[spanhandler]

Homeschool for the very advanced older of our two elementary kids, done by one partner who's also going to be working from home, kind of. Many worries about that, including 1) will that actually work out OK?, and 2) if it does will that one end up so far ahead that we're now stuck homeschooling forever? Sort of a good problem to have but also... not a good problem to have.

Middle kid's going in, at least until they probably shut down in a month or two. Youngest is going to grandparents whom we very much hope we don't give The COVID, but none of the rest is happening if that one's home. No way.

[sparrish]

Been homeschooling mine for 15 years now. The fact that you're concerned about #1 means you're going to be just fine. Engaged and caring parents make great homeschoolers. It's the apathetic parents I've known that fail to educate their children.

[actfrench]

Here here! And the best think about the homeschooling community is people like you who cheer others on and support them! :)

[actfrench]

From what I've seen after talking to hundreds of secular homeschoolers and the minimal research done on this topic, kids with 1-2 hours a day of study facilitated by a parent do far better academically than the typical kid in school. They also do a great job transitioning back to school (if you decide to go that route) because they are so independent and autonomous.

Have you considered any of the learning tools like Khan Academy that don't need a parent to necessarily sit down with the child and can study independently?

Also, if you need a friendly ear, I'd be happy to help you and your partner think this through. I've been a teacher for 15 years in 3 countries, founded 3 startups to support homeschoolers, and most recently led schoolclosures.org and Modulo which are working directly to provide support to families. Happy to help in any way we can.

[spanhandler]

> From what I've seen after talking to hundreds of secular homeschoolers and the minimal research done on this topic, kids with 1-2 hours a day of study facilitated by a parent do far better academically than the typical kid in school. They also do a great job transitioning back to school (if you decide to go that route) because they are so independent and autonomous.

We're banking hard on the 1-2 hours a day of direct instruction thing being true :-)

> Have you considered any of the learning tools like Khan Academy that don't need a parent to necessarily sit down with the child and can study independently?

Absolutely, apps and youtube videos are how we're going to handle much or all of "specials" instruction (foreign language, art, music—I wouldn't have counted on it for music except we happen to already be doing that and it's going better than I could have imagined) and probably some of the science and social studies work. We're mostly focused on keeping our foot on the gas for reading and math, at which she's already far "ahead", as far as direct instruction goes—a kid who can read and is curious can cover more science and social studies on their own than they do in school, we both know from experience, so if those two core literacy subjects are going well we reckon no serious long-term harm has been done, even if we somehow fail at everything else.

> Also, if you need a friendly ear, I'd be happy to help you and your partner think this through. I've been a teacher for 15 years in 3 countries, founded 3 startups to support homeschoolers, and most recently led schoolclosures.org and Modulo which are working directly to provide support to families. Happy to help in any way we can.

Oh hey, we based a bunch of our research on a pile of modulo resources you posted on an HN thread some time back! Haha, cool, didn't realize you were you until I got to this paragraph. Thanks for the work you've done, and for your kind offer of support. At this point we don't know what we don't know and our unknowns are down to things we won't uncover until we start trying it, though, I think. Which is very soon. If our Singapore Math books we ordered 2 weeks ago ever show up, that is. :-/