Former RHONJ Star and Businesswoman Amber Marchese Offers Advice to Parents Planning the New School Year

Amber Marchese is best known as a former member of Real Housewives of New Jersey cast. However, she’s now a mother of two school-age children who juggles her own business as a real estate agent. This puts Amber in the perfect position to sympathize with parents who need to work but also want to ensure their kids get a good education.

As Amber Marchese notes, there are pros and cons to sending children back to public school. The main advantage of public school is that it frees both parents to go out and earn a living while the children receive a free education. For many, it is the only option as both parents need to work and private school is too expensive. However, as Amber notes, it’s not by any means an ideal set-up. The truth is that no-one knows how the mask situation will play out and what sort of arrangement public schools will make to keep students properly distanced at all times. Some schools may stick to Zoom learning for at least part of the coming year, others may separate classes and teach students in shifts or stagger mealtimes to keep kids apart. Various schools are also considering setting up classrooms outside to prevent the spread of disease.

The ideal set-up, Amber Marchese points out, is for children to be school at home by a member of their family. If one or both parents could work for home, such a set-up would be ideal as children would receive a steady, quality education while bonding with their parents. 

At the same time, the parents would avoid having to spend time traveling to and from work. As many companies are eager to keep their employees working from home instead of coming into the office, such a set-up may not be out of reach even for individuals who were not permitted to work from home before the pandemic started. It’s also worth noting that an alternative solution for parents who have to work out of the home part-time is to have a grandparent help part-time or join a homeschool co-op that provides outside classes for certain days of the week.

Amber Marchese puts a premium on children receiving a top-quality Christian and academic education; even so, her advice doesn’t just apply to religious parents. As Amber is quick to point out, thousands of secular parents homeschool and there are many secular homeschool groups available to join in just about any major city. What’s more, Amber’s advice only touches on the benefits of homeschool vs. public schools; parents can also consider charter schools and virtual schools when deciding how to provide their children with a good education. Even so, the benefits of educating a child at home, under parental supervision, cannot be denied and those who want to ensure their children are receiving the best possible education should seriously consider homeschooling and how it could work for their family.