Jan 25, 2021   SOURCE: PR NewsWire

New Survey Reveals Parents Who Switched to Homeschooling in Pandemic are Happy with Decision

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.

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SOURCE Time4Learning