Unraveling homeschooling for parents during coronavirus quarantine

Homeschooling is a great a chance to influence and nurture your child’s growth on a personal level. It’s an opportunity that provides a flexible environment where children can get to learn at the comfort of their homes. Owing to the current situation where all schools are closed and children stuck at home, most parents are forced to resort to homeschooling. However, most parents are having challenges on how to go about it.

Evelyn Kasina, a Family IT consultant and founder of Eveminet communication solutions, is helping parents set up schedules for homeschooling, and also keep their children safe and help handle their kid’s downtime. She helps unravel homeschooling to parents who may be having problems going about it:

What is Homeschooling?

Evelyn: Homeschooling can also be called Home education, which basically means, children are taught

In the house, or in a home as set up by their parents, a tutor or an online facilitator.

What are the basics of homeschooling?

Evelyn: The basics would vary with the objectives the parents have for their children and also the accessibility of skills and courses. Some of the basics to have are: Internet, a computer, digital literacy, learning tools and some props to facilitate learning. You will also need some learning space and maybe a community of similar learners so as to maintain the social aspect.

It is also important, as a basic, to identify an examination center that one can register their children and have the exam calendar. However, these exams are mainly for parents who plan on taking up homeschooling fully for their children.

Most of the other activities will plug in as you move along.

Is it possible for parents to adopt homeschooling during this quarantine period?

Evelyn: Well, during this quarantine period, parents have no choice but to be facilitators to the learning process of their children.

However, even post Coronavirus, I believe the conversation in the broader education sector will change and more people will go digital.

How can parents go about homeschooling? What will they need?

Evelyn: Parents need to learn the art of patience and a lot of planning. Work with a schedule so that the kids can have a structured learning. Additionally, one needs to be in collaboration with the schools to understand a few things like the goals the child is meant to achieve so that, as they deliver the classes at home, there is an end in mind.

Parents should research on the right Edu Tech tools and platforms for their kids as they require digital literacy and online safety skills to be able to make the most out of homeschooling.

Parents can also rely on the internet for creative videos that they can use to encourage arts and crafts in the kids.

What are some of the advantages of homeschooling during this period?

Evelyn: One of the things I am seeing now is that parents are getting more involved in their children’s education process. Parents need to bond more with their children to have deliberate conversations.

It’s amazing how parents get to understand their children’s learning styles when setting up content and thinking of delivery modes. Also, children are seeing their parents more which never hurts right?

Are there any disadvantages of homeschooling?

Evelyn: Maintaining the concentration time of children is really hard, that is why it calls for a lot of patience from parents. For some parents accessing the resources might hinder proper or timely learning and also the home setup has a lot of distractions like the couches, TV, games among others.

Also, parents have to work from home and this brings competition for time and concentration.

It takes a lot of discipline to achieve homeschooling. If the parents are not deliberate on outdoor or people centric activities, children may grow very lonely and their social development growth could be delayed.

Homeschooling demands one to be hands-on to identify any gaps within the learning process. Most parents who have other competing activities can fail to see these gaps.

Are there parents who actually homeschool their children fully?

Evelyn: Yes, I know a few brave ones who do. The great thing is that as a parent, you can be a supervisor and have tutors, either online or physically, taking your child through the homeschooling.

You don’t have to literally teach your child a lone but with coronavirus and the regulations on social distancing, it is advisable that parents interested in tutors get them online.