Parents choosing homeschooling due to pandemic
Originally published by wyff4.com.
SPARTANBURG, S.C. —
The pandemic has resulted in some parents choosing to homeschool their children for the first time.
According to the company Time4Learning, which provides online education services for homeschooling parents, its Facebook page for families had 20,157 members in August 2019. The page had 42,521 members as of August 2021.
Sarah Evans, a mother from Spartanburg, tells WYFF News 4 that she decided to homeschool her fourth-grader this year. Evans uses Time4Learning for her homeschool curriculum.
Evans said larger class sizes, the lack of a mask mandate in school, worries about her 9-year-old being exposed and having a 3-year-old and a newborn baby made her decide to homeschool her son this year.
She said e-learning is not an option in her district. Evans is a fourth-grade teacher and is taking this year off from teaching at a public school. She said her background as a teacher definitely helps with homeschooling, but she said there are resources and curriculums that can be helpful for parents with all backgrounds.
“Because there’s so many curriculums, and there’s so many resources out there, homeschooling can be for everyone. You can actually purchase programs that have live teachers at your home that do it for you,” Evans said. “I believe all families have the right to decide if homeschooling is a right fit for them but I will say they need to know it does take as much parent commitment as it does student commitment to learning, dedicated time, and discipline to homeschool.”
Evans said the decision to homeschool her son is likely temporary, and she hopes she and her son will return to the classroom.
“We all pray for our public schools to once again become a safer environment for our kids to be able to attend, socialize with their peers without risks, and for the teachers to be in a career field that values their health as well. These are unprecedented times and as an educator I look forward to being able to be in the classroom again,” Evans said.
She said parents who are interested in homeschooling can start their research by going to the South Carolina Department of Education website.
