Equipping Parents for Effective HOME Schooling

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis has shuttered schools across the globe and left millions of schoolchildren quarantined. This pandemic has highlighted the importance of adequately educating homebound children. Although homeschooling has been growing in popularity in some areas of the world, particularly in the United States, it has not constituted a large percentage of the educational establishment in any part of the world. There has been debate about homeschooling for decades. This paper aims to show that success with homeschooling is possible and it will provide suggestions for empowering families to achieve that.  Four ways to empower home educators have been summarized into the HOME acronym. This acronym stands for (H) helping families find their fit, (O) offering a diversity of teaching resources, (M) making homeschooling socially acceptable, and (E) empowering homeschool partnerships. These practices can serve as a template for organizations that wish to support families who choose to homeschool their children or who are forced to by global constraints.  The recent crisis has provided an opportunity for nations, organizations, families, and students to share the leadership of their educational resources and practices. Collaboration and cooperation can help ensure homebound children receive the education they need. This type of collaboration will help prepare the world for the educational challenges the future might bring.