ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As COVID cases continue to spike and school districts announce their operating plans for fall, a nationwide survey of 1,000 parents commissioned by Varsity Tutors found nearly half (47 percent) are considering homeschooling during the 2020-2021 school year. In a typical year, 3 percent of students are homeschooled.
Parents have doubts about the availability and safety of in-person education this year, but are also concerned about their ability to teach to standards or requirements, which has resulted in higher usage of online resources during school and camp closures.
- 43% do not believe their children will attend in-person classes this fall1.
- 48% may not send their children to school, even if school is open1.
- 61% are concerned their kids are falling behind due to COVID-19.
- 70% are concerned their teaching won’t align to standards or requirements2.
- 53% have used online one-on-one, small group or large class instruction during school and summer camp closures1.
“Families are facing excruciating decisions this fall,” said Brian Galvin, Varsity Tutors’ Chief Academic Officer. “As COVID-19 cases rise in many parts of the country, parents don’t know whether they can safely send their kids to school, even if schools open. Most parents are not teachers, and the vast majority of parents are worried they don’t have the ability to keep their kids on track.”
As many parents across the country consider homeschooling their children during the 2020-2021 school year, Varsity Tutors today also announced the launch of School@Home, a personalized resource that provides complete support for homeschooling and puts the instruction in the hands of vetted educators on the Varsity Tutors platform.
School@Home aims to address those concerns, bringing parents options whether they seek to supplement or replace school during the 2020-2021 school year. School@Home provides complete support for homeschooling, including a guidance counselor to help build a schedule and personalized learning plan; enrichment classes; social opportunities via small group classes and virtual field trips; and an accreditation consultant to help make it easy for parents to navigate homeschool requirements state by state.
“School@Home will put the instruction in the hands of educators, and will give families all the tools they need to stay on track. It’s the perfect balance of sharing the load and taking responsibility for their kids’ education,” added Galvin.
For every School@Home package purchased by a family, Varsity Tutors will donate hours of one-on-one tutoring to nonprofits that help students succeed.
In addition to School@Home, Varsity Tutors offers a suite of resources to help ensure kids stay on track, including free learning assessments, free live classes through Virtual School Day and Virtual Summer Camp, and one-on-one and small group instruction.
About Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors is a Live Learning Platform that seamlessly connects experts and learners in more than 2,500 subjects. Our mission as a company is simple - We Help People Learn. Since 2007, we've been investing in online learning technology, built new to the world capabilities, and assembled some of the most talented educators across the US to help deliver that mission for hundreds of thousands of students. Amidst school closures and the potential for a prolonged amount of time out of the classroom due to COVID-19, our mission has become more important than ever. As a company we feel it is critical that these resources be readily and freely available at this time of great need.
For more information, visit https://www.varsitytutors.com.
