Homeschooling requires drastic changes in the lives of those accustomed to the government education system, but concerns about COVID-19 and the chaos surrounding school scheduling are driving more and more parents to consider it as an alternative to the disruption and uncertainty we face today.
Full disclosure: I am not a parent myself. However, I am a product of homeschooling, and I am a librarian in a community with many homeschoolers.
There are many different options for home education. If your mental image resembles the rigid schedules and officialdom of government school, you need to remember that there is a huge distinction to be made between school and education.
The modern school systems used predominantly around the world are derived from the Prussian model of the late 18th century. It was developed to ensure a minimum educational standard, to be sure, but it seems the larger goal was inculcating unquestioning obedience to authority and adherence to nationalism. That has certainly been the effect, at any rate.
A home education model can instead be tailored to the student's individual needs, and encourage the student's individual interests while fostering a sense of self-ownership and responsibility. It is ideally a truly liberal education, one that prepares the student for adulthood by providing foundational knowledge while inculcating liberty so absent from the Prussian scheme. Your child is not a factory product to be molded, but a unique individual whose individuality must be nurtured.
However, this means there is no one-size-fits-all education model I can suggest, and you as a parent have limited time and energy along with your own aptitudes to consider. So how can you provide an education at home? Here are a few models to consider.
Distance learning through the local school district
Many schools are expanding opportunities to earn accredited grades through their school system from home using a combination of video chat and online coursework. Some have a day or two in a traditional classroom, while others have scheduled parent-teacher videoconferencing. Sometimes you can get a budget of school funds for extra materials. You'll need to see what your district offers.
Distance learning through other providers
Correspondence courses are nothing new. One year, we used Christian Liberty Academy Satellite School for my education. The curriculum was set up in advance, and we sent in my work via mail. Now, this is probably done electronically. There are numerous other options, too.
Newer options include the Ron Paul Homeschooling program. This is a self-contained education system with courses in all the basic subjects along with economics, personal finance, and public speaking.
These are both programs with Judeo-Christian roots, but if that isn't your thing, there are alternatives out there to be found. Khan Academy is a reputable free online resource that can offer an in-depth education on numerous subjects.
Traditional homeschooling
Traditional homeschooling, especially in the early grades, requires a lot more parental involvement. You need to select a curriculum for each subject and plan out the lesson structure for the year yourself. However, homeschoolers often have secondhand book exchanges to keep costs down.
Public libraries can offer supplemental materials for homeschoolers, too. Some parents seem to rely on our collection for almost every subject, and we have online resources for foreign languages, grade-level testing, and much more. See what your library can offer!
Unschooling
The label sounds like an abandonment of education, but the idea is to engage with your children so education is a more holistic concept than the traditional division of subjects. Children are encouraged to participate in family life so they learn by doing. Hobbies are also to be encouraged so individual interests can be discovered and developed. Reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history are all covered as needed and when the child is ready to embrace it.
This is the model the anti-homeschooling crowd likes to point out as evidence of child neglect, though, and their tendency to dominate any discussion of the topic can make PR a nightmare. However, the question is, how do you learn new things now as an adult? Does it work? And why wouldn't it work for kids?
As a librarian, I see children suddenly come to life when they want to talk about their newest interest. They can't get enough when they see something they want to explore in depth. I also see how I learn new things on the job as I come up with new arts and crafts programs. I am working on a mosaic coaster grab-and-go kit for our next adult craft program during quarantine. When I started, I knew next to nothing about mosaics, much less how to actually make something. So I had to research it. And you know what? It was fun!
Dual-enrollment
There are many thing schools offer that are difficult to provide as a homeschooling family. Sports, drama, and band come to mind. Sometimes a balance of dual-enrollment is a good option. A student can be enrolled in specific classes instead of the entire school program in many districts. For high school students, community college classes may offer an opportunity to get college credit for what would otherwise be ordinary high school work. Explore some options and see what might work for you.
There is a cost to everything. Some of these homeschooling models cost a lot of money. Others cost a lot of time. But remember, the cost of government education is not only taxes and your child's time, but potentially their health. Even in the absence of COVID-19, schools are rife with bullying, abuse of authority, and the stifling environment of living according to a stranger's schedule and dictates. This isn't a healthy way to live. Suicide rates, substance abuse, anxiety disorders, and even PTSD are severe problems for school-age children.
Non-homeschoolers fear the absence of socialization in homeschooling, but this assumes both that school is good for teaching children how to interact with one another, and that homeschoolers don't have their own events. Both, I contend, are false assumptions based on personal experience. In my brief incarceration in government school, social interaction was a joke. We were segregated by age, divided into classes, and only did things together on someone else's terms. In contrast, when homeschooled, I could pursue my own interests more, and frequent homeschool events fostered social interactions with people of all ages.
Non-homeschoolers also fear that homeschooled children will not be educated at all despite the abject failure of government school. Spending increases every year even as the unions cry about "cuts," and grand reform schemes come every decade or so, but the result is a dismal failure at actual education by every metric. Meanwhile, homeschoolers tend to perform at or above the level of their government-school counterparts in academic tests while also learning more than the limited school curriculum can teach.
Every child is unique. Every family situation is different. Finances and time are a hurdle. If you have a two-income household, you will need to see whether the savings of cooking at home from scratch, putting less mileage on your vehicles, and avoiding daycare expenses can help cover the loss of one parent's income. Even if you decide homeschooling isn't feasible, you can still help your children develop as unique individuals instead of just shoehorning them into a system that does not respect them, and expecting it to do all the work.
