Advantages and Disadvantages of Homeschooling in the USA: The Experience of Our Immigrants

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, parents in the United States are increasingly thinking about homeschooling their children. Opinions about this format of study differed. Reported by "Voice of America".

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Ukrainian Oksana Murray from Illinois, due to the pandemic, transferred her daughter to home schooling. Their school year began last month.

“The reason for this form of training was the pandemic. But when I started to learn more about homeschooling, it turned out that children who study at home are on average two years ahead of the school curriculum, ”said the mother of a 7-year-old girl from Illinois.

Oksana hopes that at home, unlike online schooling, her daughter will spend less time at the computer. In addition, parents are attracted to the idea of ​​self-discipline, which they believe homeschooling instills.

“With home schooling, the child learns himself. You, of course, pick up textbooks for him, pick up all the material. But he knows for sure: you need to get up early in the morning, make a whole list of things to do, and only after that you will be free, ”Oksana emphasizes.

Lilia Colston's daughter from Texas studied independently at home from third to tenth grade. For the last two academic years, she returned to school and graduated with the best result among several hundred graduates.

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“I worked and my husband worked. The husband's parents live with us, the daughter stayed with them and studied independently. When she didn't understand something, then she called us, we came home and explained everything to her, ”says Lilia Colston, mother of a homeschooled child in Texas.

However, educators caution that very few children are able to learn on their own. Homeschooling is a heavy burden for parents.

“Now I see, one might say, a mass movement - parents are worried about the school year and want to teach their child at home, they consult. I just want to warn you: parents should not expect their children to learn on their own. Few children are so disciplined and responsible, ”says Yulia Shadirya, a high school teacher in Washington state.

In most US states, transferring a child to homeschooling is as simple as writing a statement to the principal and indicating that you have a plan for teaching.

“Among the basic requirements in Texas: visual teaching aids, that is, the availability of textbooks; so that your program includes reading, writing, grammar and necessarily math, ”adds Lilia Colston.

However, Yulia Shadirya notes that it is often difficult for parents to assess the level of knowledge of their child. Many students who return to school after homeschooling show significant educational gaps, she said.

“It is very difficult for children who have fallen behind the program to make up for it,” the teacher sums up.

The quality of home schooling is not monitored at the government level in either Texas or Illinois. If you decide to go back to school, your child may be offered a test to determine their level of knowledge.

“You have complete control over what your child learns, how he learns, so quickly, at what level he does it, and in general, how this process goes,” notes Lilia Colston.

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But Yulia Shadirya sees this as a challenge for the family. After all, not all parents manage to maintain patience with their own child. In addition, parents are often unaware of how modern education differs from the one they received.

“Now it is becoming more and more important to be able to process information, to analyze - is it true or not, to be able to hear some other opinions and to form critical thinking,” the teacher explains.

Funding for public schools in the United States depends on attendance, Shadirya said. Therefore, a decrease in the number of students at school can significantly affect the quality of the work of an educational institution. And the teachers, Shadirya emphasizes, will not be the first to feel this on themselves.

“Both the janitors and the cafeteria, canteen and library workers, as well as children who need additional help ...” - lists the teacher of those who are the first to be affected by the cut in the funding program.

By the start of the pandemic in the United States, only 3% of schoolchildren were homeschooled. According to the National Research Institute of Home Educators, this figure could rise to 2020% in 10.

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