Learning from home was just about the best thing to happen to April Nagle's family during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Her daughters, aged eight, six and three, thrived at home. The youngest continued to attend daycare during the week, but the elder two locked down into full-time learning-from-home situation for weeks on end.
It worked so well that Ms Nagle has now decided to keep them learning from home potentially for the rest of their school careers.
"Homeschooling has been something I've thought about for a while," Ms Nagle said.
"The opportunity to study from home came up with COVID and it was actually not as stressful as I thought it would be."
Running a business from her Gobbagombalin home and with a background in teaching, Ms Nagle was well positioned to turn the learning-from-home situation into a permanent arrangement.
"There was no rushing out them out the door to school, there was no packing lunches or school bags, we started the day slowly and began with a walk," she said.
"Then we'd set down for our school work. It was just so much better for the whole family."
To begin with, the adjustment was a little challenging, particularly on the youngest child who had only just begun her school career when classrooms closed.
"My youngest had only just started kindy, so it was a bit of a jolt suddenly being home," Ms Nagle said.
"But they were mostly glad to be home. It's been a tougher adjustment now going back."
Until Ms Nagle's application for homeschooling is approved, the children will continue to attend their classroom. But, Ms Nagle hopes the time will soon come when there will be certainty in their studies again.
"We don't know what each week will hold, I mean look at Victoria, they were heading back to school and now they're at home again," Ms Nagle said.
"If we were definitely homeschooling already, we'd be doing our usual program with no change no matter what happens next in NSW."
Ms Nagle is not alone in seeking to make learning from home a full-time situation.
Rebecca Wells has been homeschooling her six-year-old daughter now for two years and has just been given approval for another two years.
Recently, Ms Wells said she has been approached by many who are looking to turn to homeschool arrangements more permanently.
"I have had people in our local community, friends of friends, friends interstate, people I've not met, ask about how home education works, the process for registration, the day-to-day," she said.
"We have had two new members join our homeschool community in the past fortnight; both as a result of COVID-19.
"Lots of parents I have spoken with have enjoyed having their children at home full-time with them. That may have come as a pleasant surprise," she said.
"I know parents who truly enjoyed the more relaxed pace to their days - once the online requirements of school were complete - and who were a little sorry to see their children return to school once lockdown was over."
But even as parents across the state had a taste for remote learning, Ms Wells said the reality of homeschooling can be vastly different.
She saw the differences starkly as her two older secondary school-aged children ventured home from their classrooms during terms one and two this year.
"Remote learning was very demanding of both students and parents, and teachers I'm sure. Students were required to spend much of their day in front of their laptop or computer if they had this access," Ms Wells said.
"Home education is not school at home. There is not someone providing you with work that must be done at a set time and in a set manner; as home educators, we have the freedom - and responsibility - to meet the curriculum in a way that is completely individual to our children, and our children have much greater freedom of choice."
The differences between the types of learning operations is something Wagga-based Charles Sturt University research Steve Murphy is currently looking into.
Three weeks ago, Mr Murphy began conversing with parents and teachers across the state about their experience in remote learning, to find out what worked and what did not.
"I'm mostly focusing on maths and science, which are very practical. There have been some creative ways parents and teachers have gotten students engaged from home, giving them hands-on experience, using resources in the kitchen or in the backyard," he said.
"A lot of parents have enjoyed that aspect of learning from home but it's also been very challenging for those who did not have a lot of time to devote to being their children's teacher."
Collaborating with Dr Jacquie Tinkler, Mr Murphy's research will investigate the potential long-term impacts of the COVID-19 disruptions to classroom learning.
"I really think parents and teachers should be congratulated on their commitment to keeping learning up in lockdown," Mr Murphy said.
"In some of the country schools, teachers were hand-delivering packs of cards or dice, going to huge lengths to make sure students could learn creatively."
Though, after weeks of lockdown learning in some areas, Mr Murphy envisions there will be significant challenges on classroom teachers to get their students all onto the same page again."
"I imagine there will still be impacts, though I can only speak for the science and maths side of things," he said.
"Some families managed well, but it's been next to impossible for others to keep pace and now, some students need to catch up."