A safer alternative to education during Covid-19
Student360's first digital magazine, Home Schooling. To access the magazine, click on the link below. Picture: File.
A year ago, nobody could have predicted Covid-19 and the “new normal” that’s taking over the world and education.
As a parent, the biggest concerns are the safety of your child and their education.
Home schooling, also known as home education, is the education of school-going children at home or somewhere other than a public school or independent school. It is usually conducted by a parent/s and is not the same as online learning.
The difference between home schooling and online learning is that with home schooling, the parents act as full-time teachers, while with online education – also known as virtual learning – online teachers manage the learner’s studies from afar within a structured school curriculum.
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There are many benefits to home schooling your children, but the big one is the one-on-one attention.
As a parent, you can structure your lessons and routines around your family’s schedules and needs, and adjust the pace of your lessons.
If you want to go the home schooling route and want to educate your children at home during the pandemic, you must register your child with the Department of Education if they fall within Grades 1 to 9. Registration is free.
The registration is necessary because, by law, every South African child is entitled to an education up to Grade 9 and it is compulsory that they receive it. After Grade 9, your child no longer needs to be registered as home schooled, however, he/she may still want to study towards a Matric and/or university entrance.
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If you are unsure of how home schooling works or may require additional information on how this affects your child, speak to other home schooling families, you can also join Facebook support groups such as Home schooling in South Africa .
With more than 20 000 members, this supportive Facebook group helps anyone home schooling or interested in home schooling. And it is a safe, private group that only allows parents with children.
