Homeschooling and online learning on the rise, but is it good for your kids?

While many education experts aren’t yet sold on the value of online learning and homeschooling, this alternative form of education has shown to be a safer learning environment, especially for bullied children and those with learning conditions.

Online learning and homeschooling have increased since the start of the pandemic when schools were sporadically shut for long periods of time. The education department had last year said it rose from 140 000 to 300 000 during the pandemic.

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But those in the homeschooling and online learning sector say parents became more aware of its benefits when they were forced to teach their children at home during the strict lockdowns last year.

Managing director of online learning platform Optimi Home Louise Schoonwinkel said the market has opened since then and parents and families have turned to this method on a permanent basis. 

What was required to aid those in poorer areas were partnerships between the private and public sector, she said.

“Not all homeschoolers are bullied or have ADHD. It is a broad spectrum of learners who homeschool. There are those who are smart, or those who are average. It remains a niche market.”

“With homeschooling, you can individualise the learning. A lot of people are seeing amazing results because it is individualised focused attention. Not all learners flourish in a class with 40 learners. Some flourish on their own and that is a personality thing,” said Schoonwinkel.

ALSO READ: School bullying needs action plan

The upside includes those children who get easily distracted or face bullying.

“A homeschooling set up will help, like if a child who fidgets all the time, they are likely to be relaxed in a home environment. If a child struggles with bullying, this can be an alternative. There is a lot of research out there that says that a child is emotionally under pressure and can’t perform academically when they are being bullied,” she said.

It is not a 100% viable option, however, as children do not get to develop along with their peers, according to fellow at the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation at the University of Johannesburg Dr Sara Black.

“It is not beneficial for children to be homeschooled 99% of the time. It is rare that parents can support the child throughout the curriculum. It is not the poor parents who homeschool. it is the middle-class and wealthy people,” Black said.

Black recommends homeschooling and online learning for children who have specific special needs. 

“[This form of education is for] a child with specific education needs, like hearing or visual impairments, or some sort of autism – which is 0.01%. Bullying is a social relations problem which needs to be addressed without withdrawing the child from society,” said Black.

Homeschooling and online learning was indeed not for everyone, Schoonwinkel admitted.

“You might have a learner that just needs to move to a school because of a specific bully. You might have a learner who is traumatised that being at home would be a better solution. It’s not a one-size-fits-all. Parents need to look at their child and their individual needs.”

rorisangk@citizen.co.za