Did You Know?
Many new homeschooling families today first ask for an all-in-one computerized program that their student can work on independently. They want an education just like the public school they
are leaving.
When asked if their student learns best on the computer, they almost all say "YES! My student loves being on the computer." (Ah, but being on the computer for hours on end is
very different from doing schoolwork on one.)
When asked what grades their student is getting in school, they often admit their student is behind. (After all,
50-70% of public-school students aren't at grade level. Why, if their
computerized program is so good is it failing our students?)
When asked why they are leaving the public-school they often say stress. (Why, if their computerized program is so good is it
not meeting their social-emotional needs?)
When asked if they are a hands-on learner,
an auditory learner, or a visual learner they often say hands-on or tell me the
student has ADHD. (Why are we expecting a computer to get them up and moving?)
Many students use the educational software for a few minutes and then
wander off to play computer games and watch YouTube videos - or use the
software to give them the answers to all the problems and never actually learn
much. Months after starting to homeschool the parent feels like a
failure and they can’t understand what went wrong. Trying to reproduce public
school at home with a resource designed for a public school is where.
Please do not try to reproduce public school
at home! Very few students learn best from all-in-one computerized programs.
Most students NEED interaction.
They NEED you to guide them.
They NEED you to be an active participant in their daily learning with real books from the library, discussions in the car, hands-on experiments and math manipulatives, jokes about silly audiobooks you listened to together while cooking dinner, and historical fiction movies ending at bedtime. They need YOU!
(Yes,
I worked full time and homeschooled. I get it – it isn’t easy. Ah, but your
kids are SO worth the hour or two a day year round it takes!)
