How Harry Chapin Food Bank is helping SWFL families combat hungerCollier County hosts inaugural Emergency Readiness Summit
southwest florida How Harry Chapin Food Bank is helping SWFL families combat hunger As the price of just about everything is up, some say they have to choose between groceries or paying the bills.
naples Collier County hosts inaugural Emergency Readiness Summit To make sure we’re ready when disaster strikes, Collier County hosted an Emergency Readiness Summit.
southwest florida Hot temperatures for the week ahead in SWFL; TS Gordon to fizzle in the Atlantic The Weather Authority is tracking another day of plenty of sunshine in store for Southwest Florida. Temperatures will top out yet again in the low 90s, but when factoring in the humidity, the ‘feels-like’ temperatures will be in the triple digits.
FORT MYERS Residents react to Winkler apartment complex fire Residents of the Retreat at Vista Lakes Apartment Complex were forced to evacuate due to a fire Saturday morning.
FORT MYERS Structure fire at Fort Myers apartment complex Authorities responded to the scene of a fire at The Retreat at Vista Lakes apartment complex Saturday afternoon.
NAPLES Deadly crash leaves 4 dead and 1 with serious injuries in Collier County The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a deadly crash in Collier County that left 3 dead and 2 with serious injuries.
ESTERO Fatal crash leaves motorcyclist dead on I-75 in Estero The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a fatal crash that has left at least one motorcyclist dead.
SOUTH FORT MYERS Box truck crashes into drainage canal in South Fort Myers According to South Trail Fire Protection & Rescue Service District, a box truck crashed into multiple vehicles and landed in a drainage canal in South Fort Myers early Saturday morning.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Feel-like temps in the triple digits leading to a warm Saturday in Southwest Florida The Weather Authority says to expect another warm day across Southwest Florida with temperatures reaching the low 90s by the afternoon, but feeling like the triple digits when factoring in the humidity.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 4 Check out the scores and highlights from week four of high school football action in southwest Florida.
Safety and Security specialist weighs in on Tice child sexual assault The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Raymond De Jesus approached a girl as she walked to her bus stop Thursday morning.
FMPD searching for juveniles accused of trespassing in Fort Myers apartment complex The Fort Myers Police Department is asking for public assistance in identifying four juveniles accused of trespassing in an apartment complex on 2250 McGregor Blvd. FMPD said the incident occurred on the evening of Sep., 7. The juveniles are alleged to have had a party in the common area of the complex which resulted in […]
FDOT in the process of renovating the Pine Island Causeway The Pine Island Causeway is getting major improvements. Crews are working to make the roads safer and smoother.
IMMOKALEE 2 dead, several injured after SUV crashes into Immokalee building The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal crash after an SUV collided with another car before it slammed into an Immokalee building.
CAPE CORAL Jaycee Park memorial benches to be relocated Memorial benches, plaques and trees will be relocated at Jaycee Park, and some parkgoers are not happy with the decision.
southwest florida How Harry Chapin Food Bank is helping SWFL families combat hunger As the price of just about everything is up, some say they have to choose between groceries or paying the bills.
naples Collier County hosts inaugural Emergency Readiness Summit To make sure we’re ready when disaster strikes, Collier County hosted an Emergency Readiness Summit.
southwest florida Hot temperatures for the week ahead in SWFL; TS Gordon to fizzle in the Atlantic The Weather Authority is tracking another day of plenty of sunshine in store for Southwest Florida. Temperatures will top out yet again in the low 90s, but when factoring in the humidity, the ‘feels-like’ temperatures will be in the triple digits.
FORT MYERS Residents react to Winkler apartment complex fire Residents of the Retreat at Vista Lakes Apartment Complex were forced to evacuate due to a fire Saturday morning.
FORT MYERS Structure fire at Fort Myers apartment complex Authorities responded to the scene of a fire at The Retreat at Vista Lakes apartment complex Saturday afternoon.
NAPLES Deadly crash leaves 4 dead and 1 with serious injuries in Collier County The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a deadly crash in Collier County that left 3 dead and 2 with serious injuries.
ESTERO Fatal crash leaves motorcyclist dead on I-75 in Estero The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a fatal crash that has left at least one motorcyclist dead.
SOUTH FORT MYERS Box truck crashes into drainage canal in South Fort Myers According to South Trail Fire Protection & Rescue Service District, a box truck crashed into multiple vehicles and landed in a drainage canal in South Fort Myers early Saturday morning.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Feel-like temps in the triple digits leading to a warm Saturday in Southwest Florida The Weather Authority says to expect another warm day across Southwest Florida with temperatures reaching the low 90s by the afternoon, but feeling like the triple digits when factoring in the humidity.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 4 Check out the scores and highlights from week four of high school football action in southwest Florida.
Safety and Security specialist weighs in on Tice child sexual assault The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Raymond De Jesus approached a girl as she walked to her bus stop Thursday morning.
FMPD searching for juveniles accused of trespassing in Fort Myers apartment complex The Fort Myers Police Department is asking for public assistance in identifying four juveniles accused of trespassing in an apartment complex on 2250 McGregor Blvd. FMPD said the incident occurred on the evening of Sep., 7. The juveniles are alleged to have had a party in the common area of the complex which resulted in […]
FDOT in the process of renovating the Pine Island Causeway The Pine Island Causeway is getting major improvements. Crews are working to make the roads safer and smoother.
IMMOKALEE 2 dead, several injured after SUV crashes into Immokalee building The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal crash after an SUV collided with another car before it slammed into an Immokalee building.
CAPE CORAL Jaycee Park memorial benches to be relocated Memorial benches, plaques and trees will be relocated at Jaycee Park, and some parkgoers are not happy with the decision.
Felicity Brown, 9, uses a workbook to practice math with her parents and siblings at home in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, July 13, 2021. After homeschooling during the pandemic, the Brown family has switched to homeschooling their kids permanently using a Catholic-based curriculum and won’t be sending them back to in-person schools in the fall. (AP Photo/Eric Gay). Nationwide, there’s been a surge in the number of parents deciding to take their children’s education into their own hands. Data from the Washington Post shows that since the 2017-18 school year, there’s been a 72% increase in the number of students homeschooled in Florida. Last year, Southwest Florida school districts saw an even larger increase. Lee County saw a 103% increase for the 2022-23 school year since the 2017-18 school year. Collier increased by 62% since the 2017-18 school year to last year. Charlotte County increased by 86% during the same time frame. FGCU Education expert Dr. Jennifer Sughrue thinks the pandemic is the main culprit in the increase in parents deciding the way they want their child to receive an education, but she believes there are other reasons more parents are moving to a home-based learning method. “I think the pandemic had a major impact on the population shift of where they’re receiving their education. All the brick-and-mortar schools had to close down,” Dr. Sughrue said. “There’s concerns about school violence and bullying, teacher shortages, curriculum changes that might not be sitting well with parents.” The pandemic is the reason Sarah Horwath moved her family to homeschooling. She now teaches her three children in kindergarten, 2nd and 5th grade. “I have three girls that are currently being homeschooled, and they are only doing like academics for maybe three hours a day, and everything else is life experience,” Horwath said. She’s not alone in her decision. Mom Jessica Downs said she knows how much time her son would spend in a public school, and she wants to make sure she can tailor the influence school may have on her son, who is in 2nd grade. “In a perfect world, there’s 180 days in a school year, six hours a day. And that’s over 13 years, so over 14,000 hours that someone else could have an influence over our children,” Sughrue said. To put the percentages into numbers, in 2017-18 1,850 students in Lee County were homeschooled. In 2022-23 that number jumped to 3,760. Sughrue does think the increase we’re seeing statewide is one that’s now hit its peak. “Historically, what the data has said … they peak at home. The parents aren’t able to maintain the curriculum growth with their children,” Sughrue said. RELATED: Homeschooling surge continues despite schools reopening – WINK News She went on to say once children hit that middle or high school age, parents are no longer able to really keep up with their coursework. “They know that that’s beyond their skill sets, so they move them back into the public schools at those ages,” said Sughrue. Horwath and Downs said the common misconception that homeschooled children aren’t able to participate in social activities is false. They said their children are enrolled in several extracurricular activities, from sports to music. Both mothers also said they aren’t on one side or the other when it comes to putting their child back into public school or choosing to continue home-schooling them once they hit middle or high school. They said by that time, they hope their children will be able to voice how they want to learn.