The current pandemic has seen home schooling on the rise as many schools have had to close, and individual students may be required to isolate. There is also a good deal of uncertainty around when and how schools will reopen. Although this is not the norm for the majority of students and parents, there are advantages to home schooling.
Statistics show that home schoolers score 15–30% higher than state school students in academic achievement tests. It is obvious that having one on one teaching time is beneficial to students. There is also the added advantage of less distraction compared to being in a busy classroom.
During the pandemic, provisions have been made by schools and teachers to provide virtual online teaching to students so that they can participate in lessons from home. For the most part, this online learning has proved sufficient. However, the situation is not easy by any means and parents have had to take an active role in many aspects of home schooling. This is especially noticeable in primary school children, where the parents have taken over the role of teacher.
While this has obviously lead to massive life and situation changes, especially for working parents, there has been a good deal of online support to enable parents to provide lessons at home.
A study showed that during 2020, the amount of hours spent on schooling from home was more than that of classroom teaching. Also, the use of real-time interactive online learning resources has considerably increased. This shows a positive trend indicating that students have been utilising the online schooling resources to continue their education during these difficult times.
A further positive outcome of home schooling is the active involvement of parents in their children’s education. Prior to COVID-19, many parents may not have known what their children were learning in school, or may have been unaware of areas that they were struggling with. This new era of home schooling has changed that. Students now have the added support of parents as well as their teachers.
There has also been an increase in the amount of online support for parents who may need extra help and support with teaching their children at home.