Several parents have been considering opting in for online homeschooling for their children. There are several options that include standalone courses as well as hybrid learning programs. Parents are free to opt for the ones that suit them the most but whatever you choose you can be sure that online learning is here to stay. While there are several aspects to consider when selecting an online school, the most important ones are its accreditation’s and the quality of education that is imparted. This is what really separates the really good schools from the ordinary ones. Moreover, with education being imparted via an environment that is completely web-based, you no longer have to worry about where you live. Geographic location is no longer a restriction preventing students from gaining access to high quality teachers. They can be situated virtually anywhere in the United States and still have access to everything they need.

HOW ONLINE SCHOOL BENEFITS OVER CONVENTIONAL SCHOOLING

Online K-12 courses certainly offer you some great benefits over conventional schooling. Here are just a few to get you started in your evaluation of online schools in the country. For starters, personal one-to-one attention is a significant advantage offered by online learning environments over traditional classroom settings. Students are able to interact directly with the teacher without the fear of public ridicule. This enables the child to learn in a very supportive environment and also allows parents to regularly monitor their child’s progress. Teachers too, benefit from such an arrangement since they are able to devote individual attention to each child, which helps focus on each student’s specific challenges rather than focusing on a class as a whole. Moreover, the absence of the fear of being ridiculed by your peers allows students to open up more freely and they are encouraged to learn in a holistic environment.

Online homeschooling also provides students as well as parents the opportunity to spend more time together. When you consider the amount of time and energy spent on travel, being able to study in the comfort of your own home certainly is appealing. Not only does it allow parents to actively play a part in their child’s education but it also helps them spend more time with them – online school is a boon many parents would certainly cherish today. Imbibing personal values in their children is another concern a lot of parents share today. With the amount of media exposure children have today and easy access to all kinds of information, parents are growing increasingly concerned over what their children learn. Online learning platforms allow parents to provide their children with an environment that’s conducive to their academic as well as moral development. What’s even more important is that parents themselves can influence the learning environment based on the values they would like to imbibe in their children.

Flexibility is another major reason for the increased adoption of online K-12 courses. Being able to schedule study time around parents’ work schedules allows for time to engage in other extracurricular activities and hobbies. Students are free to alter the pace of their courses and schedule study time as per their own convenience as long as they stick to the overall stipulated time schedules. The greatest part about having such freedom over your study schedule is that your child does not have to cope with other students who may be much faster at grasping material than your child. Such situations tend to create inferiority complexes among students and more often than not, lead to students losing interest in their academics. Learning online provides them with a sense of security that prevents them from worrying about their friends making fun of them and allows them to focus on the core aspect of learning. While these are some of the significant advantages offered by online schools they are by no means an exhaustive list.

PARENT’S ROLE IN CHILD’S EDUCATION

While no educational solution can be perfect, online homeschooling comes close to delivering what parents expect in terms of education for their child – a holistic environment that’s convenient and easy to use and economically viable at the same time. There are however, a few downsides to online learning environments. Since children are physically cut off from social interaction, parents are required to organize extracurricular activities and field trips for their children. Staying at home to home school your children usually prevents both parents from working since one of them has to take on the responsibility of monitoring the child’s learning activities. Many parents have overcome this obstacle by being creative and creating opportunities to work from home. This however, can also have a dual downside effect of being tied down to your home. As adults, the teaching parents need to spend quality time with their spouses and their friends. Since your home technically becomes your “work” environment, this may cause added stress for adults.

Teaching your kids is certainly a joy to be cherished. But what happens when you have to take on difficult subjects like advanced math or science? These are courses some parents may find a challenge to deal with. This however, can be overcome by students enrolling for tutorial classes or courses at their local school (hybrid learning platforms). Last but not the least, there’s always your own peers. Just like children pay close attention to what their friends say about them, adults too are concerned about what their family and friends might say when it comes to the decision of enrolling for online K-12 courses. While studying online can be perceived as breaking away from tradition, it can also be viewed as a leap toward the future. There are several things people probably never planned on adopting like the constant use of smartphones, internet banking, shopping online, social media and the list could go on.

The bottom line is that we need to be more open-minded toward technological changes, especially the ones that could possibly open up new avenues for our children. Online education may just be the future of education systems around the world.