Don’t Fear Homeschooling

As summer winds down and the school year approaches, the debate over whether and how to reopen schools becomes ever more pressing. Many of us hoped when the schools closed last spring that the risk of coronavirus would have lessened significantly by now. Unfortunately, the virus is still very much with us. Parents of school-aged children have a difficult choice to make: should I send my children back? The argument for reopening schools seems to hinge on the claim that the education children receive in school is worth the risk of exposure to Covid-19. No parent wants to see their child struggle academically. If returning to school provides a vastly superior education, then that is a powerful argument for reopening schools this fall.

However, I don’t believe that that claim is necessarily true. I was homeschooled from kindergarten through high school, and it was the ideal learning environment for me. I would go so far as to say that I’ve had opportunities in life I wouldn’t have had if I’d attended a traditional school. Of course, homeschooling is not an option for everyone. Some parents must work outside the home and depend upon the schools for childcare, others may not feel up to the task of homeschooling (and it is a considerable one). But for those who are able and willing, I believe that homeschooling can provide an excellent learning environment for children, perhaps now more than ever.

To start, I will reiterate what you already know: social distancing is your child’s best protection from coronavirus. I’m not a doctor and can’t provide an in-depth analysis of the risks involved, but it is only common sense that home is the safest place to be. It’s safest for your child, safest for you and your family, safest for teachers, and safest for society. In many places, schools are working with low funds. This means that either they won’t be able to sanitize the building properly, or that the school will suffer financially in other areas, lowering the quality of your child’s education. If schools already had to cut corners before the pandemic hit, it is sobering to think of what that will mean now that additional demands are being placed upon them. But even assuming that everything in the building is cleaned flawlessly, it is unreasonable to expect that it will remain that way for long. Parents send their children to school sick all the time. Since people need to get to work, and not everyone is willing to put the good of others before their own even in a pandemic, this will continue to be the case in the upcoming school year. If a child is sent home sick, the school will likely be closed and placed under quarantine, and you will be homeschooling for the next several weeks anyway. If the sick child is not sent home, your child will inevitably be exposed to the illness. It’s just the nature of schools. Many of them are set up to cram as many children into a small space as possible, and children love to touch things and get close to their friends. Social distancing is hard enough for adults. It seems absurd that we are thinking of imposing it upon children in an environment which, by its very nature, makes it impossible.

According to many experts, children who do not attend traditional school this year will fall hopelessly behind and be unable to catch up, causing themselves problems later in life. This might be true if parents don’t assume responsibility for their children’s education, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Think about it; there’s a reason the wealthy have traditionally opted for private tutors for their children. Being taught one-on-one by an expert who is answering your questions and tailoring the lesson to you is an ideal way to learn a concept. Now, you may not be an expert at all subjects, especially if your child is older and learning things such as calculus, but in the modern world we have a great deal of access to resources by people who are experts. Also, don’t think that children are incapable of seeking out information for themselves. Although younger children do need more guidance, older children and teenagers can and should be encouraged to puzzle out problems themselves. This allows them to make sense of the subject matter in their own way, and helps build a work ethic and the habit of curiosity. If your child is really stuck, you are there to help. A public school teacher may only be able to help up to a point. Unfortunately, it is impossible to really give a child one-on-one attention in a public school setting. A teacher may long to sit down with her student until he understands a concept, but she has a responsibility to her other students as well. When your child is in school, he is part of a collective: his class. When you are part of a collective you lose the advantages of being taught as an individual. I am profoundly grateful that I was not forced growing up to learn at the pace of my classmates. I was able to delve deeply into the subject matter and explore my interests. I enjoyed the benefits of self-study, expert instruction from books and DVDs, and in-person instruction from my mother. I wasn’t forced either to move on from lessons before I was ready or to hold myself back in the areas where I was ahead. I don’t agree at all that this educational model put me at a disadvantage.

One other concern that people bring up is socialization. Parents and officials worry that children will not learn to socialize if they don’t return to school. In response, I ask you to consider what the social environment in schools will look like this fall. To start with, everyone will be wearing masks. Children will not be able to read the expressions of their teachers and friends, which is an important part of socialization. Teachers will be constantly fighting to keep the children away from each other. If your daughter tries to whisper a secret in the ear of her friend, she will be scolded. If your son tries to put something in his friend’s hand, he won’t be allowed to do it. These are unnatural ways of relating to peers, and children will internalize them in school. Do you want your child to grow up believing that touching a friend is dangerous and scary? In my opinion, it’s a far better idea to keep them at home, schedule occasional playdates with one or two friends, and allow them to interact normally. Homeschoolers have been doing this for years, and of all the homeschooled adults I have known, the vast majority are perfectly at ease in social situations. In fact, most of them are even more at ease than others, because they grew up interacting with people from all different walks of life rather than a horde of peers. Socialization is very possible for homeschooled children, it just takes intention to make it happen.

Homeschooling can be a great option if parents approach it with a sense of commitment. It provides all the benefits of social distancing without sacrificing your children’s education. If you’re leaning toward homeschooling this fall, don’t allow concerns about shortchanging your children stop you. You are capable of giving them everything they need to succeed. Who knows, you may even like homeschooling so much that you decide to continue after the pandemic has run its course!