June 27, 2007
Home Schooling over the Internet
In the United States, home schooling is growing. Today, we see this rate moving rapidly, with between 1.3 and 1.7 million children in grades kindergarten to 12 being educated at home by a parent. More and more families are discouraged by the curriculum being presented to the children, finding home schooling a better option. However, home schooling is also used for children that are bullied at school, those that need special attention, or for families that live in remote areas, making traditional school attendance too much of a challenge.
Families that choose to home school their children do not have to rely on public, tax-funded resources, which actually saves taxpayers millions of dollars. However, families that choose to home school, children are reliant on having connection to the internet. This means being able to download studies and tests, and then sending the child’s results into the system for grading. Obviously, having a reliable connection is important. In fact, some home school programs offer the child the option of participating in some classroom time, via the computer.
With broadband service, your child could enjoy all the benefits of being home schooled while still participating in a few class studies if needed. This means you could log on, actually having a real time interaction with other home schooled or public schooled students. With this, your child has the opportunity of developing friends in a classroom setting while still being taught by you.
You can work wirelessly if you like, making the home schooling far more enjoyable. With this, your child can move from room to room, or even sit outside on a sunny day to do homework. As you can imagine, the possibilities are endless.
You can find other home schooled students in your area, allowing friendships to bud. You can also have your child join a group such as a youth development organization. If one does not exist in your area, then create your own. In fact, you could develop a website dedicated to home schooled children just like yours, a place where students can study together, play online games, or simply chat.
The interesting thing about home schooled children is overall, these children score in the upper 80th percentile, which is far higher than children taught in school are scoring. The reason is the one-on-one attention the children receive. In addition, home schooled children enjoy a quiet setting without disruptions and distractions. Knowing you can offer your child everything needed to be a successful home schooled child.
A problem, especially for families living in remote areas, is that internet services capable of handling the online work is not an option. WildBlue Satellite offers the solution.
All across America, parents are taking their children out of public schools and teaching them at home with unprecedented success. What was once considered a fringe movement has now become mainstream with nearly two million children being educated at home in America today. 
