27 Mar Will coronavirus spark a homeschool revolution?

The coronavirus pandemic has seen schools across the UK shut their doors except for the children of key workers. The majority of the summer’s exams have also been cancelled leaving many students in limbo. However, for younger children, especially those in primary school, there has been a surge in the focus on homeschooling. Could this be the beginning of a longer-term change in the way parents raise their children?

Will coronavirus spark a homeschool revolution?

With children (and many parents) being forced to stay at home, homeschooling has suddenly become the norm. Whilst the situation is bleak, many parents will begin to see some of the benefits of homeschooling. Here’s what they’ll learn:

• There are thousands of resources for homeschooling parents on the internet
• Many of the resources are low cost or even free
• Learning can be done at any time during the day, taking breaks whenever is needed
• Spending quality time with your kids
• Siblings can learn together, when possible
• There’s less hassle getting ready for and traveling to school
• Kids are safe from bullying
• Kids can learn at their own pace
• You have complete control over what they learn

The Clever Tykes books, guidebook and activity packs have been a popular choice of resources amongst homeschoolers for several years. You can see and buy them on our homeschool resources page. Over the past few weeks, however, there’s been a noticeable increase in their demand. We believe that homeschooling can facilitate a broader base of learning and one that develops key personal skills such as resourcefulness, positivity and creativity – those we describe as ‘enterprising’.

Homeschooling in the long-term

Homeschooling in the long-term will not be an option for many parents. For some, however, it may now seem a more viable option than it once did, maybe even a preferable option. Some of the challenges those new to homeschooling will face include how to structure learning in the long-term, including developing a syllabus and working out how kids will sit examinations when the time comes. They’ll also need to ensure their kids get enough social interactions with other kids, which is something that the current situation restricts.

It’s a challenging situation for parents. This new homeschooling environment is not an ideal one. The home may be a stressful environment at the moment. It may not be set up well for remote working for parents and homeschool for the kids. Many of the freedoms we would have to take kids to places of learning have been restricted or even removed entirely.

The good news is that if you’re able to deliver great homeschooling in the current circumstances, you’ll be excellently placed moving beyond the crisis.