Human Life and Dignity Blog

This is the year when distancing-learning came home--literally! Parents who would never have considered home-schooling are forming 'pods' with friends, and parents--whether they have to leave for work or are working at home--are baffled about how to oversee their children and their school-work and still make a living. While home-schooling has always seemed a bit off the beaten track to most parents, San Francisco resident Vivian Dudro has a few tips. She and her husband educated four children, with all of them at one point or another home-schooled, while at other times they attended 'regular' school. Here is her take on the advantages of home-schooling.
 

Can You Homeschool Your Children? Yes, You Can!

By Vivian W. Dudro

                As the new academic year fast approaches, recent studies show that many parents across the country are considering homeschooling their children because of uncertainty about the risks of Covid-19 and what schools are doing to address them. Having educated four now-adult children through eighth grade (and one of the four through high school), I have some tips and encouragement to offer parents who are considering homeschooling.
                1. First, let me state the obvious: in order to educate a child successfully, parents need to be actively engaged in their child’s learning. But before anyone gets scared off by this prospect, remember that parent involvement is what assures the academic success of any child, whether at home or in a brick-and-mortar school.
                2. But what if I don’t have the time?  Contrary to what you might expect, homeschooling doesn’t take all day. In fact, grammar school children need to spend only about three hours a day in active instruction to cover all the ground they cover during a school day. Parents are often surprised to hear this because their children spend so many hours at school and often have homework to do afterward. They don’t add up how much time in school is spent on other things besides actual instruction—everything from attendance to recess.
                3. Once parents understand that it takes only three hours to cover grade-school academic material each day, they can begin to visualize all the creative ways that teaching or supervising instruction could take place in their family: parents can take turns covering different subjects or parents can join together with other parents to form small learning groups for their children. In these arrangements parents can teach various subjects to the group or they can share the expense of hiring tutors for certain subjects. This latter option is particularly helpful for high school math, science, and foreign language.
                4. What about math and science? is another common question. First, there are so many excellent resources out there for children learning at home that there really is no such thing as a mountain too high in this regard. I know of some parents with no more than a high school diploma who successfully educated their children at home.
                5. And here is a fun but little-known fact—one of the great things about homeschooling is all the wonderful things you get to learn yourself. So many things I either never learned or learned poorly when I was young I discovered along with my children.
                6. For many families, the corona virus pandemic has been opportunity to get back to basics. In the more than 25 years I have been living in San Francisco, I have never seen so many parents playing outdoors with their children. When I see these parents, I feel like approaching them and saying, Cherish this time with your children. The years I spent with my young children--reading books aloud, walking on the beach, visiting museums (which sadly are still closed, but outdoors ones, at least, are open), and celebrating the riches of our Catholic faith— were the most joyful years of my life. Yes, they were challenging too, but the best things in life usually are.                  

Vivian Dudro is a senior editor at Ignatius Press. Over the years she has contributed articles to National Catholic Register, Catholic World Report, and Catholic San Francisco on topics related to faith and family life. 

By Valerie Schmalz,
Director of Human Life and Dignity
July 22, 2020

The Catholic bishops of California are calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to develop safety protocols to allow children to return to in-person schooling, saying in a letter today “what our children will lose by ‘virtual; education—in terms of emotional development, skills and learning and achievement—will have a significant impact. In the name of protecting their health in the short-term, we may very likely be risking their long-term growth and potential.”

The bishops called on Gov. Newsom to “expedite issuing regulations that will enable local health authorities to grant waivers for pre-K, primary, and secondary schools to open for in-person instruction.”

And they noted: “Catholic schools are not just a concern for Catholics and it is not accurate to describe our schools as ‘private.’ Our schools serve an irreplaceable public good in giving young people the chance to realize the American dream, especially young people from racial minority and low-income families.  Across California, our schools serve mostly racial minority students, and more than half of our schools are located in urban or inner-city neighborhoods. Many of the children we serve are not Catholics.”

Well said!

The numbers collected by the state Department of Public Health support a compelling case for a return to in-person schooling.

The number of infections continued to climb in the state of California to above 413,000, YET, COVID-19 has claimed ZERO children’s lives in the Golden State. No deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded in anyone 17 or under as of this week. That’s according to the California Department of Public Health’s July 21 report found here.

Nevertheless, Gov. Newsom on Friday, July 17, announced that all TK-12 schools in California will be held to new requirements for resuming in-person instruction. With that order, schools in 33 counties across the state of California will begin the new school year with only distance learning. Schools can only reopen after the county where they are located is off the state watch list for 14 days. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has already announced it will have to start the school year with distance learning.  Update as of July 23 -- Archdiocese of San Francisco's Catholic elementary schools in San Francisco and Marin counties will also begin the year online. See Superintendent Pam Lyons' letter in English and Spanish.

In general, Catholic schools are able to return to in-person instruction, safely, with all the protocols that are required by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and they should be allowed to re-open—no matter what the public school districts decide.

Let’s be real—the decision for distance learning is going to be bad for the kids, and if it is possible to open schools and comply with public health protections—all schools should try to open.

 “The sad fact, and nobody wants to say it out loud, is that if we continue with distance learning, the vast majority of students will not get anywhere near what they would get in the classroom.” That’s from San Francisco School Board president Mark Sanchez, in a July 11 story written by Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle. Sanchez added: “That is doubly so for students who are already vulnerable.”

On Sunday, former SF Mayor Willie Brown wrote in his column in the Chronicle: “San Francisco Unified’s decision to open the school year with distance teaching will have a devastating effect on kids in the Bayview, Hunters Point and Mission. Many of them don’t come from families with a lot of technological advantages. Trying to teach them via computer is a joke and will put them further behind in their learning. Plus, keeping at-risk kids at home will have a terrible impact on the mental, physical and economic health of both the children and their families.”

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Letter from Catholic California Bishops to Gov. Newsom:Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Catholic Church in California has supported and cooperated with public officials’ efforts to contain the spread of this deadly disease, including closing our schools and suspending public worship. We took these steps, not because the government issued orders, but because our God is love and he calls us to love for our neighbors. That means working for the common good and protecting the sanctity and dignity of human life, taking special care for the poor and elderly, the sick and vulnerable.
In the wake of the coronavirus lockdowns, our schools made a remarkable transition to distance learning. Within days, all of our state’s Catholic schools were up and running teaching students online.

On Friday, the 17th of July, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that all TK-12 schools in California will be held to new requirements for resuming in-person instruction.  As a result, schools in 33 counties across the state of California will begin the new school year with only distance learning.
Catholic schools are not just a concern for Catholics and it is not accurate to describe our schools as “private.” Our schools serve an irreplaceable public good in giving young people the chance to realize the American dream, especially young people from racial minority and low-income families.  Across California, our schools serve mostly racial minority students, and more than half of our schools are located in urban or inner-city neighborhoods. Many of the children we serve are not Catholics.

We understand that the threat of the coronavirus is real and ongoing in our state. And we understand the legitimate concerns that teachers, parents, and elected officials have about the safety of returning to the classrooms this fall. At the same time, we are deeply concerned about the broader health and development issues for our children if the state presumes to rely only on distance learning until a vaccine is developed.
In-person learning, especially at the lower grades, provides emotional and social skills and supports that are crucial to early childhood development and the overall wellbeing of children which simply cannot be replaced.

What our children will lose by “virtual” education — in terms of emotional development, skills and learning and achievement — will have a significant impact. In the name of protecting their health in the short-term, we may very likely be risking their long-term growth and potential.
Our Catholic schools across the state have been diligently implementing the Centers for Disease Control guidance for schools and the recommendations of local health authorities in preparing to return to the classrooms. As many businesses, organizations, and government offices around the country are doing, we are making accommodations to adapt to the new realities caused by this pandemic.

The public-health science suggests that elementary-age students can return with low risk of infection or transmission of the virus among students or between students and teachers. So, we are urging Governor Newsom to continue the dialogue on this crucial question of how to reopen our schools safely.
We urge the Governor to expedite issuing regulations that will enable local health authorities to grant waivers for pre-K, primary, and secondary schools to open for in-person instruction.

Fast action by the Governor will allow decisions to be made on a case-by-case basis at the local level, by those public officials, along with educators, who are in the best position to evaluate safety concerns in individual schools.  
We stand ready to work with the Governor and our neighbors on this matter of vital concern to our great state and especially to its poor and minority peoples.

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