Parents opting for homeschooling in the virus-plagued US

Owing to the pandemic, although family life across the United States has taken a hit, parents have started spending more time with their children and have opted to homeschool them.

Most say, they started homeschooling on a temporary basis waiting for the situation outside to normalise, however, in the process discovered that it turned out to be beneficial for the children. 

The surge was first confirmed by the U.S. Census Bureau, which reported in March that the rate of households homeschooling their children rose to 11% by September 2020, more than doubling from 5.4% just six months earlier.  

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Meanwhile, the largest jump was witnessed in Black households; where the homeschooling rate rose from 3.3% in the spring of 2020 to 16.1% in the fall.

Race played a key role in the decision by some African American families to homeschool their kids.

In an Associated Press report, Angela Valentine said her 12-year-old son, Dorian, was often the only Black student in his classes at a suburban Chicago public school. She said he was sometimes treated unfairly by administrators, and was dismayed as other children stopped playing with him.

As the epidemic subsided, the family chose to keep Dorian at home and educate him there, utilising a National Black Home Educators curriculum that covers every academic topic related to African American history and culture.

“I felt the burden of making the shift, making sure we’re making the right choices,” Valentine said, according to an AP report. “But until we’re really comfortable with his learning environment, we’ll stay on this homeschool journey.”

For some families, the switch to homeschooling was influenced by their children’s special needs. Some families who spoke with Associated Press said their children with special educational needs or so they have released during the pandemic.