Have you heard of hybrid homeschooling?

It actually isn’t new, although it is definitely getting more press. Hybrid homeschooling is where students attend some type of program on a part time basis and then spend part of the school week at home. This takes some of the heavy lifting of teaching off of homeschool parents and let homeschooled kids get a taste of a more typical learning environment.

This spring the world turned upside down (forgive the Hamilton reference – I’m more than a little in love). As kids were moved home in an effort, to control the spread of COVID-19. It is now post July 4th here in the States, and many school systems don’t know exactly what school will look like in the fall. If your system has revealed their plan you might not be happy with your choices.

Hybrid Homeschooling and Public School

Many school systems are suggesting some type of model where kids will be in school on some rotation system. This is to allow for kids to attend class and still respect the social distance measures to help keep everyone safe. I know in our own system, we still don’t know what that will look like.

I’ve talked to lots of people and some people had great experiences in the spring and others of us – did not. My kinder was NOT enjoying learning on the computer and we quickly had to change up our emergency homeschool routine. My middle school boys quickly adapted to teleconferencing classes and loved the lack of commute time.

Part Time Homeschooling

My boys have been part time homeschooling for many years. It started as a way to give them a social outlet. As my own parenting (hello surprise baby number four) and job responsibilities changed I’ve been happy to have the help. My kids have gone to single day long tutorials in the past, but this year we picked a few classes for each of them to take in areas where they needed extra help. I really watched them blossom as students. We are also fortunate enough to have a great tutor to help them out this year.

Do I still consider myself a homeschooler? YES. I’ve tried teaching my sweet boys grammar for years, but they were not getting it. One year with a very regimented program (not my strong suit) and there progress has been impressive. I always teach science since that is my thing. The boys used online curriculum for math this year. Then we had our electives. I stayed busy either taking them to class or teaching all year long.

Considering homeschooling during the pandemic?

You aren’t alone. If you just plan on homeschooling for a short amount of time, then you are considered a short term homeschooler. This is actually pretty common. Some families need a year off from public school because of travel, illness, or another private reason. Read my recent post on short term homeschooling to find out a little more about how that works.

Different Styles of Homeschooling

If you talk to ten homeschooling families, they will probably give you ten different descriptions about what homeschooling looks like in their house. My advice is that you will always be looking to make whatever you do the best it can be for your family. That often means that you combine lots of different styles of homeschooling.

What are the styles of homeschooling?

There are lots of them. This is a sample.

Traditional homeschoolers use some combination of traditional textbook curriculum (although many programs are also including online textbooks and courses now).
Literature focused homeschoolers use a curriculum that focuses on reading and discussing books rather than using a textbook as a spine.
Virtual homeschoolers vary from being enrolled in virtual to taking individual classes online with an instructor.
Online learning usually involves some type of video instruction and is often self-paced.
Interest led homeschoolers allow their kids the freedom to explore their interests. Some of these homeschoolers combine their interests with more traditional coursework and some don’t.
Hybrid homeschoolers