Distance Learning and Homeschooling
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“Is the quarantine, distance learning like homeschooling? I mean, the kids are home, learning, so how is it different?”
This question. I’ve been asked it in many forms over the past weeks, but the underlying inquiry is the same.
Short answer. Not the same...SOMETIMES.
Sometimes?
We’re a homeschooling family of 26 years with four graduates. My husband is a 32-year veteran public school teacher currently instructing students via distance learning platforms. We’ve also been home education evaluators for 25 years.
We’ve sat around tables over the years; talking and looking through work samples produced by learners of all ages, walking with families from Kindergarten through graduation. We’ve seen the results of engaging a learning style and observed learners utilizing a great spectrum of learning philosophies. There’s been creative use of life opportunities and a collage of amazing educational creativity.
There are many types of home-based learning. It's a vast spectrum of possibilities. We’ve seen the results as we worked with families. Each family decides what works best for their family and begins to implement. There’s tweaking and adjusting to find good fits for learner. It’s not formulaic or set in stone. Some choose online learning exclusively, similiar to what my husband is doing with his public school students. The learners sit at the computer—read material, watch videos, take quizzes and tests—completing what the instructor assigns for all or most of their courses. That's one end of the spectrum. On the other end of the continuum, there's home education where a family uses everything they have at their fingertips and every part of life to promote thinking and learning—primary sources, museums, online courses, field trips, audio materials, cultural opportunities, civic events, library materials, entrepreneurial adventures, experiential activities, internships, mentorships, volunteer work, and even apprenticeships—to foster interests and cultivate the unique gifting of the learner. Families land all along this spectrum and some use different venues and resources for each child in the family. Learning doesn’t need to look the same for every child and although some home-based learning is like the distance learning many children and teens are experiencing in this season—where a teacher hands out all the work to be done and learners complete work virtually— there's also a plethora of other valuable options.
Home education is not bringing school home; duplicating what happens in a classroom. Yes, there are lessons, but they don’t all happen on paper or even on the computer. It is a tutorial method of education, an adjustment in teaching mode or method to the needs and developmental time table of the child. Sometimes that adjustment means not doing all the problems in a lesson because the material has been mastered. The time spent doing needless problems can be put toward learning another skill or free time to dig into an interest. At other times, home education allows for adjustments in schedule. An example would be taking a brain break after 10 minutes to refill a water bottle or do a few jumping jacks, maybe even ride a bicycle before heading back to a lesson. This is difficult to do in a group setting where jumping jacks might be considered a distraction to another student. With a limited number of learners it is easier to individualize schedules to optimize instruction. Home education also offers the opportunity to take learning off the page as much as necessary. This may take the form of observing life cycles, like caterpillars changing to butterflies or collecting tadpoles, instead of reading about the processes in a book. Experiential learning at the middle and high school level is possible, even preferable in many cases. In our years of coaching parents and young adults, we’ve encountered business start-ups and growth, video production projects, event planning, propagation of banana plants and engagement in sustainable gardening, award winning musicians, hopeful future Olympians, even the completion of the AA in conjunction with high school graduation. The possibilities are as vast as the learners who engage in this type of home education.
Side note #1. I am giving a shout out to the many educators I know who intentionally make experiential learning a priority because they know its value. I admire these educators—who often have to overcome obstacles to bring their students what they need because they know it’s best. Students are fortunate to have such opportunities. If that’s YOU, YOU matter and deserve KUDOS for the ingeniousness ways you make learning come alive in the classroom.
Side note #2. What many families are doing currently is crisis schooling—schooling with social distancing while sheltering at home under uncertain circumstances. Those who found themselves orchestrating distance learning did so with short notice while also navigating other life situations including job transitions. Most of us who chose to home educate didn’t have these obstacles to navigate. If you find yourself in the midst of circumstances you didn’t choose, my hat’s off to you. YOU can do this.
For those wondering if home education has changed, it’s a bit different, even for those of us who’ve been doing this awhile. Families are limited in comparison to what they normally have access. However, there is also possibility! The time is ripe for thinking, problem solving, and trying something different; with learning, that’s what people do—look for possibilities. Problem solve. Ask questions. Adjust. Ask more questions. Adjust and try again.
How is this season different, even for home education families?
With change, there’s opportunity to learn differently (hopefully a short season).
Libraries are closed. Families must rely on their home libraries or online audio resources. We’ve personally enjoyed more Kindle and Audible. But, it’s still not quite the same—we love our home library but long for the ability to, once again, reserve resources online and have them dropped at our doorstep.
Museums are closed. This rich cultural option is a missing component of art education, however we’ve discovered great online options—San Juan Museum of Art, The Vatican, and these—for now.
Theaters are closed. Don’t let this temporary inconvenience stop the love of theater. Our family has enjoyed the free showings at the Globe Theater. You can, too.
Contact with people, in-person outside our family, not an option. We love learning from other people. In fact, we discovered we can gain nuggets of information from almost every interaction—produce manager, postmaster, auto mechanic, neighbor, waiter. Though we can learn from online tutorials and videos, there’s no substitution for real people, real interactions. These interactions are missed, for sure.
What are the possibilities?
There is time for digging deep into subjects of interest (assuming there is time built into the day to do so). When we plan time and offer resources to investigate (microscopes, magnifying glasses, water, sand, art supplies, fabric, and on and on), learners begin to understand they can wonder and discover and not have to wait for someone to tell them what to do and how to use resources. They learn to solve problems and find solutions. There’s even often an awareness that they can manage their time; time management is a life skill and comes with practice. These discoveries are freeing and nurture curiosity and a love of learning.
There is time for family interaction. People crave relationship. We want to be in conversation, to know someone is available to listen and help process. One-on-one time, talking about what’s being discovered and learned. And, there are memory making moments: enjoying a game, eating a meal together, navigating conflict resolution, solving a puzzle, the possibilities for memorable time together are endless. Relationships matter, but they take time. With home education, we’ve got time.
Is distance learning like homeschooling?
Sometimes it is, other times it isn’t.
