always curious about all kinds of things. In one photo, he showed the photographer his collection of different coins, each with an interesting story behind it. He also loved animals—once, he placed food on his palm and waited for hours for a squirrel to arrive. Finally, his patience paid off, but unfortunately, Grisha’s finger got bitten by the squirrel. After the accident, he remained calm, waited for the photographer to finish taking pictures, and then went to the family first-aid kit to find a band-aid for his injured finger.
Six-year-old True had already demonstrated strong hands-on skills. She loved drawing and painting, decorating the whole house with her artwork—for example, cutting colorful window decorations and sticking them on glass windows. In 2011, when Superstorm Irene caused severe flooding that submerged many areas in the Catskills, True and her father Randy repaired a small wooden bridge in their yard that had been damaged by the storm and was nearly sinking.
"Homeschooling is a Tough Decision"
After Rachel’s "Homeschooling" series was completed and released in December 2012, it was selected as one of the top 50 entries in Photolucida’s 2012 Critical Mass photography competition due to its fresh photographic style and compelling subject matter. One commenter, signed Bob, wrote: "Do those parents in the mountains have enough education to teach their kids math and other science subjects well?"
In response to such doubts, Rachel told The Bund that as a photographer, she didn’t know whether those children were particularly good at math or science, but she observed that Morgan skillfully operated her family’s microscope, carefully examining outdoor plants under it. "I can sense their intelligence. These children are interested in plants, animals, rocks, and anything outdoors."
Statistics from the U.S. Department of Education over the past 15 years show that homeschooled children score higher than the national average on standardized tests such as the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test). In 2009, a scholar surveyed 11,000 homeschooled children and found that their scores on national standardized tests were, on average, 34–39 percentage points higher than those of their schooled peers.
What delighted homeschooling families the most was that among the 100 interns rigorously selected and admitted to the White House in 2004, seven came from an obscure school—Patrick Henry College, which had only been established four years prior and had just 240 students. The college, founded in Virginia in 2000, specifically enrolls children from homeschooling backgrounds.
Although the results of homeschooling seem promising so far, Rachel also found that parents who homeschool make tremendous sacrifices.
"It’s a very tough decision because it means parents have to give up almost all of their free time. It requires your full dedication."
Nowadays, Rachel’s own daughter is three years old. When asked if she would consider homeschooling in the future, she answered bluntly, "No." Born in the United States and raised in Israel, she attended a prestigious art academy in Haifa and later studied at Ohio State University in the U.S. She had been a top student throughout her life, while her husband did not perform well in school but was highly self-taught. "My husband and I both have our own expertise, and we cherish our free time.
When our daughter grows up, we might send her to a private school with a good reputation and high educational standards."
Currently, besides the approximately 2.5 million homeschooled children in the United States, the number in the UK is around 40,000 to 100,000, in Russia about 1 million, and in France around 10,000. However, in countries like Germany and Sweden, homeschooling is still considered "illegal."
"Parents who choose homeschooling must be energetic and willing to persevere, and the children receiving homeschooling must be willing to learn in an environment without a rigid schedule.
Most importantly, parents need to keep an open mind and listen to their children’s wishes. If a child enjoys (going to) school and performs well—even if the school is just average—they should respect the child’s choice," Rachel said.