Did the lockdowns hurt homeschoolers also?
What are the lingering effects of the Covid school lockdowns? This debate is going to continue for a long time. It’s a passionate topic for people on both sides of the aisle. There is a side that I don’t see weighing in on this subject. Where is the side of the homeschoolers? This debate is making homeschoolers look bad and it’s frustrating. The “damage” caused to children forced to “homeschool” because of Covid is a hot topic. The “damage” will effect these kids for years to come. Are the shutdowns the real cause of the “damage?” What about the “damage” this topic does to the homeschool community? Did the lockdowns hurt homeschoolers also?
closings, yea or nay?
Conservatives were against lockdowns and liberals were all for it. That’s no secret. The shutdowns hurt business and livelihoods. The lockdowns continued for far too long. Dwelling on this is not fixing anything. What’s done is done.
The subject is definitely not done for children. This issue keeps popping up. Children are suffering long term effects of the shutdowns. The kids missed out on education, socialization, and sports.
the reference to homeschool
When these issues arise, the reference is to homeschool. Gov. Ed. kids were forced to homeschool. In reality, they were not. The Gov. Ed kids were forced to school from home. There is a difference. We used to cyber school prior to homeschooling. Cyber school is also public school. This is also different from homeschooling. What most Gov. Ed. kids were doing is cyber school. The schools gave these kids laptops or tablets and they were taught by the schools at home.
States have requirements for homeschooling. Subjects for graduation are the same for both homeschool and public school. Number of days and hours or attendance are the same for both. Some states, like Pennsylvania, have strict homeschool laws that parents and children are required to follow. The kids forced into schooling from home are not homeschoolers.
Because of the school lockdowns, there is a lot of negativity towards homeschooling. The reference to homeschool is wrong. The schools still taught these children.
you may think this is being nit picky
This is not nit picky. Parents and children, who homeschool, face enough challenges without the added negativity. People ask homeschoolers questions, as if to test them, to see if they actually know anything. People make faces and give negative comments, that they don’t do to Gov. Ed kids. We hear that our children will be weird. Some feel we are not qualified to teach our children. The biggie is that our kids are not socialized. The list of negatives that surround homeschoolers is large. Thanks to Covid lockdowns the list has grown.
Let’s look at just one article
the educational progress and social development of four- and five-year-olds suffered severely during their first year at school.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/may/18/younger-children-most-affected-by-covid-lockdowns-new-research-finds
Aggressive behaviour such as biting and hitting, feelings of struggling in class or being overwhelmed around large groups of children were among the difficulties reported by teachers during interviews.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/may/18/younger-children-most-affected-by-covid-lockdowns-new-research-finds
The research – published by the Education Endowment Foundation – found parents and teachers concerned that children in England were struggling with their emotional wellbeing as well as their ability to learn language and numeracy skills, after starting in reception classes after the earlier spring lockdown.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/may/18/younger-children-most-affected-by-covid-lockdowns-new-research-finds
Articles like this one and reports on the news are frequent.
let’s look at that closer
The article was written in 2022. It is discussing 4 and 5 year olds. How many years of school did these children miss? The kids are biting and hitting? And this is because of school lockdowns? The children I know that are actually homeschoolers, don’t bite or hit. How are school lockdowns to blame for this sort of terrible behavior? Their “emotional well-being” is now the responsibility of schools? “Their ability to learn” is in question? And this is because these children were not away from their parents for 8 hours a day at age 5? That says a whole lot, but not about the schools.
This won’t make me any friends
Who is to blame? I know kids who stayed home and the teachers were to teach virtually on a tablet supplied by the school. The teacher gave assignments and that’s pretty much it. Parents were told by teachers, they didn’t have time to actually answer questions or “teach” because they were busy with having to teach over a device. Hmmm. Some schools allowed students the choice to be home or go to school after the initial lockdown. Now teachers didn’t have time for the virtual kids because they had kids in school, but they didn’t have time for the kids in school because they had virtual. It was too difficult teaching virtually? How do the countless public cyber school teachers teach? We did cyber and none of the cyber teachers had a problem teaching a virtual classroom. This is not a homeschool issue.
This also won’t go over well
What about the parents? Everyone suffered and everyone had to find a way to make things work. It sucks, but isn’t that life. I know parents who have children that wouldn’t “do school.” Their kids sleep the day away. The children refuse to do school. Who is at fault for having a defiant child? I have kids that went through Gov. Ed., cyber, and homeschool. My kids were never defiant. Who is responsible for seeing that children go to or do school. This is not a homeschool issue.
I know some will be unhappy with this article
The reason I wrote this article is to make people aware that Covid lockdowns are not to be compared to homeschool. They are not the same. Parents of homeschoolers work hard. We go above and beyond to ensure our children get a good education. Clearly we do more than the Gov. Ed. schools. Kids forced to school from home are not homeschoolers. I’ve heard people say that they didn’t want to be teachers or didn’t want to homeschool. The fact is you are not a teacher or a homeschooler.
I find it sad that so many parents find their children to be an inconvenience and that they can’t help their children. It’s sad parents don’t like to have their children at home. I really don’t think that is a Covid issue either.
reasons to homeschool
When you homeschool, your children are not weird. They socialize with all ages exactly like in adult life. Your kids are socialized with people who have similar values. You control what your child learns. Is this what you want your child to learn? These cartoons are geared for young children.
We don’t have to worry that our first graders are looking at gay sex and drag queens. We don’t have to worry our children are going to have opposite sex interactions in bathrooms and showers. Our children are not bullied or need to worry about getting shot while at school. Our children learn and are intelligent.
Homeschool is not for everyone. Kids forced into school at home are not homeschoolers.
