Educational Approach: Online (public)

Each family has a unique set of curcumstances, such as a family vision, number of children, educational background, personal finances or marital status, that influence their choice of educational approach for their children. not knowing all of these factors, we should not put ourselves in the position of judging whether any given family has made the wisest choice for their family’s situation.

Having said that, this approach, in particular, can have unintended consequences beyond the bounds of your family, so please study this issue carefully and understand its potential to limit your freedoms and those of other home educators before selecting this option.

Often confused with homeschooling, online charter schools are actually tax-funded public schools where a child studies at home rather than attending a local school. For a family researching the available options this can seem like a slam-dunk win. You are given a “free” computer for your children to use, all your curriculum choices are made for you, you know know the curriculum adhers to the state mandated requirements, and there are educational professionals that you can consult with if you run into problems. Very little planning is needed. Just enroll and implement.

In fact, many families use these programs, are happy with them and will continue to use them. Others find the parent or child workloads too burdensome and look for other options.

What is important to understand is that there is no free lunch here. In fact, all of the advantages I mentioned above are available simply by enrolling your children in the local school. All that has been done is to make the system portable so you can bring the government education system into your home.

For many parents, the appeals of homeschooling are that you are able to customize your children’s education according to their giftings and ensure that what they are learning lines up with your family’s values, knowing that this will place them in a better position to excel in their life pursuits than following a set program.

In the vast majority of families the choice has been made to forego a potential yearly income of multiple tens of thousands of dollars so they can exercise their rights to give their children a better education than they had. So accepting the carrot of a program with a value of just a few thousand dollars, with the restrictions that come along with it, can seem like a waste of that tangible sacrifice that is being made.

Hopefully the web links that follow and the introductions to other approaches on this site will assist you and help you make an informed decision about the direction you will take for your family’s education. If you are interested in a complete online curriculum, I recommend that you check out the many programs listed under the ‘online – private’ approach.

Pros:

• A parent can remove their child from a negative social environment quickly while continuing to research other options
• The family is usually provided with a tax-funded computer, an internet connection and textbooks
• Government teachers are available to answer questions

Cons:

• The parent assumes the teaching workload normally fulfilled by a paid teacher
• Schools generally demand that the educational hours requirement be met through formal hours of instruction, so the parent is not free to enjoy the efficiencies of a natural learning environment
• Students are enrolled in the public school system, so the usual dollar amount is allocated to the charter school even though expenses are often less than those of other government schools
• Many parents may try online public schools thinking that they are homeschooling. If the burden becomes too great, they may switch their children’s enrollment back to the neighborhood school and not realize the freedom their family could have through homeschooling

Prepared by Tad Lamb