Homeschooling by the numbers
For many families, home-schooling has become an attractive alternative, as Chirani Meyer, a veteran home educator and activist, says.
Meyer is well known in the home education community and serves as group admin on a number of South African home-schooling Facebook groups.
She has spoken to Parent24 and shared some statistics from her experience of the 2020 lockdown, revealing that there has been a 60% membership increase on various home-schooling groups.
A poll done on the groups showed that 65% of parents have been using online classes provided for them by their children’s schools.
Just 8% used private online institutions.
Twenty-two percent of parents chose to use alternative educational resources while only 2% used the school textbooks.
South African parents take education seriously. Only 2% decided to take time off from formal learning until school reopened.
What is the difference between crisis schooling, online schooling and home-schooling?
Crisis schooling is a term used to describe the circumstances most South African parents found themselves in at the beginning of the lockdown, where it was necessary for children to be educated at home, Meyer explains.
During this time, parents chose to either do online schooling, use school textbooks and worksheets to keep up with school work, use alternative methods of educating their children at home or take a break from school work until schools reopen.
Parents who chose the option of online schooling say they like the convenience of the little-to-no prep work and that the children work independently. But on the flip side, it can be expensive and also easy to lose track of what the child has been learning and whether the child has properly mastered certain concepts.
They say there are also downsides to online learning as children miss interaction with school friends. Technical issues, such as a bad Wi-Fi signal, can cause frustration.
Some parents have commented that their children are glued to a screen for most of the day due to online classes, assignments and homework which they don’t feel is healthy.
Parents who have chosen to home-school their children permanently have mainly done so because they have considered home-schooling as an option in the past but after experiencing it first-hand due to the lockdown, have finally taken the plunge.
Other parents have seen a marked difference in their children since they have been at home, Meyer says, adding that they are less stressed and anxious and they feel that keeping their children at home is better for their general well-being.
There are also parents who have lost their income due to the lockdown and can’t afford school fees. Home education is more affordable.
A world of choice
Once parents choose home-school, a whole new world of choice opens up for them regarding educational resources and options for school-leaving certificates, she says.
Many new home-schooling parents tend to cling to what is familiar and attempt to copy and paste the classroom into the living room.
But, Meyer says, this often leads to frustration as a curriculum designed to help a teacher impart knowledge to a large group of pupils in a limited period of time, does not always translate well into the home where teacher-pupil interaction and the environment is very different.
Many parents who work have also started home-schooling their children.
Meyer says that since the middle of May 2020 there has been a sharp increase in the number of people joining the Home-school Parents Who Work SA Facebook group.
What about working parents?
She adds that parents who work use the option of online schooling, or hire an au pair or tutor, or even ask a family member to facilitate a curriculum for their children at home.
Some entrepreneurs take their children to work where they supervise the children’s learning and expose them to the world of business at the same time, she reveals.
“Some parents work from home and are able to schedule their day around work and home-schooling,” she says.