Last semester, many parents were thrust into homeschooling without much preparedness due to coronavirus closings. With so much still up in the air (as of this June writing) regarding the 2020-21 school year, the projections of COVID cases, and the safety of back-to-school as usual, some parents are considering a move to homeschool.
One local parent, Joy Arwood, attributes her consideration to the plethora of resources available post-quarantine. “Teachers have gotten so creative! They’ve been making this shift naturally for a while, with supplemental programs or Canvas/Google Classrooms,” she says. “It seems like now there are just as many online K-12 programs as there are online college courses, and we have cottage schools and homeschool Facebook groups popping up everywhere. COVID forced educators to adapt, and it makes me believe even more that my kid can get a rich education at home with me.”
Rebecca Bell, a small business owner and mother of two, says she will homeschool if necessary, but she worries that they’ll miss out on important social and life skills that might be better grasped in a classroom setting.
“I believe children need positive social interactions and to learn important life skills, like listening to a person that is not a family member,” Bell says. “I also would hate for them to miss out on building lifelong friendships. My kids have attended preschool and public school with most of the same kids their whole lives, which, in my opinion, builds a community bond that, in today’s world, is needed desperately.”
Two of yoga instructor Tasha Wellence’s children attend Independent School of Thought in Hernando, Mississippi, which is “more of a cottage school for homeschoolers,” she says. “They go to school two days and work from home the other days. Curriculum is done for me, and they get plenty of social interaction. It is so nice to take the pressure off my kids and allow them to work at their own pace. The curriculum is so much more fun and hands-on.”
Emily Nichols, an educator by trade, has completed two years of homeschooling with two of her children — kindergarten and second grade. Nichols uses The Charlotte Mason Method, specifically the Charlotte Mason Institute’s Alveary.
As for why she’s chosen this approach, she says, “I researched the methods and content that traditional school models offered, and I wanted something different for my children. Only recently — the last few years — have school districts moved toward flexible seating and increased play times for elementary school children. State testing is still in place, and that isn’t consistent with what research indicates aligns well with the way children learn best. Additionally, I wanted to be with my children rather than have them spend the majority of their daytime hours away from me.”
Many parents don’t know where to begin when they think about homeschooling, Nichols says. “It’s important to understand the underlying philosophies of education. It’s vital to choose a philosophy and let that set of ideas and beliefs and understandings shape our choices. One of the reasons I have chosen to homeschool is that the Charlotte Mason Method aligns most closely with my own personal philosophy of education and learning.”
Nichols suggests that parents visit eclectic-homeschool.com/homeschool-philosophies-quiz to see what type of learning environment might work best for their children. “Some students need to be in a more traditional environment, and some students need to be away from that environment,” she says. “My most adamant belief is that parents should have the right to choose where and how to educate their children.”