More Victorian families are opting out of the traditional education system, with a 15 per cent increase in students registered for home-schooling in the past year.
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Dissatisfaction with mainstream schools, bullying and and the appeal of a tailored education are driving the boom.
There are 4136 students registered for home-schooling in Victoria, up from 3,582 in 2014, according to the latest Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) annual report.
And despite common perceptions that home-schooling is for rural students, about half of all registered students live in Melbourne.
Sue Wight, who co-ordinates the Home Education Network, said the internet had made home-schooling an easier option, providing thousands of parents with guidance on how to educate their children.
"It's a very individual thing." Mrs Wight said.
"For some people it is dissatisfaction with schools, for others it's a matter of having a beautiful relationship with their children, or they are coming out of school to escape bad situations."
Some parents choose home-schooling for religious reasons.
The home-schooling community is larger than official figures suggest, Mrs Wight said.
She said some families did not register with authorities because they worried it would expose them to investigations, while others did not see the benefit in registering.
The VRQA received 10 complaints about home-schooling last financial year.
The Home Education Network connects home-schooling families, provides support and runs camps and events.
On Monday around eight families in the network gathered at a community centre in Coburg North to socialise, share ideas and learn about science.
As the younger siblings danced and played with Duplo, the older school-aged children gathered around a table and conducted an experiment with blue liquid to learn about density.
Catherine Wells and her three children Tilda, 2, Bessie, 7, and Dylan, 8, attend the weekly meet-ups because it gives them an opportunity to connect with other home-schooling families.
Ms Wells comes from a family of educators; her father was a principal in the UK and her step-mother is an education consultant. But she did not thrive at high school, because she was forced to take subjects she was not interested in.
"I like hanging out with my kids," the naturopath said of her decision to home-school her children.
She is also a big fan of natural learning, which lets children learn through everyday experiences.
"They follow what they are interested in. I want them to have a different relationship to education and enjoy learning for their whole life."
Dr David Zyngier, a senior lecturer in education at Monash University, said home-schooling could be successful, if done appropriately.
But most parents did not have the qualifications or necessary experience to make home-schooling a success, he said.
"Teaching a child to read is one of the most complex and difficult things that a child will ever undertake. Some children will require intervention by experts and we call them teachers."
Parents must register their child before starting home-schooling and commit to covering English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities, the Arts, Languages, Health and physical education, and Information and Communications technology.
