Just in Case You Needed More Incentive to Homeschool…
Linnea Johnson, The Organic Prepper
By Francesco Abbruzzino
People choose to homeschool for a variety of reasons. I began homeschooling in the fall of 2012 when after a year in public kindergarten, it became apparent my intelligent but immature son was going to have problems. He did very well at home, as did my daughter and younger son.
We lived in the Houston area when we began homeschooling, and most of the other homeschoolers we knew couldn’t afford private school. We knew a few people that homeschooled for religious reasons. (I have not found the stereotype of ultra-religious, sheltered homeschooled kids to be particularly accurate.) Living in Colorado, it’s often just more practical to homeschool in the more rural areas since the children might spend an hour or more on the bus each way.
Due to COVID, the majority of us are homeschooling now anyway
Teachers provide remote education, but the real truth is that the overwhelming majority of kids need in-person supervision to get any actual work done. My oldest child was supposed to attend public high school this year, but it has been online. And he needed tech support from me the first few weeks. My other two are homeschooling, and I have been regularly babysitting a fourth child, a little girl whose mom is a single parent.
Remote schooling for elementary-aged children does not work for many families. Children that age cannot be left alone for extended periods. Even if the teachers are on the screen six hours a day, a parent or babysitter needs to be in the house for safety purposes.
Ultimately, parents are paying twice
We’re all either taking career hits to stay home or paying for childcare so we can work. Yet, we’re still paying property taxes so that teachers can collect their paychecks. Something needs to change.
People have come up with some interesting innovations. Some families have gotten together to form learning pods, hiring a teacher to handle small groups of kids. They’re re-creating the one-room schoolhouse. People seem pretty happy with them. Parents can focus on their jobs and kids receive an in-person education. This may be a great option for dual-career families with a moderately high income level.