Friday, March 8, 2013

Public School, On Line School, Or Home School?

  It is important to establish how your children are going to be educated. Picking the right avenue for you and them will insure their futures! There are many things to consider about all of the choices available to you and them.

Public School
  A majority of children are going to public school. For some parents this is an obvious choice mainly because of convenience. In most areas you are paying for the school system through your taxes. The education they receive there is in line with the state mandates. You are fairly sure of the childs' location for several hours of the day freeing up your time to work.
  The down side of this arrangement is what are your children being exposed to? Predatory teachers, gun violence, and bullies inhabit this system. Are your children being educated in subjects that you want them to know because of your belief system? National statistics show that public school system students are falling on their SAT scores. This indicates that they are not learning enough to have a sustainable future for themselves. The United States of America is steadily falling behind other nations in academic standing.

On Line School
  On line schools offer a viable alternative to the attend public school educational system. Many of them are free and will provide a graduation diploma at the completion of all of the levels. If your child is able to operate a computer and follow instructions then this is worth your time to look into. By using this method you monitor and protect the child from influences that are detrimental to their well being.
  The down side of this program is that the student is still being instructed in whatever the system requires. This could come into conflict with your religious views. Careful monitoring of the student's material should be a part of your daily attention. Does your child respond well to what is being presented to them?

Home School
  Homeschooling puts you in total charge of what your child is learning. This can be a time consuming process. The rewards are that statistically home school students out rank their public school counterparts in all levels of the SAT tests! They are better prepared to enter the job force or go on to college. Home school students show better aptitude on self guided learning. They are more independent. They have more opportunities to participate in volunteer activities and on the job experience.
  The down side of home school is that it takes more of your time, however this can be viewed as a good thing. Working daily with your child ill build a stronger relationship that will last a lifetime! Guiding them through various subjects will improve your own skills right along with theirs.

  These are not the only things to be considered when looking at your children's future. Where do yours and their priorities lay? If you are not happy with what is happening in their education then it is time to study the options!

2 comments:

  1. We have been homeschooling 12 years. A few years ago I had to go back to work part time. Through some research of curriculum I found Time4Learning.com for our youngest daughter. It has been a huge blessing for us!! She loves the animated interactive online learning. We still do other things in addition to T4L, like a lot of reading, copy work and some hands on learning. But T4L is what we use for her core subjects. She has some learning difficulties. We like that she can work at different grade levels for different subjects. For example, math is a challenge for her, so she is at a lower grade level. She is able to work at her own pace with each subject independently. I love that record keeping has become easy for me because I can print the progress report from T4L. But best of all, I never have to fuss with her to do 'school' because she loves it!!
    Thanks for your post! It reminded me that there is nothing like homeschooling and being able to find what is best for your child, your family, and enjoy each other. What peace. Thankful that we are able to homeschool...even if we have to work, there are still options that help us to continue homeschooling!

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    1. We also had to work while our children homeschooled. If your daughter is having problems in math you might want to take a look at Kahn Academy on Youtube. It is totally free and an awesome resource for math and many other subjects!

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