Interest in home school increases amid pandemic

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) -With the start of the new school year right around the corner and the coronavirus still a big threat to our community, many parents are thinking about the best ways to keep their kids educated during the pandemic.

Both UISD and LISD have decided to start the school year off virtually and eventually transition into in-class instruction but some parents are seeking a third option, homeschooling.

In a time of uncertainty, many parents are looking into the best ways to keep their children educated while also staying safe from the coronavirus.

According to the president of the Texas Home School Coalition, Tim Lambert, many parents in the state have sparked an interest in homeschooling due to the uncertainty regarding the coronavirus.

Lambert says, ”I think the difference in a real home school setting you don’t have to spend six hours a day so there’s a lot more flexibility and there’s a lot of online homeschool coaches.”

Local mother and high school educator, Julissa Garza is a parent that has experienced the benefits of both methods of education. She recognizes the challenges many parents face as they search for a feasible solution.

Garza says her son Matthew was at a point where he did not feel challenged enough at school, so they opted for one year of homeschooling.

During that brief period of homeschooling, her son was learning subjects that were very advanced for a sixth grade level such as chemistry, algebra, geometry, and Latin, allowing him to feel challenged in different areas.

“We decided to put him back into public school. Because he was in home school he took an entrance exam so once he took the entrance exam he was placed in his grade level and he’s an incoming nine grader and he’s already passed his THEA. He’s pretty much set to start his classes in college”, said Garza.

Garza explains that although homeschooling is an option that some parents might be considering because of what’s going on; it depends on the students’ abilities.

Garza says, ”It’s not for everybody it depends on the child, it depends on mostly on how much the parent wants to be involved in the child’s education.”

Although parents might be worried about what the upcoming school year may hold, Garza assures parents that this year’s instruction will be more efficient.

Garza says, “Rest assured whatever the instruction that you are going to be getting is a quality one, it’s going to be more rigorous, it’s going to be harder. I know teachers are doing self-taught videos on how to engage a student’s more. It has not been an easy summer.”

And when it comes to a child’s education, both Garza and Lambert agree that parents should have the option to choose a method that b suits the child’s needs.

Lambert says, “We think parents have the right to raise their kids the way they want to and every family and every situation is different so we think parents ought to make those decisions.”

Whatever option parents decide, both LISD and UISD have already started issuing out laptops and mobile devices so students can start the year virtually.

If parents would like more information on how to go about homeschooling their child they can head on over to THSC.ORG.

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