A growing number of technology professionals in California’s San Francisco Bay Area are choosing homeschooling over conventional classrooms, using artificial intelligence tools to personalise lessons for their children.
Homeschooling consultant Jamie Heston said that homeschooling can help some children develop creativity, critical-thinking skills, and better organisational abilities.
Supporters of AI-assisted homeschooling argued that conventional schools often focus on repetitive tasks, fixed schedules and classroom discipline rather than practical problem-solving. The families featured in the report do not describe themselves as completely opposed to schools. However, they believe children should have more control over their education.
The share of American children being homeschooled increased from around 3% in 2019 to more than 6% in recent years, according to data cited by the education reform organisation EdChoice. California public-school enrolment also declined by about 612,000 between 2015 and 2025, while charter schools and microschools became more popular.
Mrugesha Sathappan, a San Francisco-based mother of three, is among the parents experimenting with technology-driven homeschooling for preschool and primary school-aged children, according to a report by the New York Post . The Sathappans said that they may consider alternatives such as Alpha School, a private and charter-school network that combines AI-based learning with practical workshops. Mrugesha Sathappan said that she would consider their approach successful if her son eventually chose to attend school for reasons of his own.
