Homeschoolers try mix-and-match option
Long before Covid-19 closed schools, families were "combining part-time homeschooling with part-time in-person classes, reports Greg Toppo on The 74. But the model is growing.
Most of these part-time schools are private and church-based,A says Eric Wearne, who founded a research center at Kennesaw State University, northwest of Atlanta, to study what he calls the "hybrid school" model. (It now means a mix of online and in-person classes, but he's talking about a mix of home and school-based learning.)
A few charter and district schools are experimenting with the model, Wearne reports.
Most programs are in the suburbs, his March 2022 survey found. The typical school enrolls 227 students and provides K-5 instruction. The average tuition is $4,158 a year, much more affordable for middle-class families than the average private school.
An EdChoice poll asked parents their preferred school schedule after the pandemic. Full-time traditional schooling was the first choice of 45 percent, while 11 percent thought full-time homeschooling was ideal. Forty-three percent wanted to split the week between school and home-based learning with 31 percent saying two to three days at home was ideal.