Sixteen-year-old Westbury lad Cooper Gibson typically starts school about midday.
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After waking from his slumber around 11 he has his lunch and gets ready for the day.
Diagnosed with Austism, ADD and Irlen syndrome, school looks different for Cooper and his mum Fiona Gibson, who home schools him.
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After Cooper was in traditional school until year seven, Ms Gibson noticed her son just did not fit the mould of traditional school, so she made the difficult decision to take on the responsibility of educating him herself.
"At the time of removing him from school I didn't have many options left," Ms Gibson said.
"He vomited in the shower every morning, laid in the shower in the foetal position and had meltdowns morning and night.
He vomited in the shower every morning, laid in the shower in the foetal position and had meltdowns morning and night.
- Fiona Gibson, mother and home educator
"He didn't fit into any situation, he became extremely anxious and almost catatonic just prior to me removing him from year seven."
The decision has clearly made an almighty difference in both Cooper's and his mothers life.
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Ms Gibson said home schooling has afforded Cooper the chance to learn at his own pace, and focus his education on things that interest him and maintain his attention. He loves blacksmithing, military weaponry and Ms Gibson said his traditional learning has also come along in leaps and bounds.
In year seven Cooper was essentially reading at a grade three level, now Ms Gibson said he reads perfectly and "is a walking encyclopaedia of so many facts".
Cooper and Ms Gibson are not alone.
They are part of a continually burgeoning cohort of Tasmanians choosing home schooling over traditional schooling.
Home schooling has been a popular option in Tasmania for over a decade, but the proportion of home schooling Tasmanians is higher than ever.
Fourteen in every 1000 students in the state are home schooled, over twice as high as the national average of six home-educated students per 1000 students across Australia.
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Writing for The Conversation Queensland University of Technology education lecturer Rebecca English and Western Sydney University adjunct associate professor Karleen Gribble said they were could not be 100 per cent sure on why this was the case.
They hypothesised it was a combination of the geographical make-up of the state and a history of "proactive engagement with the home education community" by the state education department.
West Launceston mum Sarah Loft is another who has joined the ever growing group of home schoolers in the state.
She decided to teach her daughter, Nadine, from home once she was old enough to be enrolled in prep classes, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why? Because she finds that she can better manage her family's dynamic - her husband typically works evenings and would never be able to spend time with his daughter - felt she could "foster a love of learning", and was able to tailor the curriculum to her family values.
"Traditional schooling is not necessarily the right fit for every family," she said.
"With home schooling it is the same. But if we do something, and it doesn't work for our family, that's okay. You're spending time with your kids and having a go at it ...
The key things with most home schoolers that I know is every opportunity is a learning opportunity.
- Sarah Loft, home educator and mother
Newnham mother Sid Talbot is another example, although her perspective is slightly different.
Not only have her boys - 10-year-old H* and 12-year-old Z* - experienced both the traditional and home schooling systems, they have a close family member who is a school teacher.
Like Ms Gibson and Ms Loft, having the ability to foster whatever her boys' enthusiasms are at any given time has translated into a more engaged education for her children.
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"Home school allows you to just sort of work around your children, what their rhythms are, and the kind of people they are as well," she said.
Home school allows you to just sort of work around your children, what their rhythms are, and the kind of people they are as well.
- Sid Talbot, home educator and mother
While Ms Gibson, Ms Loft and Ms Talbot all admitted to difficulties, they said challenges are part and parcel of leading a child though the developmental years.
Department of education registrar Katharine O'Donnell said home education - which currently sees 1171 students registered from 681 families - regularly saw a growth of 60 to 100 students every year.
Ms O'Donnell said home schooling had been successful in Tasmania because of a strong relationship between the regulator and the Tasmanian Home Education Advisory Council.
"Our registration officers are predominately home educators themselves and our ethos in approaching regulation is to be enabling, respectful and supportive whilst setting a reasonable standard for home educating in this State," she said.
* Names concealed for privacy reasons.
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