As families explore different educational options for their children, one Onslow County mother says homeschooling has provided flexibility, individualized learning and opportunities beyond the traditional classroom.<\/p>\n
Beth Ferraro joined News 12’s “Beyond the Headlines” to discuss her family’s homeschooling experience and why she and her husband chose that path for their children.<\/p>\n
Ferraro said neither she nor her husband were homeschooled themselves, but they had discussed the possibility before the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
When schools shifted to remote learning in 2020, Ferraro said the experience helped answer two important questions.<\/p>\n
“Can I teach my kids? Can my kids learn from me?” Ferraro said. “We realized that yes to both of those questions.”<\/p>\n
She said the flexibility homeschooling provides became one of the biggest factors in their decision.<\/p>\n
Ferraro said her children were able to complete their academic work in a fraction of the time typically spent in a traditional school day, leaving more time for enrichment activities and family experiences.<\/p>\n
“Our biggest kicker out of that was why are the kids required to be in school for so long?” Ferraro said.<\/p>\n
One concern often raised about homeschooling is socialization. Ferraro said that was among the first questions family and friends asked when they announced their plans.<\/p>\n
She believes those concerns are largely outdated.<\/p>\n
“There are hundreds of homeschool park meetups and church outings,” Ferraro said. “There’s just so many opportunities now.”<\/p>\n
According to Ferraro, her children participate in theater productions, music lessons and community activities that bring together students from a variety of educational backgrounds.<\/p>\n
She said extracurricular opportunities are available through community organizations, recreation leagues and, in some cases, local schools.<\/p>\n
Ferraro also outlined North Carolina’s homeschooling requirements. Parents must register a homeschool with the state and provide proof of educational qualifications. Her family also administers annual achievement testing to track academic progress.<\/p>\n
“My only fear was I didn’t want them to ever feel like they’re getting less of an education than if they went to a public school or even a private school,” Ferraro said.<\/p>\n
She said her children’s testing results have helped reassure the family that they are meeting academic goals while maintaining the flexibility homeschooling offers.<\/p>\n
Ferraro encouraged families considering homeschooling to research curriculum options and find an approach that works best for their children’s learning styles.<\/p>\n
“There are so many different curriculums right now out there,” she said. “It’s really about finding the one that works the best for you.”<\/p>\n
This interview is part of News 12’s Beyond the Headlines series examining educational options available to families across Eastern Carolina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As families explore different educational options for their children, one Onslow County mother says homeschooling has provided flexibility,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-306627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}