What if kids “homeschooled” because of COVID actually do better than going to school? Can we just pay parents?

[athena53]

Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake

The shakeup of the education industry is one of the few good things to come out of the Chinavirus. It is teaching us that the "conventional" centralized school system isn't the only way to educate kids. It is getting parents more involved in their kids education. It is opening up more efficient, and more cost effective approaches to educating students. It demonstrates that teachers don't have to be part of a government bureaucracy in a government building to do the job. Parents have options to pick and choose teachers, from around the country, given the technology available, that can do the job. They don't have to stick with the ones in their local schools, who might be either excellent or terrible. This also opens up opportunities for students with specific interests to take classes that might not have sufficient demand to justify a class at their local school.

This is my hope but I have my doubts. The bureaucracy, their overpriced crony consultants and the teachers' unions are too entrenched. We should be able to teach French, German, Russian of Chinese to a handful of students who want it by offering on-line options instead of saying, "There's no money in the budget for a French teacher and not enough kids would sign up".

Right now, IMO, we've got the worst of both worlds. My grandchildren are home-schooled, have been from Day One, and for them it's business as usual. Am I worried that DDIL has only an Associate's Degree? Heck, no. She's smart, patient, loving and organized and there are plenty of resources if one of the kids wants to learn calculus. My nieces and nephews, OTOH, are struggling with on-line curricula the school provided which may not work for their kid, IT problems, dictated hours they must be at the computer, etc.

I do share AnotherTouchofWhimsey's concerns about home-schoolers accepting government money.

[prospectheightsresident]

You'd bankrupt the country (even more so than already is). Each parent a teacher? Getting paid a base salary?

[phetaroi]

After 33 years in education, here's what I've found:

The average parent can't get their kids to consistently do their homework and study sufficiently.
The average parent can't keep their kids off inappropriate internet sites.
The average parent would be stunned to go through their kid's cell phone and/or computer files.
The average parent has little idea of what their kids are really like when they're away from home, with their friends.

I used to laugh at the number of times that we would hear rumors about some big teen party that was going to take place at a home where parents were going to be away for the weekend, and we'd call the parents and tell them what we were hearing. With rare exceptions they'd say we were crazy, but often we'd get a call back or a visit thanking us because when they really questioned their kid about it...well the you know what hit the fan.

So I have little confidence that -- overall -- we're going to see any mass positive results of any degree of home-schooling.

[gentlearts]

I had a conversation with a man with 2 kids, 12 and 14. His kids are enrolled in private school, but they opted to keep them out and do online learning. I was curious about how online learning went. Unlike Homeschooling which has a flexible schedule, his children are at online school all day. His wife works from home and he is gone all day.

He said they keep their children’s day tightly structured. They get up 2 hours before school starts, and get dressed in their uniforms. They are required to pray for at least 15 minutes (the family is Indian, but I’m not sure of their religion), eat a big breakfast and be in front of their computer promptly. They are to complete any homework before 9:00pm, which is their bedtime.

I say, good for them. The Indian families in this town are very successful business people, and now I know why.