US Parents Increase Interest in Homeschooling during Pandemic

 

A small but growing number of Americans are choosing to homeschool their children. Most U.S. schools plan to stay closed, or open only part-time, this year and offer distance learning programs to students.

Some parents worry their neighborhood school will not offer a strong online learning program. Others are concerned about the health of their families if schools do reopen, partly or fully¹. Still others are choosing homeschooling because local schools keep changing their plans for the new term.

Mindy Kroesche of Lincoln, Nebraska is a writer. She had been thinking she would homeschool her 12-year-old son this year. He has autism and ADHD -- two conditions that already make middle school difficult for him.

But Mindy Kroesche always felt her 10-year-old daughter was, in her words, "built for school." Now, with the COVID-19 health crisis³ continuing, she is pulling both children out for the coming school year.

"We just saw that with her wearing a mask for the entire day, that would make learning more difficult for her," Kroesche said. "It was going to be such a different environment."

Homeschooling applications are on the rise in several states, including Nebraska, which has had a 21 percent increase. In Vermont, applications are up 75 percent.

There were about 2.5 million homeschool students last year in levels 1 through 12 plus kindergarten. That represents 3 to 4 percent of all school-age children nationwide, reports the National Home Educators Research Institute.

Brian Ray, its president, is expecting the number of homeschool students will increase by at least 10 percent.

"One day the school district says X and four days later they say Y," Ray said. "And then the governor says another thing and then that changes what the school district can do."

And parents?

"They are tired of it and saying we are out of here," he said.

Interest in homeschooling materials also has been rising. Even parents who plan to keep their children in schools are looking for ways to improve the distance learning they will receive.

The National Home School Association reports that before COVID-19 appeared, it received between five and 20 requests for information on homeschooling each day. In comparison, it received 3,400 such inquiries⁴ on a single day last month.

"Clearly the interest we have been getting has exploded," said J. Allen Weston, the executive⁵ director of the Colorado-based group. "That is really the only way to describe it," he added.

Some parents in rural Nebraska are turning to homeschooling because their school systems are unable to offer online learning, said Kathryn Dillow. She leads Nebraska Home Schools, a support group.

Homeschooling applications continue arriving in Nebraska, where the number of homeschoolers already had risen to 3,400 as of July 14. That is up from 2,800 at the same time a year ago, said David Jespersen, a spokesman⁶ for the Nebraska Department of Education.

Jespersen said there is "a lot of confusion⁷" and that "parents are delayed in making their decision" because so much is changing.

He expects homeschoolers will remain a small part of about 326,000 students across the state's 244 school systems.

Most states do not have homeschooling numbers, either because they do not collect them or they have yet to get a final count. But all signs point to increases across the country.

In Missouri, calls and emails to the homeschool group Families For Home Education increase every time a district releases its reopening plan, said Charyti Jackson, the group's leader. She said families are in a "panic" about plans for the new school year.

"They are asking, 'What am I supposed to be doing with my children when I am working full time?'" she said.

Some families only plan to homeschool for a term or two, some in small groups. Jackson's advice to them centers on how to make sure students can transition⁸ back to public schooling² easily when the pandemic ends.

There are also some signs the move to homeschooling could continue well into fall. Christina Rothermel-Branham is a psychology⁹ professor at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma.

Her six-year old son is to start the new school term online through public school. But Rothermel-Branham said the district's program in the spring was "very monotonous¹⁰." She plans to begin homeschooling if the first month of public school goes poorly.

I'm ------Caty Weaver¹¹.

Words in This Story

mask – n. a protective covering for the face to designed prevent passage of infection from one person to another

application – n. a document that is used to make a formal request for something

kindergarten – n. a school or class for very young children

district – n. an area established by a government for official government business

confusion – n. a situation in which people are unsure about what to do or are unable to understand something clearly

transition – n. a change from one state or condition to another

monotonous – adj. used to describe something that is uninteresting because it is always the same

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

3 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

4 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

6 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。

7 confusion   

n.困惑，迷乱，混淆，混乱，骚乱

参考例句：

• His answers to my questions have only added to my confusion.他对我的问题的回答只是使我更加困惑不解。
• His unexpected arrival threw us into total confusion.他的突然来访使我们完全不知所措。

8 transition   

n.转变，变迁，过渡

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the period of transition between childhood and adulthood.青春期是童年与成年之间的过渡时期。
• They all support a peaceful transition.他们全部都支持和平过渡。

9 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

10 monotonous   

adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的

参考例句：

• She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
• His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律，一个调调儿。

11 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。