Home School High School - Is Online Learning Leading Your Home Schooler Astray?

By Author: Kurt Jimmy
Total Articles: 5
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Distance learning usually means time on the computer - and children LOVE computers! But what do you do when they love being online too much?

One friend of mine has a 16 year old daughter who is taking distance learning with an online Gifted and Talented organization. She is online a lot. They make use of a net nanny program but there are still an abundance of sites that keep her busy doing anything but school work. I imagine this mom is very likely not alone. But what can a parent do to keep their children focused on what they are supposed to be doing?

In our home, we called that behavior "falling into the abyss. " It's SO easy to get distracted when you're online! Countless fantastic things to do and find! Especially with very bright students, who could be bored with school.

When you are not making use of an online program, the solutions are more easy. You can do away with all computer time until after school work is finished, and you can set a timer for those periods when they are allowed to be online, so their computer time is restricted. It's more challenging to do that when school *is* the computer.

If ...
... your child is gifted, they could be distracted because they are bored. Having kids in a gifted program is not good enough. You have to make sure that they are at the PROPER LEVEL for each and every class. Try to establish if your student is bored. Spend some time discussing with your student as an adult. Explain your challenges with limiting your own computer time, and ask their advice regarding how they handle their computer time. Often when a teenager expresses it themselves, they are more likely to do it. In other words, if you can cause them to become SAY what you would like them to do, then they are more likely to do it than if you say it to them directly.

You may wish to ask your student if the on-line curriculum is a good fit. Inquire further if they would like studying away from the computer. Even though we sometimes *believe* we discovered the perfect choice, sometimes our kids will figure out it's not a good fit before we do. Perhaps your student really doesn't enjoy learning that way.

You can try having your student do the work on a separate computer, or with paper and pencil, and getting online only when each assignment is complete. I'm uncertain how it would work with an online program, but at times you can perform the work offline, and then cut and paste (or scan and attach) work that is finished when you aren't on the internet.

Ultimately, the online format may be too great of a temptation. Like a chocoholic in a candy store, it might just be too attractive to be productive. Nobody can answer that question but you and your student.

This may simply be the drawback of any online program. Like many things about parenting, I don't feel you will find "THE solution. " I hope, these strategies will provide you some choices.

So evaluate the overall experience, and see if it's a good fit for your family. Fortunately, there are several learning options for homeschoolers in case distance learning isn't the right choice for you.

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