Leaving Public School in the Age of COVID

We had already been considering disenrolling our son from public school before COVID, but we were afraid to homeschool. I have multiple science related degrees, my husband is an engineer, but we weren’t teachers. We questioned opportunities for socialization and extra-curricular activities. We didn’t know how to return him to public school if he desired at a later time. We didn’t know what state law would require for reporting. Change and the unknown caused fear.

Shortly before COVID my family was living outside the United States. Prior to our return, I put tremendous effort into finding an excellent school district. I spent hours researching the area to which we were moving, neighborhoods, and school ratings, then numerous real estate websites trying to find a home. We rented, then when we were sure of our decision, we bought a home in the same neighborhood. Around the time we purchased our home, our son was transitioning from elementary to middle school. His last year of elementary school, he tested gifted and was offered a seat at the all-gifted school within the district. Being relatively new to the area, we discussed this opportunity with people we considered “locals”. Everyone to whom we spoke praised the school and encouraged us to accept the seat. We felt our efforts had paid-off, our son would be attending an all-gifted school in a district that was in the top 10% of the state where the “teacher of the year” awardee for the district taught.

Then it all came apart with COVID.

I understand the school district had not experienced something like this before, but I was shocked at how quickly the system broke down. The school had, previous to COVID, assigned “virtual learning days” in which assignments with online resources were given to students. My son had been issued a Chromebook and was expected to use web-based platforms for learning and assignment submission. The hardware was in place, the web-based platforms were in place, the “virtual learning” precedent had been set, and yet it all fell apart.

Due to legalities and security, I had no access to my son’s work on his Chromebook (including direct messaging applications). The security settings on his Chromebook would not allow him to connect to our home printer/scanner. He could not receive emails to his school email address from addresses outside the school district. We found ourselves sending all his work directly to his teachers via email to bypass the system the school had in place. The best school in a top district and my son didn’t have any web-based video lessons or classroom sessions with classmates. His teachers had approximately two hours a day of dedicated “office hours” during which they were available to answer questions via email. We found ourselves in a situation where the software wasn’t working for us, the teachers were unavailable, and the load of “busy” work was piling up. My son was stressed and we were frustrated.

So we made the decision to homeschool.

I started over again with my search for an excellent school, and found a well-organized, online homeschool program that fit our family; both curriculum and financially. My son’s teachers are available all day and subject matter experts are available outside of office hours. As a parent, I have an observer account, which allows me to access everything my son accesses within the school content (including direct messages from his teachers). He is doing hands on science experiments, reading classic literature, is offered elective courses each semester, and has opportunities to participate in online clubs through the school. He no longer has to search for assignments, work through convoluted pathways to turn in his work, or work within restrictive software; he turns on his laptop and works through the color-coded assignments for each day on the calendar.

During the transition from public to homeschool, my son was still actively completing work within the public school system. One of his last assignments for the public school was a written assignment on how to do a load of laundry (as part of costume management for a theater class). This assignment really struck me and cemented my decision to homeschool. If the all-gifted school in a top-rated school district with award winning teachers was giving a graded assignment on how to do laundry, it would be okay for my son to be home, learning how to do laundry with me.

Our life looks very different now. As I work from home, my son homeschools besides me. We work through the content together. We make our own extra-curricular activities based on family interests (and on-going COVID restrictions). If the day is beautiful, we walk the dog at lunch. He takes a break when he needs it. He rides his bike or walks around the neighborhood when he feels antsy. If he is tired, he sleeps in. He isn’t pressured to conform by his peers. Homeschool for our family is both education and learning to live life.

We didn’t need to be afraid.