CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte mother says homeschooling her son, who has ADHD and dyslexia, helped him dramatically improve his grades.
What You Need To Know
- The nonprofit North Carolinians for Home Education reports they have seen an increase of parents homeschooling their children to give assisted learning
- Vallencia Frazier said she started helping her children learn at home when schools went remote in spring 2020
- She says her son went from D and F grades to A and B grades
When Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools were fully remote due to COVID in 2020, Vallencia Frazier brought her children to the YMCA for physical education. It was a great way for them to exercise and start their days, particularly her son.
“A lot of times it’s hard for him to focus on one thing for too long,” Frazier said.
She says the workouts allowed him to focus his energy for a period of time and then move to the next task.
“It helped him compartmentalize,” Frazier said. “So let me do this for 30 minutes, because after 30 minutes I will do something else.”
This type of work flow also paired well in his academics. Frazier is a science teacher and says she started helping educate her children at home when schools went fully remote in May of 2020.
“It was out of necessity,” Frazier said. “It wasn’t fully a choice.”
She says when her son was in public school he was on the verge of failing with D and F grades.
“Teachers didn’t understand that he was this brilliant person,” Frazier said. “But when it came time to focus and produce the work they wanted, he couldn’t produce the work they wanted.”
Frazier realized her son needed a more individualized and flexible approach in his learning.
Shortly after starting remote learning, his grades improved to As and Bs. When public schools went back to the classroom she decided to homeschool him for another year.
“I was worried that he was going to lose the opportunity to even go to college because of all the distractions of all the other students,” Frazier said.
The director of the nonprofit North Carolinians for Home Education, Amanda Wares, says they have seen more parents opt to homeschool for this reason.
“Those numbers were increasing before COVID, but when COVID hit, it started skyrocketing even more, and it hasn’t stop,” Wares said.
She says it allows certain children to learn in an environment that best suits them.
“If they have ADHD, for example, and they want to do their math facts while they are standing up or jumping rope or whatever, they can,” Wares said. “They don’t have to sit in a desk all day, and it can be more flexible.”
Frazier says she recently decided to put her child back into public school, and he has continued to maintain his grades. Frazier believes it’s because he learned healthy habits at home and figured out a way to learn that best works for him.
“He has surprised me,” Frazier said. “I am constantly talking to his counselors, because I am concerned, but he has kept up his As and Bs.”
North Carolinians for Home Education has several tips and resources for parents, who are considering homeschooling their children. To learn more, visit their website.