More Mid-Michigan families homeschooling during pandemic

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - The number of people homeschooling their children has more than doubled since the pandemic began. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, before the pandemic, the rate of homeschooled children across the nation was around 3.3%. But as Stay at Home orders took effect in 2020, that percentage grew from 5.4% in May to to 11.1% last fall.

Michigan’s numbers are about the same, which comes to no surprise to one veteran homeschool mother. Andrea Larsen of East Lansing is a second generation homeschool teacher. She has four children who have been homeschooled from the start.

Larsen’s mother taught her from kindergarten through 11th grade. After spending her senior year in high school, she went on to get a bachelors degree and then a masters.

She says homeschooling allows parents to give their children an individualized learning experience.

Larsen said, “Where you have one kid interested in a certain topic, and you can pursue that with that child. Or you have another child who is struggling in an area, you can slow down.”

The approach is catching on. Larsen says she’s seen an explosion in families jumping on board with homeschooling.

“I think its a fairly large number of people are overwhelmed with what’s happening inside the schools either because of the pandemic itself or because of juggling that back and forth between home and school because of COVID issues coming up.”

Some of those families have reached out to Larsen through a Lansing homeschool Facebook page.

“I kind of walk them through the process of beginning slowly with home schooling so they don’t get overwhelmed.”

Larsen says the key to success is to get involved in to the homeschool community.

“I encourage new families to start out very simple when they’re starting homeschooling, where they maybe focus in on math and language arts and then they just do a lot of reading that would cover those other subject like science and history.”

The Larsen children are often done with class work by noon. It’s flexibility Larsen says

gives parents and children control over the curriculum and control over their day.

Larsen says the biggest misconception is that homeschooled children do not get the socialization they need. She says there are so many opportunities to engage with other families and share lessons.

“When we socialize our children, we really want them to interact with people of all ages, as opposed to simply interacting with peers. That ability to connect with somebody who is older is going to help them later on in life in the workplace, or connect with other siblings. I think it really provides that opportunity for socialization that is really unique.”

RESOURCES:

- Census Bureau explains the growth of homeschooling over the course of COVID.

- Lansing Homeschooler’s Guide

- Lansing Homeschoolers Secular Homeschool Group

This is an secular group for homeschooling parents in the greater Lansing Michigan area. This is a place for you to share ideas, links, curriculum and personal homeschooling experiences.

- Christian Home Educators Support System

CHESS provides a wide variety of opportunities to interact with other Christian homeschool families. Some are just starting to homeschool, others are seasoned veterans; all are an important part of the CHESS community.

- Lansing Homeschool Classifieds

This is a group for Homeschoolers living in or near Lansing to buy and sell HOMESCHOOL SUPPLIES and CURRICULUM and to share information about homeschool related classes and resources.

- Michigan Christian Homeschool Network

MICHN provides a wide variety of resources to assist Michigan families in their home education endeavors. MICHN (formerly INCH) has been providing information, instruction, and inspiration for Michigan’s home educators since 1984.

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