At the end of a rough year, I propose a toast to heroes who go mostly unheralded: home-schoolers.
Home schooling comes in all shapes and flavors. In my years at Home School Legal Defense Association, I have met families who are on their second generation of home schooling, still enjoying the freedom to focus on subjects and skills that the children are thrilled to learn. And I’ve seen parents withdraw their children from public school for a year just to let children find their social footing before sending them back, fortified with family love and support.
There are families who home-school in RVs roaming the country, single parents whose home schooling revolves around the babysitter’s schedule, and grandparents who are lending a helping hand to their children by passing on lessons, in math and life, to grandchildren.
One of the great benefit and strengths of the home schooling movement has always been its flexibility. This year, that flexibility has been tested like never before. Fortunately, the home-school community stepped up.
Home-school co-ops have pivoted from twice-weekly in-person classes to Zoom classes. Science labs have been conducted in individual kitchens, overseen via a laptop eye by a home-school father. Some home-school groups have kept meeting with masks and social distancing, while others have moved their monthly “Moms’ Night Out” from coffee shops to picnic tables at the park. I think I’ve talked to more “field-trip focused” home-school groups this year than at any other time in my 25 years at HSLDA because outdoor museums and zoos have been consistently open.
But it’s not just the traditional home-school community that has stepped up. This year, I’ve talked to public school teachers who have taken on home-schooling their neighbors’ children. I’ve counseled martial artists who are making space in their karate dojo for parents to home-school.
I’ve walked countless new home-school groups through the process of figuring out whether to incorporate, deciding if they should set up as a nonprofit organization or for-profit organization, and discussing what COVID restrictions might apply to their learning environment. Whether the people calling me for advice call their projects “micro schools,” “home-school pods,” or “personal tutorial services,” the goal has been the same: help these children get the best, most individualized education possible.
So, to the home-school community, whether new this year or longtime enthusiasts, here’s to you. You did great, and I believe 2021 will be even better.
Darren Jones is senior counsel at the Home School Legal Defense Association, the largest home-school organization in the U.S.
