Home Schooling
School Choice & Charters
Home Schooling Is Way Up With COVID-19. Will It Last?
The shift could have lasting effects on both public schools and the home-schooling movement.
School & District Management
Could the 'Pandemic Pod' Be a Lifeline for Parents or a Threat to Equity?
As an uncertain school year looms, some parents are banding together to teach their children in private pods. Educators worry that the trend will worsen inequities and shrink funding for public schools.
Teaching
How Much Home Teaching Is Too Much? Schools Differ in Demands on Parents
While schools are closed to coronavirus, districts are putting together a patchwork of lessons for students to do at home. But districts’ expectations for what students can accomplish at home vary widely, according to parents.
Student Well-Being
How to Teach Social-Emotional Learning When Students Aren't in School
Experts offer tactics to teachers on how they can tend to students’ SEL development in this chaotic time.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Lessons From a Homeschooling Researcher: What You Should Know Now
Homeschooling isn't a decision to be taken on lightly, but COVID-19 just changed the calculus, writes Michael Q. McShane.
School Choice & Charters
VIDEO: An 'Unschooling' Family Trusts Children to Guide Their Own Learning
Rather than adhering to a specific curriculum, families who "unschool" believe learning happens naturally and should be driven by a student's interests. Education Week spent a "school" day with the Matica family to see this decades-old approach to home schooling in action.
School Choice & Charters
VIDEO: 'Culturally Relevant' Education Drives African-American Family to Home School
Monica Utsey, a Washington, D.C. mother of two, wanted her sons to learn the full history of black people which has been a driving force in her decision to home school them. She's part of a small, but growing community of black parents opting to teach their children at home.
School Choice & Charters
Video
Home Schooling in America: ‘Unschoolers’ Put Children in Charge of Their Learning
Daniel Matica, a father of five in rural Worthington, Mass., is from Romania and the first in his family to go to college. He says his traditional schooling experience in Romania made him skeptical when his wife Erin Matica suggested that their children not attend school. Erin Matica explains ‘unschooling’ as a “philosophy of home schooling where the kids are in charge of their own educations.” The children decide what, and how, they learn, while the Maticas find ways to support their learning pursuits and passions. “They have a lot of freedom,” she says, “but at the same time they have a lot of responsibility as well.” The Matica family was profiled as part of an Education Week video series on home schooling families.
School Choice & Charters
VIDEO: Why This Military Family Home Schools
Like many home schooling military parents, Lindsay Jobe says that teaching her children at home gives the family educational stability during frequent relocations and flexibility when her husband Clifford is home from deployment.
School Choice & Charters
VIDEO: One Day With a Muslim Home Schooling Family
Parents who choose to teach their children at home are often stereotyped as devout Christians, but families from many religious backgrounds are drawn to home schooling as a means of incorporating religious studies into students' education.
School Choice & Charters
Series
Home Schooling in America
Nearly 2 million students are home schooled in the United States, according to federal data. In this Education Week video series, meet four families who talk about how they home school and why.
School Choice & Charters
Video
Home Schooling in America: Military Family Finds Stability in Learning at Home
Lindsay and Clifford Jobe have served in the military for 14 years. Like many military families, the couple—who have five children—find themselves moving to a new base in a new state every few years. Adapting to a new home, new friends, and a new school is a lot to ask of children at a young age, which is what motivated the Jobes to begin home schooling. With home schooling, the Jobes set their own schedule and design their own breaks. That’s a big plus for military families, Lindsay Jobe says. The Jobe family was profiled as part of an Education Week video series on home schooling families.
School Choice & Charters
Video
Home Schooling in America: Muslim Family Weaves Religious Studies Into Learning
Sadia Shakir, an attorney in Northville, Mich., is currently home schooling two of her three daughters. When her youngest daughter wanted to memorize the Quran—instruction that her current religious school could not accommodate—she decided to start home schooling. Her middle daughter is learning at home for academic reasons and both girls may go back to a religious or public school in the future depending on what they want and need. Her eldest daughter attends a traditional public school now, but has also been home-schooled and attended a religious school. Shakir believes the needs of her children should determine how they are educated and that as their needs change, so too can their method of schooling. Shakir hopes her children will become critical thinkers and encourages them to follow their passions. Shakir’s family was profiled as part of an Education Week video series on home schooling families.