Homeschooling in the 21st century
Homeschooling now has the potential to look drastically different from the homeschooling I did as a child. My mom homeschooled me from pre-k thru 2nd grade (then again for 2 years in highschool) and in most ways we essentially mimicked a classroom but did it at home. We had a school room, my mom was the teacher, we were the students, and we followed a curriculum. We still had lots of flexibility, but it was the same basic format. There are still lots of people who follow the same method today. But it doesn't HAVE to look like that. Because of modern technology, it can be completely different!
For starters, "back in the day" we had to look up everything in books. And while my kids & I still adore books, for research purposes there are typically much better & faster options. You can literally type your question into Google & be instantly given a plethora of articles, photos, videos, etc on the subject. It makes it incredibly easy for a child to navigate & do fun, engaging research on their own. My kids still incorporate a lot of books into their studies - we go to the library about once every other week right now, and they check out a mountain of books each time - but they also use computers & our smart tv to find information on educational topics that interest them.
One of my favorite online tools is YouTube. Yep - you heard me right! YouTube has a huge amount of free educational materials on a wide variety of topics. There are short, fun, informative educational clips (2-5 minutes long) designed to quickly introduce younger children to a specific topic. We watched one yesterday demonstrating how snowflakes form. It was engaging & all the children enjoyed it. There are also longer documentaries on just about everything imaginable. Yes, of course not everything on YouTube is educational or good material, but it can be a valuable research tool if you use it right. And did I mention it's free? ;)
Speaking of free, Khan Academy is another great resource for almost all ages. You can take free online classes in math, science, arts, economics, computer coding, and you can even use it to study for your SAT & more! They have short video clips explaining concepts, so it's kind of like watching a lecture. They incorporate videos from YouTube as well, but it's in a more organized format so you're taking an actual course.
One of my favorite things is the ability to do math online in a game format. Casey does fine with workbooks, but Connor has always struggled with math. It's easier to get him engaged if it's on the computer since that's his "language." :) We started with Adapted Mind math which is $10/month for up to 5 kids. My boys enjoyed that for a few weeks, but then they complained that it was glitchy on the higher levels, so we recently started Elephant Learning math. It's more expensive ($35/month for up to 3 kids, but they have scholarships available to bring the cost down), but so far I really like it. The kids get to choose from a variety of games to help them learn different math concepts. It tracks their time (they actually recommend only 10 minutes a day, 3x a week since it's more hard core) & their "math age" vs. their actual age so you can see how behind/ahead they are.
From a parenting standpoint, homeschooling is SO much easier for us because of technology as well. First of all, I don't consider myself their teacher. If their learning depended only on my limited knowledge, they wouldn't go very far - especially since my oldest is interested in coding & outer space which is WAY over my head (no pun intended). My job is to provide them with the tools they need (we purchased a cheap laptop for each boy - about $100 each - & access to the internet of course), point them in the right direction, give them lots of opportunities to learn (field trips, library, etc.), keep them hungry for learning, keep them on track, help them find the answers to their questions, etc.
And Pinterest!!! Need I say more? There are tons of STEM ideas on Pinterest. You could easily start a board for every season & fill it just with STEM ideas for that season. Science experiments, homeschool tips, field trip ideas, organization blogs... The possibilities there are almost endless. You can even look up specific homeschool methods & find ideas that correspond with those specific methods. You can literally build your own curriculum by piecing things together on Pinterest. It's especially helpful for doing unit studies. If you haven't started using Pinterest for your homeschooling, I highly recommend it!
So while I'm not knocking the previous way of doing things, I am excited that homeschool has the potential to be very different now than it has been in the past. I think we would be remiss if we didn't incorporate the wealth of knowledge available to us online into our children's education. Not only does it increase the potential teachers our children can learn from (including experts in each field), but it is more timely & up-to-date. These are some of the reasons I decided to homeschool in 21st-century-style.
For starters, "back in the day" we had to look up everything in books. And while my kids & I still adore books, for research purposes there are typically much better & faster options. You can literally type your question into Google & be instantly given a plethora of articles, photos, videos, etc on the subject. It makes it incredibly easy for a child to navigate & do fun, engaging research on their own. My kids still incorporate a lot of books into their studies - we go to the library about once every other week right now, and they check out a mountain of books each time - but they also use computers & our smart tv to find information on educational topics that interest them.
One of my favorite online tools is YouTube. Yep - you heard me right! YouTube has a huge amount of free educational materials on a wide variety of topics. There are short, fun, informative educational clips (2-5 minutes long) designed to quickly introduce younger children to a specific topic. We watched one yesterday demonstrating how snowflakes form. It was engaging & all the children enjoyed it. There are also longer documentaries on just about everything imaginable. Yes, of course not everything on YouTube is educational or good material, but it can be a valuable research tool if you use it right. And did I mention it's free? ;)
Speaking of free, Khan Academy is another great resource for almost all ages. You can take free online classes in math, science, arts, economics, computer coding, and you can even use it to study for your SAT & more! They have short video clips explaining concepts, so it's kind of like watching a lecture. They incorporate videos from YouTube as well, but it's in a more organized format so you're taking an actual course.
One of my favorite things is the ability to do math online in a game format. Casey does fine with workbooks, but Connor has always struggled with math. It's easier to get him engaged if it's on the computer since that's his "language." :) We started with Adapted Mind math which is $10/month for up to 5 kids. My boys enjoyed that for a few weeks, but then they complained that it was glitchy on the higher levels, so we recently started Elephant Learning math. It's more expensive ($35/month for up to 3 kids, but they have scholarships available to bring the cost down), but so far I really like it. The kids get to choose from a variety of games to help them learn different math concepts. It tracks their time (they actually recommend only 10 minutes a day, 3x a week since it's more hard core) & their "math age" vs. their actual age so you can see how behind/ahead they are.
From a parenting standpoint, homeschooling is SO much easier for us because of technology as well. First of all, I don't consider myself their teacher. If their learning depended only on my limited knowledge, they wouldn't go very far - especially since my oldest is interested in coding & outer space which is WAY over my head (no pun intended). My job is to provide them with the tools they need (we purchased a cheap laptop for each boy - about $100 each - & access to the internet of course), point them in the right direction, give them lots of opportunities to learn (field trips, library, etc.), keep them hungry for learning, keep them on track, help them find the answers to their questions, etc.
And Pinterest!!! Need I say more? There are tons of STEM ideas on Pinterest. You could easily start a board for every season & fill it just with STEM ideas for that season. Science experiments, homeschool tips, field trip ideas, organization blogs... The possibilities there are almost endless. You can even look up specific homeschool methods & find ideas that correspond with those specific methods. You can literally build your own curriculum by piecing things together on Pinterest. It's especially helpful for doing unit studies. If you haven't started using Pinterest for your homeschooling, I highly recommend it!
So while I'm not knocking the previous way of doing things, I am excited that homeschool has the potential to be very different now than it has been in the past. I think we would be remiss if we didn't incorporate the wealth of knowledge available to us online into our children's education. Not only does it increase the potential teachers our children can learn from (including experts in each field), but it is more timely & up-to-date. These are some of the reasons I decided to homeschool in 21st-century-style.
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