EMERGENCY SCHOOLING AT HOME IS NOT HOMESCHOOLING

During this time of pandemic and quarantine, there has been one particular resounding claim that has caught my attention. Particularly frustrating to homeschooling families is that all over social media and even in respectable newspaper articles there exists this claim on how quarantine due to COVID-19 has forces schools and families to homeschool children. In this article, the first item I would like to address is the ongoing misconception of a term that has been used broadly and interchangeably with several other terms related to some version of distance learning. This term is Homeschooling. The second claim I would like to dismantle is the idea that forced schooling done at home is not remotely similar to what homeschooling really is.

WHAT IS HOMESCHOOLING? So, the first clarification I would like to make is this; Homeschooling, in its original and still practiced format, is essentially a decision a family makes to educate their child at home, using a common core homeschool program or being completely eclectic in structure, where one or both parents are in charge of curriculum design or implementation, planning, and instruction.

Homeschooling as it is practiced all over the world comes in many shapes and sizes. Just to name a few homeschooling styles or approaches and to give you a rough idea on this, we have:

• Charlotte Mason Style - A method of homeschooling that was named after, well, Charlotte Mason. Charlotte Mason was a British teacher who invested most of her life in the overall improvement of the quality of children’s education. She believed that we need to educate the whole child, not just their mind. She believed that “Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.”

• Traditional Style - Traditional homeschooling means taking a traditional school setting and trying to mimic the same structure and environment in your homeschool.

• Classical Style - Classical homeschooling is an approach that is based on a three-part process called the igntritium, focused on training the child’s mind. The elementary grades are used as an opportunity to impart concrete facts, as the foundation for learning and growing. It approaches this through memorization and repetition to form the building blocks for the next stage.

• Unit Study Style – Unit study style is basically a themed approach to learning. Here, you would base the school work around one common theme and fit in all the subjects– with all your children–into that one theme. It employs much of project-based learning schemes as well as topic-based.

• Unschooling Style - The primary vision of unschooling is: Child-Led Learning. Under this umbrella, we can fin two very distinct forms: radical unschooling and not-so-radical unschooling. This generally makes it difficult for everyone else to figure out exactly what it is. Some people have a terrible opinion of unschooling because they have seen people take it to a place they are not comfortable with. Maybe you have seen or heard of unschoolers who do absolutely nothing (i.e. running around in their PJ's eating cereal and watching tv.) Because of this, many people assume that that is what unschooling is. But the reality is very far from this scenario.

• Eclectic Style - Eclectic homeschooling is exactly that, where homeschoolers pick and choose their favorite features from the other homeschool styles and fit them together to fit what works best for their family. Since it’s the family who makes this decision, theirs a fairly good chance that the style the family will implement is the one that resounds most with the type of personality the parent has. This is designed to fit the teacher’s teaching style to better convey instruction to the students in a manner that will flow best. In my case, we were an even combination of Traditional, Unit Study and Unschooling styles.

WHAT IS HOMESCHOOLING IS NOT Emergency learning happening at home, or crisis schooling done at home does not a homeschooler make. A homeschooling environment is one where there is a structure and a system in place. It is radically different taking children who are used to a traditional school environment, placing them at home, generally with parents that they hardly ever get to see, then copy-pasting the same traditional format in an at-home setting. This drastic change in a child’s familiar habitat can lead to a number of serious problems. Among these are:

• Difficulty concentrating

• Stress eating

• Adaptation difficulties

• Slacking in their work

• Depression

• Demotivation

• Anxiety

Another difficulty that these students face is the lack of proper tools to be able to comply with and complete assignments. Especially in a world of seemingly profuse growth in the idea of equality for all, it’s daunting to think that not all students have the internet connection or the adequate bandwidth to be able to properly follow along in the classes. In other cases, if they do have the internet needed, they require appropriate technological devices to work on. Yet another difficulty some students face is that their helpers or tutors at home, generally being the parents or some family members are not as tech-savvy as they need to be in order to process all this information in an efficient manner. Although the latter can more easily be fixed, the two former difficulties are not within the system’s control, thus requiring them would be unfair and unjust.

Therefore, it’s very clear that simply copy-pasting an in-school environment at home does not make it Homeschooling. Nor does bringing a teacher home to tutor a student count, since that is considered “Private tutoring”. My initiative with this article is to help clarify these different concepts used mistakenly and truly taking away from what the core concepts are as well as their essence. It also has its place to say that, not all students are able to follow a homeschool, distance learning, virtual education, or online program format. (All these are different terms that are also used mistakenly as interchangeable). And, at the risk of offending susceptibilities, not all parents are equipped to embark on this great undertaking. Homeschooling is not for the faint of heart. This format of education requires a high level of discipline, structured responsibility, and independence from both students and parents in order to be successful. Taking a child from a generally teacher-centered environment to a student-centered environment is a drastic move that required education and a period of adaptation. In the same breath I would dare to say that, in my own experience, not all parents are qualified to be teachers in a homeschooling environment. To be in charge of a child’s education and academic development requires much dedication, self-training, patience, commitment, and more commitment. It’s not something to take lightly nor is it for parents who don’t have clarity on their purpose for homeschooling. One thing is having a reason for homeschooling (there are many), and quite another is your purpose.

CONCLUSION In conclusion, crisis at-home education copy-pasted at home is not homeschooling. There are different types of learning formats out there with names being used mistakenly interchangeably. For a distance learning program or an Online Program to be successful, the structure of instruction in and of itself needs to be adapted to the format, not the other way around. If a switch needs to be made, there is a much-required adaptation process that needs to happen, as well as in-depth training for this new change. Conditions need to be equitable for all and basic equipment needs to be provided or guaranteed.