Aloha State News

The advent of COVID-19 spurred social media influencers MJay and Pat to start homeschooling their two sons in July. Now they consider themselves experts thanks to Acellus curriculum.

“We were not comfortable with sending our kids to campus during this pandemic,” said MJay and Pat, popular Youtube hosts. “That's the only reason because initially we never had any intention of homeschooling them.”

Prior to the pandemic, however, they sent their 6- and 7-year-old children to private school.

“We don't want to release them to a public setting yet,” the couple said. “Until they are ready to introduce God into the public school system, we have to put our kids where they talk about the creator.”

The couple discovered Acellus Academy through a family friend.

“My wife’s best friend’s first son is doing the program and she was highly impressed by the Acellus program and we also love it,” the pair told the Aloha State News.

MJay and Pat are among 2.5 million American parents whose children are homeschooled in grades K-12 – the equivalent of 3 to 4% of school-age children, according to the National Home Education Research Institute, and that number is expected to grow by 2 to 8%.

“The reason why we choose the Acellus program is the flexibility part of it,” MJay and Pat said. “Our sons are not tied to the computer throughout the day. They can pause the class, have lunch, take breaks, and come back as many times as they want.”

The NHERI study further found that home-educated students typically score 15 to 30% higher than public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests. A 2015 study discovered that home-schooled students of African American descent scored 23 to 42 percentile points above African American students enrolled in public school.

“Acellus also creates quality family time with our kids because we get to sit down to talk with them,” added Pat and MJay in an interview.

The parents, who are originally from Nigeria and currently live in Atlanta, also find Acellus to be affordable and engaging.

“They can log in to see their progress,” MJay and Pat said. “They love the fact that they can actually see what they've done wrong, what they've gotten right and what they have completed so far in a week. My kids also love the fact that Acellus sets goals for them each day for them to accomplish and whenever they complete the goals, they are in heaven. They're so happy to talk about it.” 

Homeschooling finances likely represent more than $27 billion American taxpayers do not have to pay annually because families providing their children with a home-based education are not dependent on public, tax-funded resources, according to NHERI data.

MJay and Pat recommend homeschooling to parents whose work and schedules permit it.

“It’s great in the sense that it’s not strangers teaching your kids all the time," they said. "You get involved in your kids’ education, which is very vital.”