With the number of school-age children being homeschooled versus attending a public or private school on the rise in America, you might be wondering if pop icon Billie Eilish was homeschooled.
Billie Eilish was homeschooled. Since the beginning of her career, she has become the poster child of homeschooling and is someone who advocates strongly on its behalf crediting it for helping her excel in life.
If you’re interested in learning more about Billie Eilish’s educational background, including her thoughts on what it was like to be homeschooled then this article’s for you. Keep reading below to find the answers you’re seeking.
Unconventional Homeschooling
Billie Eilish, born Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell, received homeschool education from her parents while she was growing up and had never stepped foot in a school until she was 17.
The type of education she received was far from traditional, in fact, it was indeed pretty unconventional when compared to the typical varieties of homeschooling.
For Billie, it was rare to see her sat down at a table working out math sums or reading through a literature book. Instead, she learned through doing and this is what Billie describes as being “schooled through life.”
In an interview with Pitchfork, Billie described how she was educated at home.
“Well, I’ve never been to school. I grew up homeschooled, stayed homeschooled, never was not homeschooled. The thing is I still learned everything, but I learned it in life. I learned how to do math by cooking with my mom and seeing how many halves are gonna make this amount… and then I learned how to build sh** from my dad.”
Billie Eilish
“What I’m saying is I learned sh** in life. I feel like when you’re sat down and somebody’s shoving things in your throat you’re not gonna wanna eat them.” She added.
In her appearance on the Zach Sang Show, Billie dished her thoughts on why all children aren’t homeschooled and she didn’t hold back! She mentioned that parents being “lazy as f***” was the reason why children aren’t homeschooled.
She added that being homeschooled helped her understand the reason why you needed to memorize and know things you’re traditionally taught in school and that this method helped her to grasp things better.
Homeschooling in the US
Homeschooling in the US is on the rise, with a report detailing that between 1999 and 2016, public school enrolment had dropped from 74% to 69%. In 2016, 1.7 million Americans were homeschooled up from 850,000 in 1999.
Some researchers and policymakers associate homeschooling with politics arguing that it’s intended to make a statement about oneself and their family. By some, it has been described as a step away from public education to pursue individualism.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 3% of the school-age population in the US were homeschooled in the school year 2011-2012 with 91% of parents describing concern over the school environment as the reason why they choose to homeschool their children.
Originally, homeschooling began in the 80s and 90s and it was a way to encourage children to learn about their religion, however, over the years it has developed significantly and is often described as the better way to learn compared with traditional education.
Homeschooling offers more variety in how children are educated and you’ve got many options to choose from. You could get a tutor in or you could choose to educate your children yourself like Billie’s parents did.
Business Insider’s Chris Weller indicates in his article that homeschooling could be the “smartest” way to teach kids of the modern age detailing that personalized learning can be enhanced with homeschooling and that homeschooling can help children understand themselves better. And, he argues that children could achieve more by being educated in this way too.