A study from HomeschoolExpert.com found that 42% of parents have either reduced or stopped work completely to educate their children from home. Of those, 30% have reduced their hours by 50% or more, with 16% stopping work altogether.
“Clearly, a large percentage of Americans are changing their livelihoods and lifestyles to homeschool as a result of COVID, despite some schools re-opening,” said Anne Crossman, CEO and founder of HomeschoolExpert.com. “These results speak to parents’ concerns during this season as well as the massive need to equip them with resources to teach from home.”
This need is supported by the data; only about a third of parents (37%) felt confident in their ability to support schooling at home, and 44% said they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the current quality of their children’s instruction at home.
The survey also found that 72% of parents whose children currently attend traditional schools are considering some form of schooling at home. Among the top concerns for parents was the social development of their children during COVID, with 50% saying they are “extremely” or “very” concerned.
Of those parents already schooling from home during COVID, 21% are homeschooling with a parent/caregiver as the primary educator, 74% are schooling online through a public school, and 5% are schooling online through a private school.
“Parents are looking for resources to ensure their children have a healthy educational experience at home this year,” Crossman said. “Arguably, the teacher is the most important part of a student’s education–all the more reason for us to equip parent teachers to manage their children’s school day at home. Whether or not parents teach the core content, they still need to know how to manage the school day. We built Homeschool Expert to teach parents how to teach–so they can school at home confidently and with excellence.”
Click here for the full results of the survey.