The pandemic has brought about a new perspective on the benefits of homeschooling children, particularly since many parents’ work and home life has been disrupted or adapted to accommodate their children’s schooling. Traditional homeschooling does not include access to a teacher nor the dependence on one, to create a curriculum for your child. In this case, the parent becomes the teacher.

Why do Parents Homeschool?
In most cases, parents choose homeschooling because they believe that they can school their kids better than the traditional school. Some children have learning disabilities and may need more time to learn at their own pace. Others wish to incorporate their own values, ethics and religion, which isn’t offered in a regular school. Although the schools do address bullying, some parents wish to homeschool their children to avoid the circumstances of bullying altogether.

Parents are provided with resources from the Ministry of Education and there are plenty of reference tools and online support groups to ask your homeschooling questions. Homeschooling has often been considered taboo by modern society for the average family because some people believe it to be old-fashioned or that parents may not be proficient enough in all areas to homeschool their children properly. A teacher is educated and trained to be a professional educator. The difference between a teacher and parent is that the parent has the luxury to work one-on-one with their child to address their needs personally, educationally and individually.

The World is Your Classroom!
Homeschooling provides flexibility to learn outside of the classroom. Lessons can be taught through activities or excursions with the family. A nature walk can be your science class and learning other life skills such as cooking and gardening can be incorporated into a lesson on how to read instructions and learn measurements and fractions. The student experiences the lesson and remembers what is being taught instead of just reading it in a textbook.

Laura Pizzardi, a stay-at-home mom with three children, provides some insight on her life as a mom, homeschooling her son even before the pandemic began. “I am very happy to have made this decision when I did. This year is our second year of homeschool. My oldest is 10 years old and this year we are working on grade 4/5 material as well as others,” she says. “We do follow the progress of learning documents issued by the Quebec Ministry of Education, as well as a representative from the Ministry of Education to make sure that all our work complies with Quebec's requirements for the progress of learning. We create yearly learning projects, mid-term reports and end of year portfolios that are revised and discussed with the ministry.  Patience and time management are key, as well as adapting to each of your children’s learning needs.”

Pizzardi says that for those considering joining the homeschool community, her advice would be not to let negativity from others stop you from homeschooling if you believe it is what's best for your family. “There is such a wonderful community and so much support to help every step of the way of the homeschool journey. We become completely present and involved with their education, learning progress as well as deepening our bond with our children on a magical level,” says Pizzardi.