School isn't for Socializing - Pros and Cons of Virtual Home School

For some people, home schooling is a controversial subject.  As the parent of a virtual home schooled child, I want to share my real life experience.

First, know this; homeschooling is not for everyone.  The school work is more challenging for children.  And for parents, you’ll have to rearrange your life and make your child your number one priority, 24-7.

But, for those of you who are considering it, I hope this article answers some of your questions.

Our son Dylan asked to be home schooled.   As a scientist and an inventor, he felt that home school would give him for more time to make experiments in his “laboratory” in the garage.

My husband and I own a business, and so we weren't  sure how we would make it happen.

Eventually, we found a way to make it work.  In 2012-2013, we enrolled Dylan in sixth grade virtual school.

I’m not going to speak to “traditional homeschool” where the parents are the teachers and they set up the lesson plans. 

I’m referring to "virtual school", a true blessing to parents (like me) who are not natural teachers!  It’s taught entirely online, through videos, reading, and daily testing.

THE CONS OF VIRTUAL HOME SCHOOL:

1. It’s more academically challenging than regular school
2. It requires an immense amount of self-motivation and focus for the child
3. It’s a sacrifice for the parents

To succeed in virtual school, a student must complete their work by a deadline each week.  The child cannot goof off.  Everything the student does is monitored; the time they waste, the tests they take and even their note-taking.

The child must learn to be efficient and effective.  They are tested daily on every subject.

That being said, our first year was difficult.   Dylan had to learn how to manage his time.   In the beginning, his day-dreaming habit caused his school day to be six hours instead of the typical three for home schoolers.

However, he finally got control of his time.  Six months into the year, we figured out a solution.  Dylan set a timer for each school task so he could learn to focus and manage his time.

The result of this exercise was that he soon cut the time it took for him to complete his school work in half; and the rest of the school year went smoothly.

PROS OF VIRTUAL HOME SCHOOL:

1. Your child gets a strong education and learns valuable life skills such as self-motivation, organization and time management
2. You spend more time with your child and have the freedom to travel anywhere, anytime
3. At the San Juan Capistrano (SJC) virtual school, students have the option to attend classes with other students, and get live tutoring with teachers
4. Fieldtrips are plentiful
5. Virtual school kids are extremely bright, socially adept and mature;    No bullying, drugs or negative social interactions.
6. SJC Home schooled students can sign up for school sports through the regular school

THE MOST COMMON (AND MOST ANNOYING) HOME SCHOOL MYTH:

I would like to dispel this common myth about home school that makes me cringe every time I hear it: 

Myth:  Home schoolers miss out on social interaction.

This is an ignorant statement made by people who know nothing about home school.

School is not for socializing, it’s for learning!  Many of the so called “socializing” at school, especially middle-school, involves cliques, being excluded from cliques, and bullying.

Most home schooled children are extremely outgoing and social; they will shake your hand when they meet you, and look you in the eye.  They tend to be socially polished and mature.

Our son gets a a healthy amount of socializing through after-school activities and on weekends.

THE GREATEST BENEFIT OF ALL WITH VIRTUAL HOMESCHOOLING:

Our greatest benefit was that our son was able to learn to control his own time, and to be self-motivated and efficient.

These are crucial skills for entrepreneurs, inventors and innovators; the movers and shakers of the world. 

The ability to create a productive day, on your own, without being told to by an authority figure, is extremely powerful.

I always tell Dylan, “If you can master your own time, you can master the world.” 

If you want to check out the San Juan Capistrano Homeschool program, here’s their website:  http://virtual-capousd-ca.schoolloop.com/

Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments; I want to hear from you!

Also share in the comments:  Do you know a homeschooled child, and if so, did they like being homeschooled?  What’s been your experience on this topic?

Thanks for reading,

Maria