Homeschooling On The Rise, Expected To Continue Well After Covid

[Gondwanaland]

A lot of people are waking up to how great homeschooling can be - which is about the only good thing that Covid has brought us.

New research suggest homeschooling is on the rise, trends expected to continue well after the pandemic


CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - According to new research from the University of Virginia, the amount of students home-schooled in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area doubled when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and will continue to be a popular option for families well after the pandemic is over.



“The number of Virginians who home-school is quite substantial. It’d be one of the largest school divisions if it counted as a school division. It’d easily be the fasted growing one," UVA Demographer Hamilton Lombard explained.



Lombard says telecommuting, the ‘new normal’ for many workers, may be the reason for home-school’s growing popularity.



“Places where people telecommute and work from home typically have high homeschooling rates. We’ve already had a lot of companies say, ‘We’re going to continue an option to telecommute.’ Which probably means we’ll have more migration to these counties. That’s going to be the kind of shift in lifestyle that could also mean more people will be homeschooling," Lombard said.




More virtual learning options also give families more flexibility. Emerging online learning platforms now allow parents to personalize their child’s learning.



“When you think about Netflix, there’s actually a lot of correlation to the idea that you can go home and get your entertainment and pick what you want rather than going out to a movie theater and seeing what their showing, and I think homeschooling kind of fits into that trend with what you see with Netflix and iTunes," Lombard said.



The growth rings true for the Opus Cooperative, who said in an email statement that the group has seen a 200% increase in enrollment.






Meryl Sarrechia of the Community Homeschool Enrichment Center (CHEC) says the uncertainty of COVID-19 also has a lot to do with parents opting to home-school their children.




“I think people are kind of overwhelmed with all the changes and they want to make the changes on their terms, not on somebody else’s," Sarrechia said.



Even with COVID-19 making it hard for the home-school community to come together, she says the one in Charlottesville remains strong.



“Charlottesville is so awesome, the home-school community," Sarrechia said. "I could definitely see people in Charlottesville sticking with the homeschooling. It’s a gem of a homeschool community.”


https://www.nbc12.com/2020/09/21/new...fter-pandemic/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/s...ng-revolution/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl...ng-are-soaring

Now all we need is for people in government to wake up, get school choice vouchers in place.

[Maranatha]

I've wondered why liberals would give up their sacred cow so easily. Could they not see kids at home would be a problem for them?

They loved their little indoctrination centers they had going, and then they wanted to shut everything down so that kids would stay home around mom and dad, who will maybe teach them some actual american history. They had to keep in line with Joe's wishes, right?

Now it looks like mom and dad realize they can teach their kids better in one hour than liberal teachers can in a day.

If Trump wins, I expect teachers to start screaming loudly about their importance, a full on hissy fit over their diminished power in little johnny and suzy's life.

[rogue06]

I wrote something a few months back about a study showing that up o 40% of parents were seriously considering continuing with home schooling after about a month of quarantines. While I seriously doubt that even half will carry through with it, an awful lot of people got an eye opener. They found they could go through an entire day's curriculum in a little over 2 hours and wonder why it takes schools 8 hours of class time and several hours of homework.

[Esther]

Most parents are not qualified to teach academic subjects though? Also the social aspect of children going to school is a huge thing to miss. The children I have spoken to are missing going to school and in the case of the little ones, playing with their friends. They are bored stiff being stuck at home 24/7. Thankfully most are back at school now and all the more happier for it! All for children going to school.

[Gondwanaland]

Most parents are not qualified to teach academic subjects though?

That is why you create homeschooling pods. Each parent, each person, brings something different to the table.

And as one can see, clearly those parents are quite qualified, given that homeschooled kids on average do far better than public-schooled kids (both in future career, and present-day testing)

[Leonhard]

If the children perform as well or better on standardized testing, and they're not missing out on social interaction, then there's no reason why people shouldn't be able to home school.

[mikewhitney]

It seems the government schools will generally be too unstable to function properly under the government covid fiasco. The schools will be shutdown once someone tests positive for wuhan virus. At least a private business can sue the state for constitutional violations. By contrast, the state schools are the government.

[rogue06]

Most parents are not qualified to teach academic subjects though? Also the social aspect of children going to school is a huge thing to miss. The children I have spoken to are missing going to school and in the case of the little ones, playing with their friends. They are bored stiff being stuck at home 24/7. Thankfully most are back at school now and all the more happier for it! All for children going to school.

Have you ever read a note a teacher sent home from school? Especially from Elementary School? They are typically laced with spelling and grammar mistakes that suggests they aren't all that qualified either. There are entire websites devoted to these things.