Should your child attend Cyber School?

Cyber Charter Schools are springing up all over the United States, in part from pressure applied by taxpayers to offer alternatives to struggling public schools systems and sky-rocketing private school costs.  But learning at home isn't for every child, as any homeschool parent can tell you. Read through the following check list to see if online learning at home might work for your children.

The benefits and flexibility of e-learning are listed too! Ultimately this is your own child's decision. If you take them out of school and it's not what they want, cyber school won't be a good alternative. Children and teens who are struggling academically generally know whether they can give up the social day to day stuff in favor of a tighter, more educationally satisfying situation.  Good grades make the student feel better about themselves, and often the after school socialization is better without piles of frustrating homework. 

Does your child like the computer?  Can he or she type?  If not there's an alternative to typing, an amazing voice recognition software called Dragon NaturallySpeaking® http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking/ The best cyber school student is a disciplined student who enjoys the benefits of getting school out of the way quickly each day and moving on to other enjoyable life activities.  But a student who struggles with distraction, discipline and learning benefits greatly from cyber school too. Teachers are often available in the evening, online on weekends for constant help.  The internet is there for research, ideas and unlimited help.  You as the parent, watching over their shoulder, know exactly what they are learning and where they are with school progress and grades.

Benefits of Cyber School

   They learn better on their own, one on one with a virtual teacher on the other end without the distractions of a classroom.

    The school day goes by much faster.  5 hours for elementary students, 5 and a half for high schoolers.  So much time is wasted in a brick and mortar school. And many public schools with 80 minute classes now give the students busy work to fill that class time.

     Flexibility, flexibility! Pick up your laptop and learn at the park, on vacation, at the museum for a learning field trip. The educational benefits of the internet and the flexibility of cyber school and a laptop will soon restructure the way we learn and teach and we'll all be better for it!