In midst of pandemic, parents consider home schooling
Katrina Noble, left, and her sister Tabitha Noble, visit the Pittsburgh Zoo.
Abigail Ellis, 2, left, and her sister Emily Ellis, 5, of Flourtown, read together by their front window.
Tabitha Noble, left, and her sister, Katrina Noble, show off art projects.
When 5-year-old Emily Ellis鈥� preschool closed in March, her parents, Jennifer and Mike Ellis, tried to do the school鈥檚 virtual learning program with her.
鈥淲e tried for one day to do the Zoom classroom, and it was a disaster,鈥� Jennifer said in a recent interview. 鈥淚t was a bunch of 4-year-olds all talking at the same time.鈥�
Jennifer and Mike live in Flourtown, Pa., just north of Philadelphia, with Emily and their 2-year-old, Abigail. They both have demanding full-time jobs. She鈥檚 a vice president of investor relations for an asset management company, and he鈥檚 a software developer.
This coming school year, they plan to home-school Emily through kindergarten, since there鈥檚 a chance in-person school might not happen.
鈥淓ven if they went back to a couple days in school, as soon as somebody gets sick, everyone鈥檚 going back home,鈥� Jennifer said. 鈥淚 just feel like you have to plan. As all this evolves, every day, things are changing.鈥�
They chose home schooling over cyberschool so they could set their own schedule with Emily, and so they could monitor how much time she鈥檇 spend on a computer.
鈥淲e cannot do the virtual thing anymore,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n my opinion, it鈥檚 not fair to ask a 5-year-old to sit in front of a computer for five hours.鈥�
They decided to go with a more relaxed curriculum called Blossom & Root, which is a nature and play-based curriculum. They won鈥檛 have to register with the state, as Emily won鈥檛 turn 6 until the end of September, and in Pennsylvania, children who turn 6 by Sept. 1 must be registered in some sort of education program.
Jennifer said they plan to put Emily in public school the following school year, and that they want to make sure she doesn鈥檛 fall behind her peers this year while learning at home.
鈥淲e have an open mind about this,鈥� she said.
Since they made their decision, Jennifer said a weight has been lifted from their shoulders.
鈥淲e feel so lucky and blessed to even be able to have a choice,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ome parents don鈥檛 have that choice, and they have to send their kid. If every parent that had the option could keep their kid home, then the kids who don鈥檛 have the option are in a safer environment because there are fewer kids in classrooms and there鈥檚 a better chance of social distancing.鈥�
Their decision is one that thousands of families are grappling with as state governments, public officials and school districts try to formulate plans for how to open schools for the 2020-21 academic year.
Dan DiFrancesco, of Western New York, has been fielding questions from parents and families for weeks now. He鈥檚 been a home-schooling parent for two decades and now serves as state secretary for Loving Education At Home (LEAH), a faith-based statewide network of home-schoolers across New York.
鈥淲e get numerous calls,鈥� DiFrancesco said in a recent interview. 鈥淐alls from grandparents, asking if they can home-school their grandchild and from people who are looking to start co-ops. People are trying to find ways to come to grips with all this.鈥�
DiFrancesco said that last year, LEAH had a surge of new home-schooling families after New York passed a law requiring public school students to be vaccinated. At the time, he was fielding questions from families involved in the anti-vaccine movement. This year, the increase in home-schoolers is due to a global pandemic.
鈥淣ow the situation is even broader where a lot of parents have to consider home schooling because their schools aren鈥檛 opening up, or they realize that some of their students just wouldn鈥檛 be able to wear a mask all day,鈥� DiFrancesco said.
The LEAH organization has about 10,000 students across the state, he said. They鈥檝e been hosting Facebook Live events to offer information about state regulations, procedures, registration and the documentation required for home schooling in the state.
鈥淪ome of these people have never had to consider another option, and they鈥檙e wondering what is best,鈥� DiFrancesco said. 鈥淎 lot of people are thinking that they have no idea how to do this.鈥�
Because of the amount of interest, the state pushed back the July deadline for parents to submit a 鈥渓etter of intent鈥� to home-school, DiFrancesco said.
鈥淎 significant number of folks want to pursue this,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ne of the key questions we鈥檙e getting is, 鈥楬ow can I get help teaching my children?鈥� Parents are concerned that they don鈥檛 have the ability to teach their kids.鈥�
As a home-schooling support organization, that鈥檚 where LEAH comes in 鈥� to help connect families to resources, curriculums, tutoring programs, co-ops and field trip opportunities.
鈥淥ur objective is to try to be as helpful as we can and to point people in the right direction,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e happy to help.鈥�
Milana Nick runs a faith-based home-schooling co-op in Washington County called Classical Christian Homeschoolers of Washington. She started it last year, but this year will mark her third year of home schooling her two children, Robby, 11, and Delanie, 9.
鈥淎bout a week ago, we had another family join that鈥檚 going to be home-schooling,鈥� Nick said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been getting all kinds of questions from friends and people I know who are trying to figure out what鈥檚 best for their families.鈥�
The co-op has 26 students enrolled, but due to the pandemic, they have had difficulty finding a place to meet one day a week, Nick said. The families typically meet up for morning classes with elective studies in the afternoon. Those classes include music, art, history, science and presentations, Nick said.
鈥淗ome schooling gives you a lot of freedom,鈥� Nick said. 鈥淵ou can choose your own schedule and curriculum.鈥�
Gina Noble, who has been home-schooling her two daughters for years, said she鈥檚 a member of multiple home-schooling co-ops in the greater Pittsburgh region which are fielding similar questions from parents considering home schooling.
鈥淭here are so many people in all these Facebook groups that have a million questions because it鈥檚 the unknown,鈥� Noble said. 鈥淓very year I do it, it gets easier.鈥�
Her daughter, Katrina, is in third grade, and her daughter, Tabitha, is in first. She is a stay-at-home mom and their family lives in Allegheny County.
鈥淢y husband and I had children as older adults, and we talked about what is the best school to send the kids to,鈥� Noble said. 鈥淚 always wanted to home school.鈥�
Since seeing more parents take an interest in home schooling, Noble said that she鈥檚 mostly excited for the students. She encouraged families who are new to home schooling to 鈥渉ave fun鈥� with it.
鈥淚 just hope people do it responsibly and make sure their kids are learning, happy and healthy,鈥� Noble said. 鈥淣ot everyone鈥檚 an expert. It takes a long time to get the rhythm. It really just comes down to the individual child.鈥�