Webinar to address questions about various education options for next school year

Several months ago, if a person asked about homeschool, the term carried a very different connotation from what it does today. As something that began as a fringe movement among church organizations to combine education with religion, homeschooling has been thrust into the mainstream when the coronavirus drastically altered the face of education this spring.

The same goes for distance-learning, educational co-ops, pods, and other educational buzzwords parents have had to learn in a startlingly short span of time.

Since March, when COVID-19 closed businesses and shuttered classrooms, parents and teachers became responsible for making critical decisions about their children’s education in ways the country has never had to do before. When schools first closed, overwhelmed parents took to the internet, posting about the difficulties of athome learning as well as appreciation posts in praise of the teachers who had previously been responsible for the welfare of their school-aged children.

Jokes and memes aside, however, as the state of Texas reopened and COVID-19 cases started spiking, families and educators began to wrestle with the heavy questions of how to handle classroom instruction for the long run.

Like many area schools, San Marcos CISD elected to delay the start of the school year to Sept. 8, with the option of physically reopening on Oct. 5, depending on the number of COVID-19 cases in San Marcos and Hays County. The SMCISD reopening plan will begin with three phases, the first of which will be a survey released on July 28 where parents will get to choose whether they would like their students to return to in-person learning, or if they would prefer to continue learning remotely.

With such important questions looming on the horizon, parents are considering other options. For many parents, homeschool might be a viable answer.

The San Marcos Public Library will partner with homeschool curriculum specialist Nicole Romero-Piche, who will host a two-part virtual series titled We Got This: Homeschool Co-ops, Pods, and Other Options on consecutive Wednesdays, July 29 and Aug. 5 at 6 p.m.

Piche, who worked as a science and social studies teacher in the Austin Independent School District before switching to secular homeschooling, now runs the Love Of Learning Academy in Kyle. In addition to limited homeschool instruction (right now her classroom cap is five), Piche offers a wealth of experience to help families navigate the options available to them at this time.

“People are saying, if we do public school at home, will you help?” Piche said. “If we decide to transition to homeschooling, can you help us? A lot of people are trying to make those decisions right now.”

According to Piche, one major consideration for parents switching to homeschool or distance-learning has to do with the age group. For elementary students, withdrawing them from public-school at home and placing them in a homeschool co-op will have little to no impact on their educational path. However, for middle or high school students, there are much higher stakes.

“High school is such a different beast,” Piche said. “There is the possibility that you could lose credit if you are a homeschooled high schooler. It’s easy to enroll in homeschool but the reverse is not so easy.”

Additionally, elementary and secondary students require a much different approach for parents who are considering homeschooling their own children. Younger students need more teacher-led activities, while middle and high schoolers, can potentially operate with a much higher level of independence.

“There are so many factors to consider,” Piche said. “For most families, they’ve never even considered homeschooling.” As a curriculum specialist, Piche helps homeschooling and distance-learning families determine what they can handle right now to help in this challenging transition.

In addition to sharing information about homeschool, Piche will talk about educational pods and co-ops. “A pod looks a lot like a co-op,” Piche said. In a co-op, a group of parents come together to educate their children. Usually, in a co-op situation, each parent takes on a subject that will contribute to the greater good of the group.

“Right now, we have so many people who are not necessarily homeschoolers. There may be a mixture of homeschoolers [in a group], some of whom are doing online learning. Some people are hiring teachers to come to a location and teacher. Now you have a teacher in a miniature private school kind of situation. The idea is to find what people need, and if there are others with those same needs, then they can form a pod.”

Piche’s overall goal with the workshop series is to provide some insight into the various options available – from coops, to pods, to homeschooling by parents, to online or distance learning with teachers in a public school. But she also wants to impart some hope to everyone as we enter the new school year.

“Normal families are making sacrifices right now,” Piche said. “Our kids are seeing that. They’re feeling that. Younger kids see their parents being stressed. Teachers aren’t in control about what’s going on. At the same time, teachers are having to balance their own children and their own households.”

Currently in San Marcos, teachers are being asked to teach from inside their own classrooms once online school resumes. “We are leaning on our teachers a lot right now,” Deborah Carter, the San Marcos Public Library’s workforce librarian, said. “The fact is that a lot of teachers are also parents, and school closures and online learning also affects their family life.”

Carter expressed a hope that as the school year approaches, SMCISD will change their policy to allow educators to teach from their homes.

“School districts all over the state allow teachers to stay home with their children while they are teaching remotely,” Carter explained. “It's common sense in a way; that's what many of us are doing. It's remarkable that San Marcos ISD administration does not allow this same freedom to teachers. I can imagine it would be quite difficult to bring small children into a small room, create activities to keep them occupied, so you can teach from inside your classroom. Teaching at home allows children to be comfortable and allows teachers to focus on their job.”

So as we enter the 20-21 school year, there are certain things that teachers and parents will need in copious amounts if they are to cope with the challenges ahead:

“A lot of patience,” Piche said. “A lot of caring and understanding. It’s going to be frustrating. It’s so hard. But you’re not alone.”

For more information about the workshop series We Got This, visit the San Marcos Public Library’s events page or message LoveOfLearningHays on Facebook. The workshop is free and open to the public.