Living / 7 January, 2021 / Ellie Thompson

Homeschooling: The 50 Most-Googled Questions (How many do you know the answer to?)

Research reveals the school topics that parents are most likely going to need help with when homeschooling their children again throughout the third national lockdown.

The study by Clarks combines Google search trends with survey responses from over 1,000 parents of school-aged children. It unveils everything from the subjects parents homeschooling their kids need help with the most, to how their experience has (if at all) changed their perspective on their children’s education.

Top 50 questions we’re all googling…

These are the Top 50 questions Clarks predicts parents will be asking when homeschooling this term, with the average monthly search volume and increase in searches since April 2019 shown in brackets.

1.     Maths – ‘How to work out percentages’ (49,500, 149%)

2.     English – ‘What is a verb’ (40,500, 334%)

3.     Maths – ‘What is the mean in maths’ (40,500, 183%)

4.     Science – ‘What is a normal heart rate’ (40,500, 150%)

5.     Maths – ‘What is a factor in maths’ (33,100, 2485%)

6.     English – ‘What is a noun’ (33,100, 333%)

7.     Maths – ‘What are prime numbers’ (33,100, 223%)

8.     English – ‘What is an adjective’ (27,100, 334%)

9.     English – ‘What is an adverb’ (27,100, 273%)

10.  Geography –   ‘What is the population of the UK’ (22,200, 1676%)

11.  Geography – ‘What countries are in Asia’ (22,200, 334%)

12.  English – ‘When to use a semicolon’ (22,200, 183%)

13.  Science – ‘How many bones in the human body’ (18,100, 914%)

14.  Geography – ‘How many countries in Africa’ (18,100, 500%)

15.  English – ‘What is a preposition’ (18,100, 274%)

16.  English – ‘What is a pronoun’ (18,100, 274%)

17.  Science – ‘Where is your kidney’ (18,100, 150%)

18.  Science – ‘How many teeth do adults have’ (14,800, 409%)

19.  Geography – ‘How many countries in Europe’ (14,800, 334%)

20.  Science – ‘What is a normal pulse rate’ (14,800, 224%)

21.  Geography – ‘What countries are in the Middle East’ (14,800, 183%)

22.  Maths – ‘How to calculate standard deviation’ (14,800, 122%)

23.  Science – ‘Who invented the light bulb’ (12,100, 409%)

24.  Geography – ‘What continent is Australia in’ (12,100, 274%)

25.  Maths  – ‘What is a square number’ (12,100, 224%)

26.  Science – ‘What is an organism’ (12,100, 183%)

27.  Maths – ‘How to add fractions’ (12,100, 149%)

28.  Science – ‘How long does it take to get to the moon’ (12,100, 149%)

29.  Science – ‘Where is your appendix’ (12,100, 149%)

30.  Science – ‘What is an isotope’ (12,100, 149%)

31.  Geography – ‘What is climate change’ (12,100, 100%)

32.  Science – ‘Where is your liver’ (12,100, 100%)

33.  Geography – ‘Where is Mount Everest’ (9,900, 336%)

34.  Science – ‘Who invented electricity’  (9,900, 336%)

35.  Maths  – ‘What is a vertices’ (9,900, 335%)

36.  Science – ‘How many planets are there’ (9,900, 335%)

37.  Geography – ‘What is a continent’ (9,900, 274%)

38.  English – ‘What is a conjunction’ (9,900, 274%)

39.  Science – ‘What are elements’ (9,900, 224%)

40.  Science – ‘What is an atom’ (9,900, 224%)

41.  Maths  – ‘What are factors’ (9,900, 223%)

42.  Geography – ‘What continent is Russia in’ (9,900, 223%)

43.  Science – ‘What is an independent variable’ (9,900, 223%)

44.  Science – ‘What are enzymes’ (9,900, 183%)

45.  Maths – ‘How to work out square metres’ (9,900, 183%)

46.  Science – ‘How old is the earth’ (9,900, 183%)

47.  Maths –  ‘How to divide fractions’ (9,900, 183%)

48.  Science – ‘What are stem cells’ (9,900, 122%)

49.  Geography – ‘What is the population of the world’  (8,100, 617%)

50.  Geography – ‘How many counties in England’ (8,100, 616%)

Key findings from the survey include:

• Around 3 in 10 parents said they’ll respect and appreciate teachers a lot more since their experience of homeschooling
• Maths is reported to be the most enjoyable but also the most challenging to teach
• 1 in 10 parents report experiencing some level of difficulty with finding the information they need to teach their kids at home. This increases to 1 in 4 parents whose children are studying GCSEs and A Levels.
• Over half (52%) of UK parents turn to Google for homeschooling help, 43% use online education resources like BBC Bitesize, and over a third (36%) report contacting their children’s teachers directly. Meanwhile, nearly a quarter (24%) use virtual lessons hosted by celebrities.
• Google searches for ‘what is a factor in maths’ have surged nearly 2,500% since April 2019, but its searches around the geography curriculum has seen the biggest increase overall.

Credit: Clarks

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