Have you been wondering about what to do with your child for the upcoming school year? As guidelines roll out and school districts share plans for conquering the upcoming months, many parents are starting to grow concerned.

THE OPTIONS:

School resumes in August or September this year, and we’ve got options to consider! Many of our local districts, including Conroe ISD (Woodlands-area schools), Klein ISD, and others, have detailed an On-Campus learning option for students (with the requirement of wearing masks, social distancing, etc.), as well as a Virtual / Online learning alternative (which doesn’t exactly equate to “homeschooling” in the general sense. The virtual learning option will most likely require your child to be enrolled in the school, be available for daily attendance, possibly plug-in for live virtual classes, follow the scope, sequence, and lesson plans of the teacher/ school, and submit work for grading, etc.)

What’s a parent to do? Send your child to school where he’ll have to adhere to new COVID-19 guidelines, or keep him home and try to navigate the waters of the school’s newly-formed online learning program?

Deciding which of the two paths to take is a tough decision. Luckily, there’s a third option to consider: HOMESCHOOLING! Unlike the virtual learning option that your school district may be offering to its families “Homeschooling” your child would mean your child is no longer enrolled at the school, and the parents are, in essence, the “head masters”. While homeschooling doesn’t require that your child learns everything at home with you as his teacher, it does mean that the parents, for the most part, make the rules, set the school schedule, do some level of teaching, seek out (and pay for) outside resources and learning opportunities, and have the job of orchestrating the entire educational process for your child.

So… on-campus learning, virtual learning (but still enrolled in your local school), or homeschooling are the options many families are considering right now. But how does one decide? (We should note that there are options for tuition-free online public schools such as K12 and Texas Connections Academy, and these programs will provide an organized, online, all-in-one solution for your homeschooler. These are long-established programs that many families have been enjoying for years. This article won’t get into the details here, but feel free to look up more info online.)

If you're thinking of sending your child to campus, you may have these concerns:

• Will my child be at higher risk for catching COVID-19?
• Will my child be expected to perform in a sterile bubble wearing a mask all day at school and forbidden from socializing with friends?
  
• How effective can learning by if the teachers are charged with keeping mask-wearing / social distancing plans in place?
• Will the school year be too unpredictable and ever-changing, as schools update processes frequently and/or possibly shut down and re-open from time to time due to COVID-19 outbreaks?
• Will online students have more at-home help with schoolwork and assessments, therefore having a class rank advantage over my child who goes to campus? (a possible concern for parents of high schoolers)

If you’re thinking about online learning through your child’s school, you might have these concerns:

• How exactly will this whole thing work? Will this be efficient? What all will be expected? This is new for my school, and I fear a lot of learning / teaching will fall through the cracks.
• What will attendance-taking look like?
• Will the schoolwork be provided in an easy-to-follow format?
• How much of the teaching will be left up to me?
• How will assessments and grades be done?

If you’re thinking about homeschooling, these might be some concerns:

• How is my child going to socialize with friends? He’s such a people person.
• Do I have the time, patience, ability, or knowledge to successfully homeschool my child?
• I have multiple children across different grade levels. Could I really pull this off without losing my sanity?
• Where do I begin? What do I teach? How do I teach? And how do I know if I’m doing it correctly?
• I have plenty other things that need my attention (besides, sometimes I just like to chill out). Will I resent homeschooling after the first couple of weeks?

Keep reading to learn more about the Homeschooling solution!

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