What is the Future of Homeschooling?
As of February 2020, at least 9 million Americans had gone through homeschooling at least once. Over 300 million students all around the world have been homeschooled during the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the number keeps rising.
The question posed about the future of homeschooling is more pertinent than ever before, but what can we expect? Will homeschool children become a dominant force in the workforce and form their own guilds to protect their interests? Or will they fade away like so many previous movements before them, unable to keep up with the next new trend?
This article is the first in a series of articles about the future of homeschooling. It will cover why homeschoolers are such a strong and cohesive force, and how they can use that power to improve themselves and society as a whole.
Homeschooling is Nothing New
In the late eighteenth century, there were two people who could help change the future of homeschooling. The first was Johann Pestalozzi, a Swiss educator that created methods for teaching kids based on their interests and developing the children into well-rounded individuals rather than academics. His ideas influenced many educators worldwide to form what we know today as modern education.
The second person was John Holt, an American educator who helped form the concept of unschooling. He believed that children should have a say in their own education and that society’s pressures to conform were suffocating them. Holt followed Pestalozzi’s ideas but made them more appealing to a wider array of people from different backgrounds. He published his book “How Children Fail” in 1964, which is considered by many to be the first major publication about homeschooling.
When Holt passed away in 1985, homeschooling didn’t change much until COVID-19 struck and changed life as we knew it. It caused millions of parents around the world to pull their children out of schools as the pandemic made academic life unsafe.
Homeschooling during Covid-19
Homeschooling boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but not for the same reasons that it did after Holt’s death. At first, education was one of the last things on parents’ minds. Many believed their children caught COVID-19 through public schools and homeschooled to protect them from further contamination. This trend continued until the schools were cleaned up and re-opened for a short period of time.
Then, something changed: COVID-19 effects on physical schooling were no longer prevalent, and homeschooled children began to excel academically compared to public school students. The theory behind this is partially due to the fact that families with two parents could dedicate more time to their children, but it also could be due to homeschoolers being more involved with their education rather than just doing busy work for the sake of passing their classes.
Today, homeschooled children are known as some of the best-rounded students in the world. Many have gone on to become top performers in all spectrums of life. This is partially due to the fact that public schools are struggling to keep up with the demands of more and more students, leading many colleges to institute an unofficial cap on inbound academic transfers. Homeschoolers can often easily beat out these peers for a transfer spot, allowing them a better education without the high costs of post-secondary institutions.
The Future of Homeschooling
Homeschooling is going strong today, but the question remains: What will homeschoolers become in the future? Will they grow to be a force of intellectualism and power within society, or wither away as more people obtain their degrees from public institutions rather than unschooled children?
In order to answer these questions, we must first examine the future of public education. Many institutions are reportedly struggling with teaching children to higher standards, especially with the tougher Common Core Standards being introduced around the world. Parents who once taught their kids at home during COVID-19 have become more comfortable sending their children back into schools, but numbers show that they’re becoming more and more expensive while profits are going down.
More People Will Take up Homeschooling at an Earlier Age
Parents are starting to see the potential of homeschooling around the world, but many still struggle with finding enough time to teach their children. Homeschooling during COVID-19 was primarily done by families where both parents stayed at home, but this changed as more people sent their kids back to school after Covid-19 passed. As a result, parents began teaching their children at home in the mornings and afternoons before sending them to public institutions for afternoon classes.
This is expected to change as people become more comfortable with homeschooling and more supportive of it from both a financial standpoint and a social one. Already, some public schools allow unschoolers to attend their institutions, but they’re rare.
Parents Will Rely More on Online Tutors
As homeschools gain more and more traction, parents who teach their children at home will rely on online tutors to keep their kids ahead of the curve academically. This will be especially important for children who are new to homeschooling. However, this generalization could apply to parents who want to take a break from teaching their children or simply want to make sure they’re on top of their studies even if they aren’t physically there.
Online tutors are already popular around the world, and homeschooling is expected to increase demand for these kinds of services even further in the future.
Homeschooled Children Will Become More Common in Prominent Universities
By giving children the tools they need to be successful at home, parents are preparing their kids for success at universities around the world. This is partially responsible for colleges instituting unofficial caps on inbound academic transfers from public institutions. Homeschoolers are already beating out their peers for a spot at these universities, and this will likely continue as more homeschooling parents rely on online tutors to keep their kids ahead of the curve academically.
Years ago, homeschoolers were often looked down upon because the public education system couldn’t keep up with their social development. Homeschooled children would come to university lacking crucial life skills like social interaction, and this made them undesirable among fellow students on campus. This is no longer a concern as homeschoolers have become more common around the world, and they’ll likely continue to do so as parents place a higher priority on their children’s academic success.
International Curriculums Will Flourish
Currently, most homeschools tend to use state-mandated curriculums when teaching their children. While this has its pros and cons, it also leaves some children at a disadvantage based on where they live in the world. For example, international curriculums are designed for students in primary school rather than secondary school.
This is expected to change as homeschools become more popular around the world. Homeschooling parents will likely begin looking into international curriculums that can keep their children a step above the competition, and this could result in a new generation of worldly kids who are able to compete on an international level rather than one based on where they live.
Public Schools Will Have to Adapt or Get Cut
As homeschooling becomes more popular around the world, public schools will have to adapt to compete with them. Some are already doing so by allowing unschoolers into their institutions or even offering online tutors, but there’s much more that can be done.
This is expected to change as more homeschooling parents look into international curriculums and realize that their children can get an education no matter where they live. If public schools don’t adapt to competing with homeschools, some could potentially face closure in the future as more and more students opt to take their academic careers into their own hands.
As online tutoring becomes a more popular route for homeschooling parents, it’s likely that public schools will begin to incorporate similar services into the curriculum. This will help ensure that homeschooled children are held to the same standards as their peers while giving them a head start during their transition into college. It could also reduce textbook costs and allow students to continue learning while outside of school hours.
Skill-Based Learning Will Remain Popular in Homeschools
When homeschooling was at its peak of popularity in COVID-19, some parents began to place more emphasis on learning skills than on learning facts. This included getting children involved more in jobs that they would be able to use later on in life, and it also showed students how they could use their new knowledge outside of the classroom.
This skill-based learning could become even more popular if homeschooled students continue to outperform others academically. This may cause parents to place more of an emphasis on their children’s ability to learn skills in the home so that they can use them to compete with other college students when they get older.
Education Will Be More Accessible and Affordable
Homeschooling is already more accessible than public schooling, but it’s also cheaper. While some homeschoolers pay high amounts for their own tutors to ensure that they’re putting their best foot forward, many haven’t had to do so since the rise of online tutoring services.
This could become even more common as international curriculums become popular around the world. Homeschooling parents are likely to opt for online tutoring services so that their children can keep up with other students studying under an international curriculum, and this could give homeschooled children a competitive edge over public schoolers who still have to contend with state-mandated curriculums.
As homeschools become a more popular option around the world, parents will have to adapt. This includes finding new ways of teaching their children that can ensure they thrive in this increasingly competitive academic landscape.
Homeschooling Made Easy At High School of America
High School of America was founded in 1999 and has been a popular choice among homeschooling families for decades. The school’s staff have experience teaching students both inside and outside of a classroom setting, so they understand what it takes to give children the best education possible.
HSOA not only offers online tutors but also provides courses on more than 20 different subjects. This includes a complete American curriculum that allows students to study subjects in their own time and at their own pace, as well as Advanced Placement (AP) classes.
This gives homeschooling parents peace of mind knowing that their children are being taught the same subject matter as other schools while allowing them to take an active role in shaping their education. High School of America also focuses on teaching students how to learn so that they can continue their studies independently.
HSOA has been one of the most popular choices among homeschooling families for decades, and it’s likely to remain so in the future due to the benefits it offers students.