cyberschooling

[springfieldva]

Originally Posted by Wyndsong71

You'd be surprised how lively the discussions get in the "virtual" classroom my sons are in once a week for each subject. They also have these hangout type discussions for their clubs too and not only are they great for learning, but they are great for structured socializing as well. Actually, I think it's MUCH better than a traditional school forum because a teacher can quickly and easily take back or keep control of the discussion, without excluding anyone. The teacher ends up having more control and is able to encourage everyone in joining in on the conversation, and can make sure that happens.

I think you have the idea that online curriculum and schools are set up to sit your child in front of it and the parent has no interaction with the child at all. Very few, if any, homeschooling parents are this type of parent. Generally we have a lot of interaction with our children and do a lot of learning away from books/computer screens. Because we're not limited to a school room and school hours, we learn all the time, and everywhere. It's a much more natural and fluid way of learning. That's why homeschoolers generally out performe their traditional school counterparts in every way, including socially.


Actually, it is always the easy... ok, well if you live 100 miles away from the nearest person, THEN it would be difficult to provide socialization for your child. But MOST people live in at least small towns, where there are things like 4H, Boy/Girl Scouts, Youth Sports, Church groups and the like... and that's not even taking into account any homeschool groups that may/may not be near by. And if you live in a slightly larger area, well... there are tons and tons of socialization opportunities. Hell, my boys are so social I have to tell them NO they can't do this, that or the other, I'd like some time for myself, thank you! LOL!

I'd really like to see people come up with something different than "What about socialization" when they talk about homeschooling. It's a myth that homeschoolers aren't socialized. It's also a myth (or maybe a lie) that traditional schools supply socialization. When our government comes out with laws on "bullying" and we need constant PSA's about how "words hurt" and "bullying is wrong", I think people need to take a long hard look at what kind of socialization traditional schools are indeed giving our children!

Socialization can become an issue if there are relatively few homeschoolers in your area and/or there is a high price/high demand (ie: competition) for the extracurricular activities in your area. Even if you can afford an activity for your child, you might not be able to get your child into the activity. And in some areas there are very few group activities available to kids outside of the public schools.

So, yah, it might not always be that easy to provide socialization for your child.

I am not anti homeschooling by any means. Nor did I mean to imply that homeschoolers are not properly socialized.

My own kids attend our public schools for lots of reasons. But I also supplement their academics at home. And my kids have a natural interest in certain subjects so they do a lot of self directed learning. This is what works best for us.