General News – Homeschool News Today

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Time4Learning, a national homeschool curriculum, today released key findings of a national study measuring perceptions of homeschooling parents against those of the general population. The survey found that families who opted to homeschool amid the pandemic had a more favorable attitude towards online learning, with 79 percent sharing their intention to continue using online resources as supplemental education to in-person learning following a return to the classroom. The nationwide survey by Hanover Research was conducted over two weeks, from November 16 to November 30, on behalf of Time4Learning among a cross section of families. Distributed via email, the survey compared 500 responses from the general population, defined as parents not registered on Time4Learning but familiar with online homeschooling, to responses from Time4Learning customers. Most respondents had homeschooled seriously in the past six months (64 percent), primarily due to COVID-related restrictions (43 percent) or uncertainty over school reopening (22 percent). Key findings: 1. The pandemic attracted a new and different family demographic to homeschooling. While traditional homeschooling customers tended to live in rural or suburban southern states and hold a bachelor's degree, general population homeschoolers were mostly urban northern families (66 percent) who have earned at least one post-secondary degree (64 percent).In this new demographic, the responsibility of homeschooling was shared by full-time working parents or guardians (88 percent), compared to traditional homeschoolers who rely on a stay-at-home parent for homeschooling duties. 2. Attitudes and sentiments about homeschooling have increased significantly. The general population indicated that their perception of remote learning has increased since the emergence of COVID (73 percent) and reported a positive perception of homeschooling (71 percent) and online learning (73 percent).Since the pandemic, families that were new to the education model were more likely to consider homeschooling easy (59 percent), while nearly half of the families (40 percent) preferred online learning to in-person learning. 3. Families who have been exposed to homeschooling are more likely to continue using online learning resources post-pandemic. The general population is more likely to continue using online resources upon their child's return to in-person classroom instruction (79 percent).They prioritized self-paced learning options (84 percent), lesson planning capabilities (76 percent), adaptability (73 percent), excellent customer service/support (73 percent) and alignment with state academic standards (72 percent) as the most important factors when considering future online homeschooling. "The pandemic prompted many families to homeschool their children seriously for the first time," said Time4Learning Founder and President John Edelson. "With an estimated 10 percent of our national student population now homeschooling, the secret is out: there are viable school choice options available to parents who want to take control of their children's education." Read the full summary of findings here https://www.time4learning.com/download/pdf/time4learning-hanover-research.pdf. About Time4Learning Time4Learning is an award-winning, online curriculum for PreK-12th grade that teaches math, language arts, science, social studies and more. The interactive, student-paced curriculum features thousands of multimedia-based lessons, activities, and printable worksheets. In addition to the Time4Learning curriculum, there's Time4Writing and Time4MathFacts to help with those skill areas. Interested families may visit Time4Learning.com for more information on how to get started, and to view demos. SOURCE Time4Learning