Last night, New Hanover County Board of Education decided to open schools under Plan C. Unlike the previous idea of splitting students into groups and bringing them into classrooms only a couple days a week, this newly adopted plan means that all learning will be virtual for the first grading period. Many families who struggled with virtual learning in the spring are now considering other options like private school or homeschooling.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Public schools are required to follow all state guidelines. However, private schools aren’t limited to state rules. Some parents may find private Christian schools a good alternative for their families. Notable area Christian schools include Wilmington Christian Academy, Myrtle Grove Christian School, and Coastal Christian High School.
HOMESCHOOL
Other families may find homeschooling to be a great option. Kathy Iandoli recently joined Life 90.5 to talk about it. She represents both North Carolinians for Home Education and Christian Home Educators of Wilmington.
Great Interest
“There’s been such a mass exodus happening from the public schools to homeschooling right now,” Kathy says. “In fact, you have to register your homeschool through the Department of Nonpublic Education in Raleigh, the DNPE site, and two weeks ago the site crashed because so many parents were pulling their children out of school and enrolling them in homeschool.”
The Benefits
There are many reasons why families choose to homeschool. It could be that parents want to ensure their child gets an education with a strong Christian connection, have flexibility, or strengthen family bonds. Fortunately for North Carolinians, laws are easy for parents to choose homeschooling. Plus, homeschooled children usually have no problem getting into college.
Homeschooling is very different from virtual learning from public schools. This past spring, students were forced to learn by sitting at a computer all day. However, Kathy reports that “Homeschooling is not like that. You have so many different choices. There are hundreds of different programs to choose from. There’s so much more flexibility.”
One may think that homeschooling means staying home all day every day. But that is not the case! “There’s field trips, other events, homeschool sports teams, drama, music, dance,” Kathy says. “So many things to choose from for homeschoolers now in the community that doesn’t keep your child in front of a computer all day.”
Individualization is another key component of homeschooling. Kathy says, “It can be tailored for your child. If they’re having difficulty in a particular subject, you can take more time to spend on that subject, or find a curriculum that fits for that particular child’s needs. You can also hire a tutor if you need to. There are ways around the need for that child and the flexibility that the parent can offer that fits their needs.”
The Cost
Contrary to popular belief, homeschooling can, in fact, be very affordable. Kathy explains the options saying what works for your family “could be an expensive all-in-one program. Some are very cheap. There’s one program I know of that’s $20 a month. It really depends on what you’re looking for. I mean, you can do it on a shoestring with used books and a library. You can create your own curriculum if you’re creative enough. It really can be very inexpensive.”
FIND OUT MORE
For more information, you can go to North Carolinians for Home Education’s website at nche.com. You can also find out more from Christian Home Educator’s of Wimlington at chewilm.com. Or you can contact Kathy Iandoli directly at kathyiandoli7@gmail.com.
