Sanford: 'Healthy percentage' of parents say children learned more while home schooling during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic gave many parents and students of dose of home schooling and although many parents were anxious to get their kids back in schools, others discovered they liked home schooling and want to maintain the practice.

A survey in May by Real Clear Opinions showed 40% of families were more likely to home school their children after the coronavirus lockdowns were lifted, KSAT of San Antonio reported.

Even before the pandemic, home school instruction already was increasing faster than public school enrollment, according to the Texas Home School Coalition.

It found that from 1997 to 2019, withdrawals from public schools to homeschooling in Texas jumped 228% compared to a 41% for public school enrollment, Education Daily Wire reported.

There are indications of “record-breaking growth” for home schooling as a result of the pandemic, the group said.

The growing popularity of home schooling presents opportunities and challenges for educators, State Rep. Scott Sanford (R-McKinney) told the Collin Times.

“I’m seeing proactive superintendents finding out that maybe as many as 10% of families want their children to continue staying at home,” Sanford said. “They want to serve them and serve them well.”

But many parents don’t want to sever all ties with the public school systems, the legislator said.

“They want home schooling to become permanent but with public school resources [like] extracurricular amenities afforded by the public schools” Sanford said. “I’ve found that the Collin County superintendents are working hard to make that happen.”

A “healthy percentage” of parents discovered their children were learning more with home schooling, Sanford said.

“To the extent that parents can have those type of situations, that kind of control, it’s probably a good thing,” he said.

One lesson brought home during the pandemic is that kids learn differently, the legislator said.

“If parents are given the opportunity for kids to learn--either in the home or in a pod, or on campus in a larger setting, or a combination of all those things, that could probably advance their learning and make them ready for careers, college, military,” Sanford said.

Home schooling is not for everyone, he said.

“You have to have the family structure, the home structure so that everything comes together well,” he said. “But those it does work for should have that opportunity.”