CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — With schools turning to online classes again for much of the fall semester, more parents are voicing their concerns about having to balance teaching and working.
One teacher has decided to pursue private tutoring and working with smaller groups of students.
Trisha Whitehurst is a licensed teacher and mom. She wanted to help other parents by trying to starting an at-home learning program to help students with their online education for the upcoming school year.
"I'm not offering a curriculum," Whitehurst said. "I'm just trying to invite your students into my home as a teacher myself and walk them through this online curriculum that the public is giving your student."
Public School at Home is the program for parents who still want a certified professional with their kids, but aren't too comfortable sending them back to their traditional classrooms.
Teira Knerr is a concerned mother. She's worried that her daughter will get the virus and bring it home to the rest of the family. She said it's difficult to find the time to teach her daughter's online lessons.
"A lot of parents have multiple kids to where they physically don't really have the time to sit down with their children after work or before bed to help them and get them where they need to be," Knerr said.
While the idea behind the at home programs is to minimize the risk of students getting the virus, parents still wonder how much less of a risk could it be.
Nueces County Health Director Annette Rodriguez said home based learning facilities are gaining more attention as the school year approaches. Any time we can limit gatherings to a lower number -- it's often the safer option.
"When you go to the school, you might be in the classroom with 20 kids, but then they all end up in the cafeteria, they all end up together in recess or P.E.," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said it's still dependent on the parents and teachers to agree to limit their outings for the safety of specific students involved.
If a family does have to go to a large gathering or comes into contact with someone who has the virus -- they should agree to keep their child home and self-quarantine.
"If everybody's working hard to practice these behaviors, I think they could be very, very successful," Rodriguez said.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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