- The COVID-19 pandemic hitour educational system hard,

and one of the major effectscame in homeschooling.

A census report foundhomeschooling doubled during COVID.

Here with us for more on that

and how parents can be prepared

for homeschooling is AnnMiller, the executive director

of the Home EducatorsAssociation of Virginia.

Thank you so much for being here.

So, tell us more about howCOVID affected homeschooling.

What changes did we see as a result?

- Well, your reference tothe census was remarkable

in that homeschooling for the20-21 school year doubled.

An interesting fact thatthat US census found,

and that census was alsojust released in March,

they also found that the number of black

or African American familiesincreased five times,

- Wow.- which is amazing

because, in homeschooling,

there's long been a stigmaagainst homeschooling

in some black communities.

But homeschooling, blackchildren are thriving,

and research shows thatthey're 42 percentile points

ahead in language artsand 26 percentile points

ahead in math scores comparedto public school students,

homeschooled black students.

So we're just seeing people understanding

the benefits of homeeducation and the growth.

And you know, we see the Lord

turning the hearts of theparents to the children

and they want to do what'sright for their kids,

and they're finding that homeschooling

has been a tremendous option.

Here in Virginia, ourhomeschooling's increased 48%.

- [Efrem] Wow.

- Yeah.

- Now children, ofcourse, have been taught

because of the school shutdowns.

How is this differentfrom the virtual learning

many families have experiencedover the last year?

- Yeah, well, virtual learning

can actually be a componentof home education.

- Okay.- Home education

is really about parent-directed,parent-led education,

so parents can use whateverworks for their kids.

And homeschooling also,it's a wonderful way

to disciple our children,

and you know there's a battle raging

for the hearts and the minds of our kids.

- [Efrem] Absolutely.

- And it's an opportunity for parents

to instill their values and their beliefs

as well as academics.

Homeschoolers, the research shows

they do phenomenally well academically,

but homeschooling, Efrem,is about so much more

than just academics.

And for those who are worried,

(Efrem chuckles)

colleges love homeschoolers.

Every homeschool parent,

they have a preschoolerand they want to know,

"Can my kid get into college?"

- [Efrem] Absolutely.

- We do an annual convention

and we have over 12,000people who attend every year,

and the college fair part,

the preschool parents are there, like,

"Can my kids get into college?"

Colleges actually arerecruiting homeschoolers,

and we have one college that told us

that they are puttingtheir marketing budget

into recruiting homeschoolers

because they've changed theatmosphere on their campus.

- Oh, wow.- So,

the results speak for themselves.

But in the end, homeschoolingis about a lot more

than academics; it's about relationships.

It's about relationshipswith our children,

with each other, and ultimately,

our relationship with the Lord.

And so parents have that opportunity

through educating their children at home

to disciple them in the ways of the Lord,

and also, the worldbecomes your classroom.

- Yes, indeed.- You know,

it's age integrated learning

in kind of an outside the box way.

- I love it, so you can takeeducation on the road with you

if necessary.- Yeah, yeah.

Road schooling is actually, is a thing.

Well, the world doesbecome your classroom,

- Indeed.- and you have,

you're not limited to a set of textbooks

or a certain curriculum.

And struggling learners,

homeschooling is especiallygood for struggling learners

because parents can remediate,

and that's one thing thatparents found out from COVID.

- Yeah.- They didn't know why

their kids were struggling in school.

And they were involved parents

and then they found out, like,

(gasps) they don't know their math facts.

- Yeah.- So they were able

to stop everything, remediate,and let them catch up,

mastery learning.- Love it.

Before we let you go, we'rejust about out of time,

you got a conference coming up,

Homeschooling withConfidence: Unstoppable.

- Yes.

- Tell us who this is for andwhy it's important right now.

- This is for any parent or grandparent

who's interested in teaching

and training their children at home.

And the conference is filled

with practical, relevant tips, ideas,

helping parents think outsidethe box about education,

because we're used toone model of education

- Yeah.- and homeschooling

is a completely different model.

So we want to equip and encourage parents

to have the confidenceto teach their children.

- Indeed. Thank you so much, Ann Miller.

Confidence is what we need

'cause I know I'm a parent as well

and I didn't think I was qualified

to homeschool until this last year,

- Yes, most parents don't,- so thank you.

- but it grows us as well.

But it's a wonderful thing and there is,

it's so important for today

because there is a battle

for the hearts and theminds of our children,

and we don't want them tobecome collateral damage.

- Absolutely.

Thank you so much.

Want to let you know at home

that you can find out more

about going to the homeschooling-

- Ooh, and it's free.

- And it's free.- It's all free.

- Very good.- How did I forget that?

It is all free.

- Go to HomeschoolingWithConfidence.org,

you can find it.

As you just heard, it is

- [Both] All free.

- Thank you so much, Ann.

Much appreciated.

- You are very welcome.