Homeschooling Through the Internet

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Tablet computers can be expensive. Although to the credit of Calvert, there does seem to be some financial aid available. This is because the huge costs of tuition and equipment are borne by the government, which has vastly more assets than most parents. Within the framework of the state system, schools are heavily regulated and monitored. In the UK — where I was schooled — there was yearly inspections by a government body called OFSTED, where the school was ranked by its performance and severely admonished if it was seen to be failing the students in its care.

As a child of a teacher, I have a devoted reverence to the public school system. I admire the devotion of educators, and as a result I struggle to stomach the decision to leave that system behind. To ensure that they get the very best schooling. To protect them from the sharp barbs of their schoolmates, and from the malfeasance of teachers and administrators.

For Jackie, AngryGamerMom, and Jacob, their experiences with homeschooling have been overwhelmingly positive.

What Is Internet Home Schooling?

Jacob was able to develop academically and professionally in a field which he is passionate about. He did that whilst learning things LISP which are seldom taught in universities, let alone in the public school system. Likewise, AngryGamerMom and Jackie chose to leave the public school system in order to protect their children from bullying. By leaving that system, they accomplished that whilst providing a varied, broad education, which challenges their children to their fullest and demands nothing but their best. Perhaps the biggest take-home lesson from this article is not how technology empowers homeschooled children, but how parents can provide their children with a quality outside the the traditional paradigms.

Technology is an infinitesimally small part of that.

How do you feel about homeschooling? Your email address will not be published. I have been following your blog for quite some time, and this is my first comment. You offer such simple, practical advice that makes this whole homeschooling adventure seem not only possible but incredibly exciting.

I used online curriculum for my kids. For both of my sons, nothing makes them sit up and take notice more than the realization that something is a hindrance on their inner freedom and autonomy — and they both see clearly through the illusion of independence that technology such as cell phones provide. Thanks for your article! I actually attended a hybrid school. The teachers all teach from a central location, but the students do all their work online and meet with the teachers online.

It's a really good system that allows children to learn at their own pace and not be held back by others. The thing about public schools these days is as dragonmouth said. They are all too worried about how a child "feels. The teachers themselves do not teach what is necessary to learn how to do their work properly. Parents are frustrated at the lack of quality education that public education offers.

Buy An iPad (And Fill It With Apps)

I don't know man. I think you're generalizing somewhat. Whilst some public schools are terrible, some are actually really good, with small class sizes and quality teaching staff. First of all, is cost. Most families will be buying the hardware in any case, and also sending their kids to school.

Also, if someone has to choose between private school or home schooling, home schooling is much cheaper. But even with public school, there are activities that cost money--often lots. Home schooling can be cheaper than you realize, as well--but honestly, if one is counting pennies, one also probably isn't thinking about what is best for one's child. To commit oneself to home schooling means that some things are more important to you.

Homeschooling Approaches – Internet Homeschooling

Cost really doesn't enter into it. Many home schooling families we know are on the bottom end of the income bracket. They chose that route over high income. As to your concern for lack of oversight over apps Who is overseeing the child's education? We have agonized for hours over what apps to purchase, and such details.

We would never think of just buying the first app we see. In this world, also, home schooling parents have each other. The webs are full of resources and forums discussing these things. It is a self-vetting process, and the parents do an excellent job of it--better, I believe, than school boards and governments do. Because it's not just a job to them, and they also aren't susceptible to pressure put on them by publishers and various special interest groups.

The only thing that matters to a parent is his or her child, and the child's education. That kind of puts things into razor sharp focus. That brings me to one other point. My father was also a public school teacher. I used to help him, in fact, with after school activities he was involved in. I wanted to be a teacher, and even started studying education. What I discovered in my two years of it was one important truth that took several years before its truth sunk into my mind. Everything that teachers learn--all their techniques, tools--everything they learn has one purpose, not to help the individual students, but to make the teacher's job easier.

Sure, as a part of that, you want to educate the students, but regardless of how hard a teacher tries, there will always be those students on the extremes that will never fit in with teacher's plans and methods, nor with the school's plans, curriculum nor even the school's atmosphere. These are the ones that are quick at school and get quickly and easily bored, and for kids for whom school seems to hold no purpose.

I won't say unintelligent, because frequently they are not. They just are the sort of kids who are willing to sit around and wait until they understand why the teacher is making them do what they are making them do. They tend to become the behavioral problems for teachers, and also the ones who get drugged up and called all sorts of "conditions" or "disabilities". The problem is, however, that the child isn't the problem--the system is. They just don't fit the system, and the system is incapable of molding to their needs.

What should we do with these two groups?

The typical response, sadly, is to drug them, or send them to "special" classes or schools, where they get mostly ignored and passed over. The kids are ruined for life. This is not a good thing. Home schooling is, honestly speaking, for far more children and families than people might expect. It doesn't take the "bravery" it took 20 years ago. It just takes commitment. Maybe that was true 40, 50 years ago, before the education reformers gained control. There was a time when children were divided into classes by ability so that the entire class would learn at more or less the same speed.

Then the reformers decided to homogenize classes by putting the very bright and the slow, and everbody in between, in the same room. That is when American education started to circle the toilet. Whereas before teachers could set up a lesson plan for the entire class, now they had to have a plan just about for every individual student. As a result teachers could not spend enough time teaching any of the students properly. The bright students were bored out of their minds and became disruptive, the slower ones were left behind and became disruptive, the ones in the middle didn't get the attention they deserved, just got by and became disruptive.

Of course, the teachers were blamed because "they did not know how to teach properly. As a result, instead teaching the kids how to learn, the teachers taught them how to pass a test. After 12 years of this, the kids get to college and, all of a sudden, they don't know how to study.

To combat the culture shock between high school and college, the educational reformers came up with the brilliant plan of more more tests and more standardization. Whatever the cost of homeschooling is, most, if not all, the money is spent on the child being homeschooled. When budget cuts are made in the public school system, student related services after school programs, athletics, transportation, educational aids are invariably the ones to suffer.

When there are money problems in the home, parents cut back on education expenses for the kids only as the last resort. I'm not sure if I agree with your first point. Ultimately, the US has one of the highest numbers per-capita of college graduates. The reason why it is such a developed, thriving economy who spend far more on R and D than the rest of the world is because you guys have such an educated populace.

With respect to your second point? They recommend various devices that can block internet access. They advocate harsh restrictions and punishments. Internet controls such as blocks on routers and devices may work for young children, to keep them from accidentally stumbling on troubling content. For kids who are beginning to know how to manipulate technology, it is likely that the more controls parents put in place, the better they will become at circumventing them.

That creates motivation for sneakiness and positions parents as the adversary. This is not a situation you want your child to grow into during the teen years.

Choose The Right Syllabus

Parental control inevitably comes to an end. Do you want your kids to jump into a digital world at age 18 with zero experience and unlimited freedom? Rule breaking seems like something you can crack down on harder and harder when a kid is 8 or 10 or maybe even We can help our kids build a habit of being trusted by looking at the root of things and by not giving up our role as guides. Sometimes parents think this issue is about the internet, online homeschool curriculum, rules, and a child who has fallen into disobedience.

Sometimes we parents are a bit of a mix. Helping children internalize principles behind your rules will help them make better decisions as their orbits become more distant from you. A backbone parent spends time talking with her child or teen about things she is reading and seeing on the internet. A backbone parent shares articles with her child about the ways video games are designed to keep someone playing, but she also listens when her child describes the skill needed and the community around the game.

We parents have to grow with our children, and we can explore this concept and learn how to see ourselves as being on the same side as our children in their growing up process. Sometimes parents at one extreme can only see the other extreme as the only alternative. But research about families tells us that the most effective way is in that difficult middle zone, when we parents are strong with our guidance but flexible.

Electronic devices and the internet are going to be part of life for our kids, and if we let them become what separates us from our children and teens, that will be among the most damage the devices can do. Holding her Master of Arts degree in Communication, Jeanne conducts portfolio evaluations for Virginia homeschoolers for evidence of progress.

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