Parent Reads
Evaluating the Benefits of Homeschooling in a COVID-19 World
Many parents who have never considered homeschooling their children before are now taking a second look at their options. The uncertainty of COVID-19 and how school will look this fall is leading many families to explore the world of homeschooling to keep life consistent and safe for their student this year.
To help you decide if this is the right option for you and your child, we share several of the unique benefits a homeschooling lifestyle can provide your family during these very unusual times. Learn more about how to homeschool your high school student in one of our recent blogs.
1. Homeschoolers have more curriculum options.
The power to choose your child’s curriculum, and keep life consistent throughout the school year, is likely one of the primary reasons why you're considering this option.
You can tailor the homeschool curriculum to your child’s needs and interests more than any other mode of education. And you can directly link the curriculum to your child’s life and experiences.
But most importantly, rather than using the curriculum assigned by your district for a virtual or hybrid option, you get to select the curriculum that best meets the needs of your student and your family.
2. Homeschoolers have more flexibility.
By choosing to homeschool your student, you will have more options. These options provide you with a lot of flexibility when it comes to the courses your child takes. For example, working on academics year-round, students can work when they have time, take breaks when they need them, and work around the family’s vacations and daily schedules.
And if your child is an athlete, or an artist, or a musician, or a writer, they can dive deeper into their passions because they can work on academics at their own pace and on their own schedule, providing them with as much time as they need for other pursuits.
3. Homeschooling is ideal for learning independence.
Homeschoolers are more independent. They have to be or else their parents would probably crumble under the responsibility of homeschooling and managing work and family life.
By the time students are ready for middle or high school level coursework, they should have the foundations down: reading, writing, basic math, some curiosity about science, and some understanding of historical events from multiple perspectives.
More importantly, they should know, or start to understand, how to monitor and direct their own learning. Here are some examples of what might be going on in your child’s head when they are learning independently:
4. Homeschooling prepares your child for life after school.
Whatever is next for your student—college, a gap year, an internship, work, or a service project—homeschooling will prepare them for the future. Beyond just learning how to learn, your student will develop critical lifelong skills such as how to solve problems, how to overcome obstacles, how to communicate effectively, and they will have more time to explore their interests and develop their talents.
Most importantly, they will learn how to ask for help. Successful students know they don’t know everything. They cannot do everything by themselves. They know their limits and just like mature adults, they know when they need help and where to get it.
The choice to homeschool for high school comes down to these four questions:
If you don’t think you will be able to get the education you want for your child from a local public, private, or charter high school, and you have the means to provide a high-quality education to your student at home, then homeschooling could be the right choice for you.
Learn more about how Apex Learning Virtual School can set you and your family up for homeschooling success or try our homeschool checklist.
