My son was set to enter kindergarten in the fall of 2020. My husband and I took him for kindergarten registration, bought school supplies, and made plans for our little boy to begin his formal education at the school near our house. And then, everything changed.

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If someone had told me five years ago that my husband and I would be homeschool parents, I would have laughed and no doubt, spit out my coffee. I was educated in a public school as was my husband and both of us were pretty much against the idea of homeschooling.

Enter pandemic, mask mandates, and a bunch of other gunk.

My husband and I decided that we would homeschool our son for his kindergarten year and surely, COVID would be over, and mask-wearing would be a thing of the past once first grade rolled around and we would re-enroll him in our local public school.

Nope.

My husband and I didn't send our son to public school for the first grade because we were fearful of illness, masking, or anything along those lines. We opted to continue to homeschool because we both discovered how much we love it and our son is growing and learning in remarkable ways and we know it has everything to do with the individual attention my husband and I are able to give to him (we take turns homeschooling).

Will our son ever go to public school? Maybe. While we'd like to homeschool for the duration of his school years, we understand that anything can happen.

While homeschooling has been invaluable for my son and my family has been able to rearrange things to make it work, it might not be the right fit for your family. And while public school is right for your family, at this time, it is not right for mine. The bottom line is that we owe it to our kids to do what we can to help them learn in whichever way will best benefit them.

According to Tyton Partners, more than 2.6 million children switched from public and private schools to attend charter, homeschool, micro-schooling, and other options thanks largely in part to the pandemic.

The pandemic has really given parents and guardians thought about how the children in their care are being educated and the beautiful thing about education in the United States is that there are different ways to learn. National School Choice Week wants to help you discover what education options are available for your children.

From January 23 through 29, families in New York can find up-to-date easy-to-use guides to specific schooling options so that you can find the best (and if you need it, flexible) choice for your family through National School Choice Week.

If you're interested in learning more about what type of school options are available for your children in the Southern Tier, you will most definitely want to start by reading more about each on the School Choice website and then, maybe consider attending a local information session or other events.

Poke around the School Choice Week website and be sure to register to be reminded about events, activities, and more when they happen during the week of January 23 through 29.

See How School Cafeteria Meals Have Changed Over the Past 100 Years

Using government and news reports, Stacker has traced the history of cafeteria meals from their inception to the present day, with data from news and government reports. Read on to see how various legal acts, food trends, and budget cuts have changed what kids are getting on their trays.

Check Out the Best-Selling Album From the Year You Graduated High School

Do you remember the top album from the year you graduated high school? Stacker analyzed Billboard data to determine just that, looking at the best-selling album from every year going all the way back to 1956. Sales data is included only from 1992 onward when Nielsen's SoundScan began gathering computerized figures.

Going in chronological order from 1956 to 2020, we present the best-selling album from the year you graduated high school.

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