Homeschooling During COVID

     

    

   Since the Covid 19 Pandemic many business operations halted, and establishments closed, therefore schools suspended face-to-face classes and transitioned to online learning. However, when schools reopened in September instead of enrolling their children in full time school, some parents opted to homeschool their children. Here, we will take a glimpse of the world of homeschooling to gain a better perception of what it is. There are many misconceptions when it comes to homeschooling.

 

                                  What is Homeschooling?

     Homeschooling is when you teach your child the lessons at home instead of enrolling them in a public or private school. However, it does not necessarily mean that a child will be confined to the four walls of their home while learning. It merely means that the parents have complete control over what their children can learn, how they can understand it and when they will learn it. Homeschooling format varies according to children’s needs or based on what the parent’s objectives are for their children.

 

      Regular Homeschooling vs. Parental Homeschooling during COVID

    In a Regular Homeschooling, the parents of the child can hire a tutor to teach their child the concepts. In Parental Homeschooling, on the other hand, the parents take the initiative to teach their children themselves according to the curriculum based on where they are located. With the advent of Covid, every parent around the world was thrust into online learning which resulted in homeschooling for many months.

Quite a few parents were unprepared to teach their children at home. They were forced to become full time teachers to their children. They were mandatory had to try and figure out curriculums and different subject materials. For some parents they may have taken this for granted prior to the virus. During Covid many parents on social media express their gratitude to parents as they finally had a true understanding of what it entails to teach children daily.

 

                           Pros and cons of Homeschooling

Just like anything else, Homeschooling also has its share of pros and cons. Here are some of them:

 

                        Pros of Homeschooling

• The parents can keep a constant watch on their children and ensure their safety. Children tend to not suffer from low self-esteem as they are not subject to the social pressures that comes with being in a regular school
• Parents can teach their children in the way they want them to learn a particular subject
• Lesser expenses for the family because if a child study from home, the parents need not pay for the tuition, uniform, books, fare, food allowance, and other school requirements
• It has been a fact that home school children tend to move ahead academically than their peers, simple because they have less distractions.
• Home school children at times tend to have a high IQ and they tend to be avid readers because the curriculum is structured around them.

 

                               Cons of Homeschooling

• The child may not get to have much interaction with other children in their age group, and this can influence their emotional wellbeing and social skills as they grow up if parents do not pay careful attention to creating a balance for social skills and social interactions this will result in long term effects.
• The child can acclimatize to being in their comfort zone, and when the time comes for social activities a child who is accustomed to being in a certain zone may find it hard to fit into certain social groups if they have not been exposed.
• For parents who take on regular home school duties, they have to plan school curriculum as well as administrative duties and this can be quite daunting. A child at the Elementary or high school level does several subjects. This will now have to be prepared and taught. Pending on the parent’s background or education level this can be over whelming.
• For parents who hire a tutor to homeschool this can also be expensive as more than one tutor may be required for different subject areas.
• Pending on your child ,homeschool at times may have less boundaries or structure which can be a disaster. Children need structure in order to be successful. They must have clear guidelines and specific time to complete tasks just as they would in a normal setting.

 

                          How to motivate kids who are homeschooling

       Homeschooling is not as easy as it sounds. Some homeschool children struggle with their social skills because they do not interact with other people other than their tutor of family members. To motivate children who are Homeschooling, you can set up a playdate between their friends and other trusted families in the neighborhood so that they can still enjoy being in the company of other kids. Remember that this is important because interacting with children their age while they are young will help them develop good emotional and social skills as they are growing up. 

 

      Homeschooling has come a long way and it is not as out lawed as it was in previous years. Many small schools teaching ten or less groups of children operate as a home school, where you have two or more families coming together to teach their children.

      It is also much easier for children who are homeschooled to be involved in extra curricula activities. Many even attend these activities during the day. Parents home school for many different reasons. For example, I have many children who wish to pursue a profession career in music or entertainment, therefore their parents homeschool them around their training.

 

                 Tips for homeschooling parents

       If you are homeschooling your child, always keep in mind that sooner or later, your child will have to face the realities of the world, and you must prepare them for that. Although it is every parent’s nature to protect their children from the negativities and evil of this world, homeschooling your child does not mean that you do not teach life skills or from the news or realities of what is happening in the world

    Homeschooling exposes children to more unique experiences, as children learn about life from an experiential hand on method instead of being stuck in a classroom all day. Children who are homeschooled have gone on to attend university or lived a normal life. With Covid 19 just as going back to work has changed some person’s mindset, they are a handful of parents who are thinking of continuing with letting their child learn remotely into the future.

 

    Homeschooling is a challenge to both parents and children, but it can be as simple as walking in the park if both parent and child cooperate well!

Parents who are homeschooling I would love to hear from you.

 

Home Work Blues 😭

             Home Work is described as extra set of tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed outside of class. Homework creates anxieties for students and it frustrates parents and it cuts into other activities that children could be doing. Often times it has been my experience as an educator that homework is rushed and children have not mastered or learn anything new from doing homework. It has been my experience in many instances that some parents even do their children’s homework just to avoid the constant back and forth with the children.

         I can say I absolutely hated homework as a child and I do not like giving homework as a teacher and have avoided doing so. I am from a Caribbean background and homework was mandatory and it was brutal. You sometimes would be given 100 hundred maths or English to complete at nights in grade 4 through 6. And this was not the only homework you had to do. This was rediculous. Anyone from the Caribbean knows exactly what I am talking about.

  As a child I spent many hours after school trying to complete my homework. I was into competitive dancing from 4 so I had to get my homework done. Why do we need homework? And where did  it all started anyway? What does it really prove? As a teacher I have decided that piling on homework is really not the answer. There are many creative ways to get children to review what has been taught during the class, instead of giving busy work. At least that is what I call it. I found that when I worked in a Private school some of the parents wanted homework because they claimEd the children had nothing to do. Normally these are the children who may not have after school activities and parents need something to distract and keep them busy hence as I said before busy work.

       I am not saying that homework is all bad. I do believe that at the high school up to college level having assignments is important. But I really do not think that at the Elementary level children need not to be saddled with tons of  homework. I run a tutoring site and many parents have been reaching out to me because their Kindergartens and grade ones have homework which is really just too much. So some of my little ones are already frustrated with school. Oh come on now! The early years are supposed to be fun🙇🏽‍♀️🙇🏽‍♀️🙇 not stressful.

   Homework at the Elementary level should be fun and light if it is going to be given and quite frankly I refuse to call it homework as it turns many children off from just the mention of the word. I totally get that practicing times tables or even a musical piece or a poem makes sense. Also with large class sizes it becomes very hard for teachers to complete modules of their curriculum therefore giving extra practice to take home enables them to complete the syllabus. Not having to mark a lot of homework also benefits teachers. I got carpal tunnel when I worked in the private school because I spent many hours in the nights and weekends from marking homework and correcting students work. It was time wasting.

  The problem with the school system is that too much time is spent on wrote learning instead of developing skills. Too much time is spent on theory instead of applicable experience. If homework has to be given why not make it experiential for students. During the week keep it short and creative as there are limited hours after school before bed time. Also bear in mind that many students have after school activities and some parents work long hours.

      Create practical learning activities for various subjects. For example they can write a poem or a song as it pertains to the topic of whatever the subject is. For Math they can use groups of numbers of items in their. kitchen cupboard or objects at home for multiplication. If it’s Science for example they can read a food label etc. LanguageArts they can look for nouns  around the house and list them etc. If it’s Adjectives they could taste different items in their kitchen( this all with the help of an adult of course)

     The point I am trying to make here is that homework does not have to be sitting around a table for many hours as this frustrates young children and there are many ways that we can still get them to connect to learning. As a matter of fact this method will even be better because young children like to learn through different experiences and here we also appeal to different senses. We now live in a digital world and this generation does not like to keep still so we must get creative in Our methods in how we teach them. 

They are way many more creative ways now to give young children homework so there is no need to stick to the old ways that we grow up with. I will definitely do a follow up part 2 for more in depth ideas but let us not turn our kids off from learning. Home work proves nothing. School should be remembered as fun and enlightening not dreading homework.

Send me your thoughts or ideas about homework if you can relate.🖍

Homework Blues

( I do not own this video)