Focus on home schooling

PARENTING HOME SCHOOLING IS HOME-SCHOOLING A DREAM EDUCATION SOLUTION OR

Pei Soci PANDEMIC? By Kerry-Ann Scrase

It is a year since schools were closed due to the covid-19 pandemic. This forced schools both locally and around the world to take their teaching online. For many who had never considered 'home-schooling' as an option, it gave them an opportunity to experience an alternative to traditional contact teaching. The result has been many learners choosing to stay online as well as mainstream schools launching 'hybrid schooling' where children can either attend contact classes or complete their school day online. Is this the future of education, is it the right way to go or is it creating a potential crisis?

According to Educational Psychologist Robert Thomas-Stark, when considering the merits of contact teaching and online schooling, it is important to ask, “What is school supposed to be?”

“School has more of a role than just academics. It is about making friends, learning how to deal with conflict, developing life skills, having experiences, and making memories,” says Thomas-Stark. “It is not just about learning.”

He adds that although there was already a huge focus on academic results, Covid has further magnified this, most likely because the home-schooling concept is focused primarily on academics.

'Proper' home-schooling should not be confused or compared to what we have experienced in the last year, which has been more of a virtual school (in the case of live teaching where lessons were taught in real time) or virtual classroom (for example using Google Classrooms where either prerecorded lessons or work was uploaded for learners to access and complete on their own). Home-schooling, in its purest sense, involves, in most instances, the parent doing the teaching and supervision of work and was generally taken up by families who did not like the education system of the time or who were anti-establishment and nonconformists. It was also an option for children who simply did not fit in either socially or who could not cope academically and/or emotionally with the standard curriculum.

There are various curriculums that can be followed outside of the full-time education, including IMPAQ, which is aligned to the CAPS curriculum, Brainline which is IEB approved and Cambrilearn which follows the Cambridge syllabus.

Traditional home-schooling, however, requires substantial investment and commitment from the parent and for many the realisation that they neither have the skills nor the time to provide this has led to other learning alternatives appearing including what have now become known as cottage schools and tutor centres.

Cottage schools are probably the closest to a traditional school with teachers teaching small classes with the school following one chosen syllabus. Tutor centres, on the other hand, are supervised learning environments where classes are done independently by learners but with the supervision of tutors. Students are often able to choose which curriculum they want to follow.

According to Robert-Stark, these options have both filled the gap financially for parents who cannot afford private schools as well as for those with children who battle socially or with severe anxiety. However, these centres predominantly focus on academics and may not offer a broader school experience. This includes being part of a community, experiencing the culture and ethos of a school and participating in extra-curricular activities.

He therefore advises parents to consider their options carefully and to check other factors including whether staff is qualified if the facility is registered with relevant bodies and even if there are appropriate health and safety standards in place including someone who can do CPR.

HYBRID SCHOOLING

With schools having made the investment in technology to allow for online teaching, many have continued to offer a hybrid schooling system – meaning those who want to go to school can and those who prefer working at home can do so but are able to join in extra-curricular activities offered by the school. This would seem to offer some much-needed social interaction.

Although an interesting solution, this is still not ideal. “We have seen that face-to-face teaching makes a huge difference, whether it is facial expressions or small things like checking if everything is ok.”

Some teachers are also finding basic reading and spelling is not at the level it should be and that there are gaps in ability. In fact, in a small survey done at some of the schools Thomas-Stark works, the number of children that are or should be repeating the year (following the difficult teaching year of 2020) is much higher than normal. This indicates that the home-teaching system is not as effective as in contact teaching.

This is more prevalent in the junior school environment, but this is exactly where a solid foundation of basic reading and writing skills needs to be established.

“From what I am seeing, I think the curriculum needs to adjusted, and trimmed of the extras like technology, computers, drama etc in order to focus on core skills. If you have basic skills you can do anything,” he says.

Whilst 2020 certainly broadened and made us aware of the different options available when it comes to education, choosing alternatives to traditional contact schooling should be done carefully – education is not just about books and the consequences of only focusing on a system that provides academic learning could lead to a social pandemic of individuals who have not gone beyond their screens to experience life.

EDUCATION & COVID FATIGUE

According to Thomas-Stark he is dealing with a lot of anxiety amongst both learners and teachers.

“I see children who are battling because even though they are back at school, everyone is behind masks and they are having to social distance and teachers are burnt out having had to adapt to a different way of teaching,” he says.

Nothing is the same as what it was; everyone is tired of wearing masks and sanitising all the time and they are struggling to adapt to this new reality. The truth is, however, that the way things were 'then' has gone and we all need to work at accepting that.

HELPING TO CLOSE THE 'GAPS'

The effects of the severely disrupted 2020 academic year will be felt for a long time, but there are ways that you can help your children build the basic skills which will see them through their school career.

1. Reading:

Read with your children focusing on fluency and meaning. Encourage older children to read as well.

2. Get creative with extra-mural activities:

It is still not possible to play many team sports, so get your children to try a different sport where they are able to socially distance, such as tennis. This will get them to focus on something else other than academics and get them away from computer screens.

3. Basic skills:

Practice basic bonds and timetables.

4. Use technology to your advantage:

There is a lot of great material online that can help fill in gaps and build on basic skills. Just find the balance when it comes to screen time.

5. Reduce Anxiety:

Help your children and families understand this new reality. Seek professional help if you find your or your children are not coping.

Robert Thomas-Stark has a master's degree in educational psychology. he is based at the centre for therapeutic excellence in Benoni. he also consults widely at both public and private schools on the East Rand.