Parents turning to 'learning pods' as  classroom alternative

Some parents in the United States who are worried about sending their children back to school for in-person classes amid the novel coronavirus pandemic are forming "learning pods", small educational groups with a teacher.

The initiative that sees groups of four or five students, sometimes more, studying together, usually at parents' homes, is sweeping the country as an infection-conscious alternative to in-person schooling amid pressure from President Donald Trump and some governors for schools to reopen.

On social media sites, families report setting up learning pods in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, Florida, Texas, Ohio and other cities and states. A month-old Facebook group called Pandemic Pods has more than 37,000 members seeking and giving advice.

Most learning pods use a private teacher or tutor to conduct lessons and help children with their school's virtual lessons. Parents alternate which house they use to host classes. Tutors are paid $50 to $60 an hour or more, depending on the number of children. Some parents are willing to pay the educators full salary or thousands of dollars for the service, according to CNN.

In Westchester County, north of New York City, where two professional education groups have formed and run pods, each pod for grades K-4 costs $125,000 for the academic year, or $68,750 for a five-month commitment.

With five children in a pod, for example, the cost per student is $13,750 per semester. The more children in the pod, the lower the cost per student.

That option appeals to Jeanette Matas, 42, a Miami teacher who is wary of returning to the classroom over fears she'll get sick.

"Right now, people are in panic mode," Marnie Weinstein, an education consultant with Washington-based Weinstein Educational Consulting, told CNN.

She said her email inbox is full of parents desperate to find alternative ways for their children to do schoolwork from home. She is helping many to create learning pods with other parents.

"It could be a room upstairs (in the house) just as long as the teacher can set it up to feel like a classroom," Weinstein said.

The pods are mainly taking place in suburban homes, usually in affluent neighborhoods. Each pod has its own set of rules, like what time school starts or when children have lunch.

Andrea Labouchere, a mother and learning pod organizer from Atlanta, told CNN: "I envisioned a one-room schoolhouse. We wanted to create an environment where our kids could work together, be together and have that social part of school. It's so important for their development."

Her daughter, Addy Labouchere, told CNN: "I'd rather be in a pod with my friends than be at home just working on school by myself."

However, there has been criticism that families from poorer backgrounds or different ethnicities won't be able to participate.

Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis criticized the pods during an educational discussion as "luxuries" that low-income parents can't afford.

Clara Totenberg Green, a social and emotional learning specialist in Atlanta agrees. She told The New York Times: "At face value, learning pods seem a necessary solution to the current crisis. But in practice, they will exacerbate inequities, racial segregation and the opportunity gap within schools."

The fact that the children gather in groups also has raised concerns that pods could transmit the coronavirus.

Dr William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, warned that no group gathering is safe. "We haven't got a vaccine yet," he told China Daily.