In 2020, working-from-home became a global reality as we were all required to stay home. Shifting things to the virtual world didn’t just affect jobs, it affected education too. Parents, educators and kids had to shift to learning from home, and change the way they teach and learn. While this was a stressful time, many parents took it in stride and found that their families were actually thriving under this new arrangement.
There are, in fact, many parents who are rethinking what education will look like for their children going forward. Homeschooling isn’t the same as it was in the 1980s and 1990s. It has grown and expanded and makes use of technology in many different ways. With so many people forced to be indoors, it has become the education option many parents are considering on a more permanent basis. Here are a few reasons why homeschooling has gained newfound interest beyond quarantine and why back-to-school might take on a new meaning for many families.
Allowing Kids to Learn in Their Own Way
Some kids and parents find the conventional school curriculum constraining. They have to focus on certain subjects for a limited amount of time as it fits into the regular schedule of a school day. Some children don’t learn best in this manner, and sometimes they need more than the lesson time to engage with the subject.
Homeschooling makes it possible for parents to design the curriculum around how their kids learn best and engage with the information. If your kid needs more time for a science project, they aren’t limited by time and can extend it making the process of learning feel less forced, and more organic and fun. We can also use homeschooling to help our kids excel at their natural talents.
If our kids are great with computers, we can put a focus on that. If they are into art, we can introduce them to different techniques. For example, you can invest in sublimation inks and a printing kit from Cosmos Ink so your kid can learn and get to create great things at the same time.
Teach Kids How You Want
Homeschooling gives us the opportunity to control the information our kids get. Because a school curriculum is designed for many kids to learn, our kids won’t always be able to learn about certain topics we care about. This is especially true for cultural information, and even things like family history, genealogy, religion or anything that you would want your kids to know more about. As parents we can expand beyond what the conventional curriculum would teach and give our kids exposure to so much more.
More Flexibility
The lives of most families are centered around the daily school schedule or the annual ones, meaning things like trips and vacations are controlled by the school year. Parents who homeschool their children are actually able to design their lives in a way that makes sense to them, their jobs and the needs of their children. They can go on vacation when it works for them, take educational trips at any time and not have to deal with the stress of the morning and afternoon school run. This makes life easier for everyone and allows families to have more freedom.
Expansive Learning
You get to go beyond the classroom with homeschooling. If your kids are learning about art, you can take them to a gallery. If you want them to learn about history, you can take them to a museum, and you can actually get them to learn with podcasts, YouTube videos or even by interviewing people in your community. The process of learning isn’t confined to the classroom, books and lesson plans. We have the opportunity to let kids learn in different ways, and luckily we live in an age where so much information and so many resources are available to enhance our children’s education.
Homeschooling Has Developed a Lot
In the past, homeschooling was associated with isolated children lacking in social interaction with other children and that was seen as a huge downside. Homeschooling has changed tremendously and thanks mainly to technology, it’s not as isolated as it was before. There’s a thriving homeschooling community online and even local communities where parents and children can interact and learn together. Technology allows them to learn about the world around them and so they aren’t isolated.
Homeschooling is something that the world has had to rethink and reconsider in the last few months, and as a result, there’s more conversation about it than ever before. Because the field has grown and developed so much, it’s no longer an inferior alternative to school, but a worthy option that has many benefits and positives. Remember there’s so much information and resources out there to determine if this is the right path for you and your family, and resources to help you make the shift more seamlessly. Education just like everything else can be redefined to make it better for our children.
