Transitioning from Homeschool to Online School
There are various reasons for parents deciding to make their children transition from a traditional homeschooling environment to an online schooling environment. One main reason is that traditional homeschooling requires a lot of parental involvement. If both parents are working, it becomes a huge challenge at a certain point in time. Things get worse if the child loses interest midway!
Apart from that, homeschooling involves a good deal of investment in terms of money, energy as well as time. Parents are required to build the entire learning curriculum right from scratch. Thus, many working parents make their kids transition from home school to online school.
There is no doubt that an online school provides a well-structured space between homeschooling and traditional schooling! This enables the kid to transition slowly and comfortably.
Why is online schooling great for homeschoolers?
Online is a smart option for homeschoolers who are well-accustomed to a certain level of flexibility. Also, most of them are independent learners who learn well without other people poking them, reminding them about assignments and pressurizing them in any manner. These kids are self-starters and do not lean on others to remind them that they need to study on time! The online school works well for mature learners!
In an online school environment, the concentration level and the level of focus are greater. This is mainly because the student does not need to study in a group. Also, the online student can pretty much do his own learning. In other words, an online learner needs to be independent and take ownership of learning, without relying on their parents entirely. This teaches them to be self-confident and self-reliant.
Usually, the learning pace is highly customized in an online school. He/she is enabled to follow his own beats! He/she can follow his own learning pace, schedule, preferences, needs as well as abilities.
An online school gives a lot of peace to parents. This is because parents need not do any research, buying, planning and imparting education. All of these crucial tasks are taken care of. The task of teaching is also taken by online teachers. Parents can, of course, be involved in their child’s education if they want. But, there is no compulsion here. Thus, it works well for working parents.
Online school curricula are offered for various advanced subjects. Thus, students can avail of various study options. Keeping their targets and objectives in mind, they can make some wise academic decisions and study-related choices. They can exercise their choice pretty well in an online learning environment. They can choose to take a college-preparatory course if they wish to enter a college as soon as possible. There are various exclusive online courses that they can take as well.
For most of the homeschoolers, making the transition from homeschool to an online school can be seamless when compared to other such transitions. One big reason behind this is that both the courses can be taken right from the home. In both cases, customization of the curriculum is done to cater to the unique needs and learning styles of students. There is no rigidity in learning pace and schedule. It is all in the best of the students’ interests. In both cases, students are enabled to spend a good deal of family time on a daily basis. They can cut down distractions like bullying and peer pressure in both cases. In both cases, an individualized learning plan is created to help the student learn well.
How to prepare homeschoolers for an online school?
Learn time-management
Time-management is more than important for online students. In traditional homeschools, time-management is required too, but to a lesser extent. This is because, in an online school, there are strict deadlines by which certain assignments need to be submitted at any cost. Thus, the online learning environment is a bit more challenging that helps to shape up the student academically as well as personally. In order to succeed in an online school course, the student needs to manage time productively. He must never kill time doing nothing! It usually comes with practice. So, the student, as well as his parents, need to be patient.
Prepare a schedule
Of course, there would have been a separate learning schedule for every homeschooler. But, when it comes to online high schooling, the schedule gets more important. This is because online students might be required to do multiple tasks in his online school course. And, an online school course is no joke! Right at the start, the online students need to build a learning schedule to stick to it all through their course.
Communicate effectively
Homeschoolers would have to communicate more in an online learning curriculum. He would have to focus on building rapport with his teachers and online peers, apart from just studying well. Only when a child communicates with the rest of the online learning community would he start filling like being a part of the healthy online learning community.
Socialize
In an online learning environment, every student is required to avail the opportunities to socialize properly. Else, the student is likely to feel stuck or isolated. Most of the accredited online schools enable students to participate in multiple collaborative projects that need teamwork. Also, online students can join several study groups to exchange their healthy ideas with others.
Take part in online activities
When you are an online student, you have no other option but to take part in various online activities, whether you like it or not. You cannot just remain passive here. You would have to go ahead and voice out your opinions and views. Thus, shy students can speak up easily here.
Identify their learning style
Online schools use multimedia to educate children. Students can learn through video lessons, audio-books, online library, and various other means. However, to choose the right medium for learning, the students would have to identify his/her own learning patterns and objectives first. Prepare your short and long-term goals as well.
