Home Educating- The New Norm

The coronavirus pandemic changed the way many families think and what they prioritize. Parents care very much for their children. The education system breakdown brought the actual learning process out in the open, dumping much responsibility on the parents. Thus with quarantining and attempting to finish a school year, parents took on the mantle of teaching while at home. With millions of families at home, is home education the new norm?

Start Of Pandemic

At the beginning of this pandemic, parents were worried and felt unqualified to teach their children. The thought of multiple children in multiple grades was overwhelming. Nonetheless, with encouragement from the teacher and other online services, the children learned completed work and finished the year of school.

Post Pandemic

It was approximately three months ago that the nation shut down. After the initial panic, parents rose to the occasion. Time goes by and confidence is gained. Technically, children learned more with individual attention from the parents. Nothing could slide by. It began out of necessity. Not wanting to stunt the child’s education. In April, over 75% of the students in America were no longer in a public school.

Fall Schedule

With the fall season in the future, parents are contemplating further home education. Schools will have different rules to enforce, subject to the federal government. These rules include temperature checks, hand sanitizing, face masks, social isolation, and staggered classes. European countries have chalk squares for each child during recess. Other teachers spray children with disinfectant. Throw in varied schedules for each grade and the parents end up more frazzled trying to keep everything straight and clean while trying to work themselves. As America follows Europe in so many ways, will America follow in their clean habits also?

Answer For Agitated Parents

The obvious answer for so many parents is home education. The parent directs the schedule. The child can work freely, and so can the adult. Structure and schedules aid in thought processes. Socialization, which was a deemed necessity in the past, is now a terror. Places like HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense) are busier than ever, answering questions and assisting parents through this new experience. So many schools already have online or remote learning already set up. Having been in the home educating business many years, the personnel are ready and prepared to guide parents and set the child to learning. With the parent in charge of education, he can modify the curriculum to meet his and the child’s needs, even the child’s interests. In doing so, he and the student succeed. Many homeschooled students achieve higher scores on standardized testing than their counterparts. They feel more confident in entering the adult world, not dependant upon peer pressure.

What Are Polls Saying?

At least three different polls concluded that as many as 41% of parents plan on home educating this fall. ^[1] Currently 2.5 million students are homeschooled. The polls add that 8.5 million more students can permanently be on the rolls come fall.