Sparked by pandemic fallout, homeschooling surges across U.S.

[TexasTowelie]

Although the pandemic disrupted family life across the U.S. since taking hold in spring 2020, some parents are grateful for one consequence: They're now opting to homeschool their children, even as schools plan to resume in-person classes.

The specific reasons vary widely. Some families who spoke with The Associated Press have children with special educational needs; others seek a faith-based curriculum or say their local schools are flawed. The common denominator: They tried homeschooling on what they thought was a temporary basis and found it beneficial to their children.

“That’s one of the silver linings of the pandemic – I don’t think we would have chosen to homeschool otherwise,” said Danielle King of Randolph, Vermont, whose 7-year-old daughter Zoë thrived with the flexible, one-on-one instruction. Her curriculum has included literature, anatomy, even archaeology, enlivened by outdoor excursions to search for fossils.

The surge has been confirmed by the U.S. Census Bureau, which reported in March that the rate of households homeschooling their children rose to 11% by September 2020, more than doubling from 5.4% just six months earlier.

Read more: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/us-world-news/2021/07/25/sparked-by-pandemic-fallout--homeschooling-surges-across-u-s-

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. That's a great plan ... it's going to work out awesome for this country (nt)

[TexasTowelie]

2. Don't worry, we'll all be working from home virtually. nt

[RockRaven]

3. I would hope - but am not optimistic - that this increased demand will be met by new suppliers in

the home schooling market. Competent, educationally- and reality-speaking, suppliers. Because prior to the pandemic, homeschooling materials/companies were a cesspool of religious fucknuttery and right wing bullshit. So dangerous, insidious indoctrination is inbound to homes across America if these new homeschooling parents are not both well-meaning and hyper-vigilant.

[Igel]

4. That's the availability heuristic working.

It feeds confirmation bias.

Last I saw anybody doing research--it's been quite a few years--about half left homeschooled for reasons of religion and morality (put them in the "conservative" camp) and about half for reasons of rigor (let's put them in the "liberal" camp). (Note that "morality" can include those on the left-side of the political divide--"I want a green curriculum" and more than one religious "nut" has high academic standards.)

Same for materials. The few homeschoolers I personally knew well had either religious nutjob curricula or some really good curricula. In one case the parents pulled their daughter with a D- at the end of 9th grade out of school. A year later, when she went back to public school for her junior year she had to take placement exams to make sure she hadn't, as the principle put it, "lost too much time." The young woman easily placed into all senior classes. That is, in one year of homeschooling she went from nearly failing to being a year ahead and skipped 11th grade.

Same for "vigilant". Some religious nutjobs are really vigilant. Some "I want my kids to learn something" parents both work and their kids slack off, but the parents can't do much about it. Lots of diversity everywhere.