Thinking about a second COVID-19 wave and the school situation for dropping into the rain, the thoughts of many parents turn to homeschooling. Families in Canada are required to educate their child in a home setting, subject to the approval of an official from the Department of Education in each province. Parents must abide by local schools or educational regulations and have to obtain annual homeschool approval. Parents are expected to register with the government each year, and then apply a revised education plan to be approved by the department. According to Newfoundland homeschooling policy guidelines, parents must receive teaching materials from the Department of Education when homeschoolers use the provincially-authorized program, and student services must be available from the school in which the student is enrolled. Homeschooled students are expected to complete government assessments at various times. There is no home education charge for your children, but if you want to use the provincial program, certain provinces, such as P.E.I., which allow a $50 charge per child, but that is refunded when the books are returned.
The overarching measure of any education’s performance is student learning, which is outlined in an annual progress study on homeschooling and is based on an instructional program developed when registering a home school student. Time on a mission, Cunningham says, is a significant factor in educational achievement. With busy work schedules, and with a desire to keep their children at home, some parents keep asked if another parent would teach their children for them at home. The simple response is no. Cunningham says the Education Act specifies that a parent should have homeschooled for a parent’s child in a home-education program centered in the home of the child.
Over the past few decades, schooling of children under the guidance of parents rather than school teachers has gradually increased. In an earlier age, many kids were at-home learning. But schools had become popular by the beginning of the twentieth century, and states had introduced mandatory legislation on attendance at the school. Only a few states permitted home-schooling as an exception to the necessity of attendance. A few more parents just needed to educate their kids, without specifying the means. As a result, in most jurisdictions, homeschoolers faced fines or sentences to prison. A fortunate few lived in states where homeschoolers will not be punished. In public or private schools, other families sought insurance that encouraged children to participate in “independent research” and then sent them home. Most families had always expected to stop notice.
Families who elect to educate their children at home come from all major backgrounds of racial, cultural, and religious backgrounds and all levels of income. However, in contrast with the average American family, homeschoolers are more likely to be religious, conservative, affluent, better educated, and part of a two-parent family. Homeschoolers tend to have more children and to be middle-class. Parents who are more likely to vote at home with their children, donate money to political causes, lobby elected officials about their views, attend public meetings or demonstrations or join civic and charitable groups.
Homeschooling is legal today in all states. In general, state legislation requires homeschooling parents to file essential details either with the state or local educational department. More than half the states require some form of assessment under any or all of the state-run home-schooling options. This examination typically requires student assessments, although some states allow assessment of teachers. Homeschooling has not been expressly regulated by the United States Supreme Court, but it is clear that fair restrictions would be required. A new source of legal conflict has arisen over demands for part-time access to education or extracurricular activities in public schools. Much depends on the legal and political climate of the State. Some state statutes require local districts to provide access to curriculum and extracurricular programs for homeschoolers wishing to use. Of course, parents are the primary assets. The mother typically takes the lead while fathers typically pitch in. Maybe as many as one in ten fathers assume the primary responsibility. For more than one explanation, most parents and young people prefer homeschool. The most common reasons given for homeschooling are:
- To customize or individualize each child’s curriculum and learning atmosphere,
- To achieve better academically than in schools,
- To use pedagogical methods other than those typical of traditional schools,
- Improve family relationships between children and parents and between siblings,
- Provide guided and reasoned social interactions with young peers and adults,
- Provide a safer environment for children and adolescents due to physical violence, drugs and alcohol, psychological abuse, racism and inappropriate and unhealthy sexuality associated with institutional schools, and
- Teach and impart partial education.
Homeschooling can affect the positive traits mentioned above. However, it does not prove conclusively that homeschooling is causing this. Around the same time, there is no scientific proof that opposed to formal education, homeschooling causes harmful issues. Future research could answer the issue better.
