“Homeschooling: A great way to educate

your child during the COVID-19

pandemic”

Most of us did not expect that this coronavirus disease, we are facing today, will
be a crisis worldwide in a short period of time. As it turned out affecting our
lives; family, work and education. Coronaviruses are important human and
animal pathogens. At the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus was identified as the
cause of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei Province of
China. It rapidly spread, resulting in an epidemic throughout China, followed by
an increasing number of cases in other countries throughout the world. In
February 2020, the World Health Organization designated the disease COVID-19,
which stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The virus that causes COVID-19 is
designated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2);
previously, it was referred to as 2019-nCoV. D-19).

The outbreak progressed, person-to-person spread became the main mode of

transmission. Person-to-person spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is thought to occur mainly via respiratory droplets,
resembling the spread of influenza. With droplet transmission, virus released in
the respiratory secretions when a person with infection coughs, sneezes, or talks
can infect another person if it makes direct contact with the mucous
membranes; infection can also occur if a person touches an infected surface and
then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.

This COVID-19 pandemic, cause the government to declare the entire Luzon area
in the Philippines under “ enhance community quarantine” to ensure our safety
and health against the disease. One of those which are greatly affected by the
quarantine is our shelves education. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all schools
worldwide had closed for the safety of the students as well as their teachers.
Private schools have moved to online classes pre-emptively.

Enhanced community quarantine is a total lockdown, restricting the movement

of the population with exceptions, in response to the growing pandemic of
coronavirus disease 2019 in the country.

While the education of every child is affected, parents came up with an idea that
would be a remedy to their learning, which is homeschooling. Although we
know that homeschooling is already in demand in other countries such as
Australia and New York, some of us which are parents wanted to adapt that idea
as a solution to a child’s learning.

Home education is one of the world's fastest-growing educational movement. In

its broadest sense, it can be understood as any form of education that occurs
outside of a physical school. Homeschooling have different processes depending
on the child's parent and the availability of the program. Some of these
processes includes, online programs and service free during the covid-19 period,
skype application where teachers may used to deliver lessons. Most parents
create an area in the house for the child to be able to focus on learning . There
are no clear guidelines on what a learning area should look like . In fact schools
have found creating learning areas or spaces to be a challenge. This is because
every child has individual ways of learning .

a) Online program

If the child's school has moved to online learning , as a supervising adult , the
parent will be more of a teacher's aide or facilitator rather than a replacement
teacher .

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 The American homeschooling movement is gaining steam , and some se
technology is leading the change . Online homeschooling programs and
resources can make learning accessible and engage in , but they may not be
right for every learner . Even some public schools now offer online learning
options . These programs can be used to play a mentally or exclusively in the
home learning environment . Either way they are diverse; many cater to certain
learning styles and education philosophies . For families new to homeschooling ,
finding the right programs requires a little experimentation and a whole lot of
research .

b) Face-to-face homeschooling

Face-to-face homeschooling is an important way build connections with

parents and peers, helping students develop collaboration and other key social
skills. Many children learn best through movement and multi-sensory, hands-on
work. Visiting museums and other cultural institutions makes learning
meaningful, especially when they connect students with potential mentors in
the community.

Homeschool families come from many different communities, cultures and

belief systems, some of which impact their educational choices.

●Families with logistical challenges

Geography, travel and other lifestyle commitments make it difficult for

some students to report to school or adhere to a conventional schedule,
including rural or military families. The same is true for young artists or athletes
with extensive training and travel demands. Homeschooling makes education
accessible to children facing these types of logistical challenges. Some states
with large rural populations even offer public online homeschooling programs.

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● Children with special needs

Students with certain learning, mental, behavioral and physical challenges

may not thrive in traditional special education programs. Some medical
conditions also require special monitoring, equipment and therapies that make
attending school difficult, if not dangerous. Online homeschooling programs
allows parents to maximize individualized instruction and support, including
adaptive technologies, while tending to other needs.

● Gifted & exceptional learners

Despite their talents, many gifted children fall behind in school-even when
filtered into gifted programs. Some of these children need more freedom; others
are just bored. Self-paced programs and online homeschooling resources for
exceptional learners offer these families an alternative

● Proponents of alternative learning methods

Desks and rote memorization do not work best for all children.
Homeschooling programs can be customized to meet the needs of hands-on,
kinesthetic, visual-spatial, and other such learning styles. Montessori, Waldorf,
Reggio Emilia and other specialized online homeschooling resources are
increasingly popular among parents not drawn to conventional learning
methods. There are also more classical, but advanced programs ideal for parents
looking for a more rigorous academic education.

● Here we add , Crisis

Crisis that involves money, time and health. Not all families have the
opportunity to bring their children to school . They lacked money to support the

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needs of the children in school such as projects , assignments , field trip , school
plays and especially the students tuition . While health crisis is unpreventable
because some of it turns out to be long-lasting like the pandemic that we are
facing today . Homeschooling is a great solution to this crisis so that we can
continue educating our children .

● Cultural & Religious Groups

Faith is no longer the number one reason most families choose to

homeschool, but it remains a popular one-at both ends of the belief spectrum.
Just as Christian parents may want to offer their children more biblical
education, secular parents can seek learning programs that emphasize their
beliefs and values. Some online homeschooling programs offer direct religious
instruction, but others ensure content in areas like science or history reflect
families’ worldviews.

Many families see homeschooling as a path to rich, individualized educational

experiences that resonate with students’ learning styles and needs. These are
some ideas to help parents assist their child’s learning.

>Parental involvement

Online homeschooling resources and child-directed learning can sometimes

move parents from the role of teacher to observer, but that does not mean they
can check out. Having parents on hand to answer questions, monitor progress
and participate helps students feel more confident and supported in their
studies. It also allows parents the opportunity to identify and respond to
challenges.

>Flexibility

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Illness, unexpected guests, family emergencies, siblings and even the weather
can interfere with planned lessons and activities. Substitute homeschooling
teachers are also in short supply. Parents must allow for these hiccups and have
a plan for responding to them.

>Patience and grit

Even experienced homeschooling families go through difficult patches.

Sometimes this is an indication that a program or project is not working, but
developmental spurts, stress and other issues make also learning difficult.
Everyone has rough days. Students benefit when homeschooling parents remain
calm and supportive under pressure.

>Community

Local and online homeschooling communities and resources can help parents
and their children feel motivated, supported and inspired.

Benefits of Homeschooling

Our entire homeschool program is built around technology and the Internet. We
use a private online curriculum. We take advantage of websites to get access to
free classic books. We use a combination of textbooks and a free language
learning program through our local library. We have literally thousands of videos
and documentaries on any subject under the sun available to us at any time.
There are so many top quality resources and texts available for free, including
current math and science books. The internet has allowed us access to resources
that I could have only dreamed of during my own time as a student.

Technology is a doorway to a world of new information and ideas; adaptive

technologies make them more accessible to learners with special needs. Online

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homeschooling can enrich the learning experience through videos, interactive
games and Web-based community projects. Students can also use digital tools
and apps to track their work, organize their thoughts and take notes quickly.
Some research suggests technology that integrates movement improves
memory and comprehension.

Home learning has an advantage in that it can cater to the individual child . As
long as the student can focus and be safe , there are no limits to where the
learning can take place .

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REFERENCES

Homeschooling101: What is homeschooling

David Roy, University of Newcastle; theconversation.com

https://en.m.wikipedia.org

accreditedschoolsonline.org

Santos, Ana P. (March 17, 2020). "Coronavirus: Philippines quarantines island of

57 million people". Al Jazeera. Retrieved March 20, 2020.

 "Proclamation No. 922" (PDF). Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.

March 8, 2020.

 "DOH: 'Localized lockdown' possible amid coronavirus pandemic". CNN. March

10, 2020. 

World Health Organization. Director-General's remarks at the media briefing on

2019-nCoV on 11 February 2020.
https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-remarks-at-
the-media-briefing-on-2019-ncov-on-11-february-2020

www.brookings.edu

www.msn.com

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