When trying to decide whether or not distance learning is appropriate for your child, you may find that you will have many questions.  As a parent you want to make sure that your child’s start on their future is an appropriate one.  You don’t want to make an uninformed decision that might affect your child’s life on down the road.  You must do your own homework to make sure that you are setting your child up for success and not for failure.  So here are the top five questions about distance learning high school answered for you.

1.     Is the education that my child will receive one that will be recognized by future colleges/employers?

Yes, it can be.  Make sure that the school you are interested in is accredited.  If the school is accredited, then it has been recognized as being a resource for appropriate education.

2.     How does distance learning work?

Distance learning is achieved through the use of computers and the internet.  With today’s technology we are able to accomplish many things and distance learning is one of them.  Your child will be able to correspond with teachers and fellow classmates.  When your child turns in their homework, the teacher will be able to make comments which your child will be able to view; therefore, being a one-on-one education, without it actually seeming like that.  Dates are set in advance where your child will know what is due and when it is due, which forces your child to develop the organizational skills that they will need later in life.

3.    If my child attends an online high school, will he/she miss out on normal high school opportunities?

No.  Online high schools do offer your child the opportunity to attend prom and graduation.  There will be a certain location set for these events and your child will be able to attend if he/she wants to.  You, as a parent, will be able to watch your child walk up on stage and receive his/her diploma, as family is also invited to these events.

4.    Will attending an online high school provide my child with the flexibility to follow his/her other dreams?

Yes.  Children who attend high school via distance learning are able to maintain practice schedules for sports, attend sporting events and focus on their goals that will help them in their chosen career fields, whether it is acting, sports or the arts.

5.    Will my child have help if he/she needs it and will they have access to the tools that they need?

Yes.  Online high schools offer virtual libraries where the students can research a wide variety of available tools to assist them with their studies.  Online high schools also offer I.T. services, or technical support.  They will have access to contact information of their teachers and at times, even tutors.

Now that you have answers to your main questions, hopefully you are better prepared to make a life changing decision for your child.  Hopefully, the answers to your questions have been addressed here and if they haven’t, feel free to contact the school of your choice, as they will be willing to provide you with the answers.

Distance learning private schools offer the gymnast a quality education while still being able to fulfill their dream.  With the availability of online high schools, students are now able to attend practice for long hours during the day, enabling the athlete to further develop their abilities to their best potential. What? Attend practice during the day? Yes, that is correct, during the day.

An online high school is available twenty-four hours a day, 7 days per week.  It is not like a traditional high school setting where a student is required to physically attend at least 8 hours per day, 5 days a week.  With the availability of the wide array of hours that an online high school has to offer, students are now able to decide when they attend school.  This enables them to practice all day and attend school at night.

As you have already noticed, an online high school offers major flexibility in their curriculum; however, the curriculum is based upon the same foundation of that of a traditional high school curriculum.  So the student will still receive a quality education just as they would if they attended a traditional high school.  They will basically study the exact same basic subjects such as: reading, writing, math, science, etc.  They are also offered advanced classes of study, based upon the student’s ability.

With today’s technology, the internet is available all across the world, in virtually every place you can imagine.  So if the student has a gymnastics event across the country, they can take their entire school with them.  So it doesn’t matter if they are going to be there for a week, they can still do their work.  They will have access to their teachers, the library, their classmates and even technical support.  So the thought of a traveling school, is definitely now a major player in the life of a gymnast, thanks to the distance learning environment.

A student is able to work ahead if need be too.  Let’s assume that they have practice on Thursday for 7 hours.  The student will be able to determine what he/she has due on Thursday and in the days leading up to Thursday, they will be able to work on their studies and submit them early if necessary.  This allows the gymnast to free up his/her schedule for Thursday.  Now, they can practice as much as they need or want.

The distance learning environment has opened many doors for the high school aged athlete who wants to take his/her abilities and game to the next level.  It is a win-win situation for both the athlete and the parents.  To the parents, their child is still receiving a quality education while being able to pursue his/her dream.  What’s better than that?  To the student, they are able to fulfill their dream, knowing that they have the support of their parents, and still receive a quality education.  With this scenario, they have a head start on their careers and success!

Thus, you can now see why so many gymnasts are choosing distance learning private schools for their educational needs.

An accredited distance learning homeschool program will essentially be the same as any regular classroom setting. There will be some differences; however, it is essentially the same. First of all, if the program is accredited than you know that it has been an approved type of study and appropriate for your child.

So, now you want to know the differences between the two. That can’t necessarily be pinpointed because each school is different. However, we can point out the pros and cons of the accredited homeschool curriculum.

Pros:

1. The child is able to learn in his/her own distinctive learning style and that learning style can be reinforced throughout their studies.
2. With the homeschool curriculum, studies are usually reinforced across all subject areas. Say your child is learning about frogs in science, they will count frogs in math.
3. Your child can earn credit for his/her real world experiences. If they went to a pond, watched frog’s behavior, collected some tadpoles and so on, then they could receive credit for that in relation to their class work.
4. The distance learning curriculum provides for flexibility in your child’s life. It will enable your child to follow their dreams in other areas as well. For instance, ice skating, tennis, gymnastics, etc. Your child will have the flexibility to attend school and maintain a practice schedule and attend sporting events with ease.

Cons:

1. Your child will have to be organized or at least develop organizational abilities. To maintain their studies, they must be self-disciplined and know that they need to do their work; therefore, keeping their life organized will help them to stay on track.
2. The parent’s will need to act as the enforcer. As a parent, you will have to reinforce the importance of your child’s school work deadlines and stay on top of them to make sure they are doing what they need to do.
3. Not having to physically attend a school, may influence your child’s way of thinking. In other words, your child may want to sleep until noon instead of getting up early to get started on their school work.

As you can see, the pros outweigh the cons. An accredited homeschool curriculum can be every bit as demanding as a so-called “normal” school’s curriculum; however, it provides for more flexibility in your child’s life. There are several different schools that offer distance learning for your child. Each school has a different curriculum, but the basics will be the same. The accredited homeschool curriculum is based upon the same principals of that of any “normal” school, in that it’s foundation is built upon reading, writing, math, science, social studies and so on. (Normal school subjects)

So whether or not your child attends an online high school or physically attends a “normal” high school, the foundation of the curriculums will be the same. The distance learning option will offer your child more flexibility in their life to pursue their other goals, but in comparison distance learning education is as equal to that of a “normal” education.

As a parent, you have many options when it comes to the education of your child. Even if your child happens to have ADD or ADHD, you still have the same options. Distance learning has become a definite force in today’s educational environment. More and more people are opting for this type of education. Distance Learning is still an option for children with ADD or ADHD.

You may ask “Why” or “How” this is an option for your child. With homeschooling, the curriculum is basically the exact same of that of a “normal” school, but it provides for more flexibility and freedom than that of a physical school setting. You can divide up your child’s lessons into small intervals throughout the day, if necessarily, which is better than an ADD or ADHD child having to sit down for an hour (or longer) in a typical school setting.

Another option that you could look at is to have your child only study one subject per day. Even though you are breaking up lessons plans into small segments, they still will continue with the same subject each time, until the lesson is complete. This will help them to stay focused on one subject better.

Also, with homeschooling, who says your child has to attend throughout a certain time frame. We all know that each person, whether they have learning disabilities or not, have their own way of learning that works best for them. There are also certain times of the day that enables each person to learn better. I’m not a morning person; I do my best work of the evening. So with a child that is homeschooled, you will be able to adjust their schedule to fit their own learning styles as well as needs.

Another aspect that homeschooling offers is: the child being able to work at their right grade level. Sometimes in a typical school setting, the child tends to get overlooked and may still be at a 9th grade level when they are actually in the 10th grade. Or perhaps, they are in the 10th grade and are capable of doing 11th grade work, but because of having ADD or ADHD, their abilities have been overlooked and they are unable to reach their full potential. Homeschooling will allow the child to work at the right grade level.

As you can see, homeschooling has many options for the ADD or ADHD student. It actually provides more and better options than that of a typical school. Because of the flexibility that it offers, the quality of education can be impeccable to the alternative. Ensuring that your child receives the best education possible is the responsibility of the parent. So as a parent, before you make any type of decision, make sure you are keeping your child in mind, do your homework and become as informed as possible about the options that you have. Keep in mind that homeschooling your child provides for more flexibility, enhanced learning, creativity, as well as many other wonderful features that no other type of education can match.

Today, homeschooling is an option that more and more families are turning to. Here are the top five reasons to opt for homeschooling.

1. Homeschooling mirrors the values of your family

Perhaps, the top reason most families give when they decide to homeschool is some variation of “it’s the right thing for our family.” Homeschool promotes family. Parents and children of homeschool families spend more time together. This is time working on academics, but it’s also time to share chores and activities that often families with children who attend traditional schools, don’t get. Children get a sense that their lives are blended with their families and those lives reflect the family values. Children are able to be the same at home and at school, and parents don’t have to worry about the outside influences that a school setting can introduce.

2. To meet the educational needs of your child

Everyone learns in different ways and at different rates. Some students are auditory learners; some are kinesthetic. Certain students have very long attention spans and some kids can hardly sit still. In a traditional classroom, every student is expected to be attentive for a specified block of time. They are expected to complete a math assignment even if they find it frustrating and would do better to put it aside and come back to it later. Several children have emotional issues they deal with, such as anxiety, that are better able to be accommodated in the more flexible homeschool setting. If a student has an exceptional need, it is often more productive to bring in a tutor or a therapist and give the student one-on-one attention than to try to deal with that need within the confines of a traditional classroom. Homeschooling offers the flexibility to meet the needs of the student more consistently.

3. To take the pressure off

Schools can put a great deal of pressure on students and on families. Often the parents of children in traditional schools complain about the pressure they feel to have their children “keep up” and not “get behind”. Students are pushed to be “on target” for the skills they’re supposed to master in each grade. For some families, the pressures of homework strain family time. Children can’t attend a family dinner or the event of a sibling because there is homework or a project to finish by the next day. Homeschooling takes that pressure off. The timetable you set is your own and your child’s.

Children often feel tremendous peer pressure at school. This type of pressure is often difficult for the child to deal with. Children feel pressurized to wear the right clothes, to have the right MP3 player, to listen to the right music or watch the right TV shows - even have the right friends. Often, as children get older, the peer pressure becomes negative. Stepping outside the traditional school setting takes that sort of peer pressure off the children.

4. Design your own curriculum

Every state has its own requirements for homeschool students, so be sure to check and find out what they are. But within the confines of those requirements, homeschool parents and students, have tremendous freedom in choosing curriculum. Curriculum can be project based or art focused or hands-on science. Making those educational choices with your student helps empower them as learners and cements their engagement in their own learning process. There are also accredited distance learning homeschool programs which provide the curriculum for your students which pass state standards.

5. To develop talents and interests

Children in traditional schools need to structure “outside” time to include activities and interests such as sports or music. Often, there is very little time left in the day to concentrate on those activities, much less any energy to participate in them. Homeschool students have the flexibility to pursue and develop interests and perhaps to discover talents they didn’t know they had.

Whether your gifted child is enrolled in a traditional school or a homeschool, finding enrichment to meet his individual needs can be a challenge. Many traditional schools simply cannot meet the individual needs of a gifted child and parents end up scrambling to try to find enrichment opportunities. Many homeschool parents find it an overwhelming challenge to try to meet the extraordinary needs of their gifted child. One viable option for many gifted students is an accredited distance learning program.

A variety of distance learning opportunities are available for your gifted child. In evaluating these options, take some time to first define what you’re looking for in a distance learning program. Most gifted children have specific areas of interest or expertise. Be sure to identify those areas of interest and look for programs with strength and depth in their course offerings.

Look for distance learning opportunities that are more than just courses that require a student to acquire a bunch of facts. Gifted learners thrive in environments that require higher level critical thinking skills and encourage exploration and experimentation. You’ll want to find a distance learning course that provides your gifted learner the opportunity to interact with his teacher to a large degree. This can be through email or through the distance learning website, but it should also include real time interactions, whether through instant messaging or by phone. You’ll want to see that the teachers are flexible and encourage independent thought and action. These are important when dealing with gifted learners.

Be sure that this distance learning course offers students the ability to interact with each other. Gifted students often thrive in settings where they can collaborate with other students and where they can learn from them as well. Courses that offer large degrees of interaction and encourage community building can create meaningful learning communities that are exciting for your gifted student to be a part of. This sort of atmosphere and encouragement can be so important to your gifted student. They may not have been able to find that in a traditional school environment or in a homeschool environment. This might afford them their first taste of finding a learning community where they not only fit in, but also thrive.

Be sure that student interaction is monitored by the course teacher or by the school. You’ll want to know that a teacher is overseeing community message boards and virtual classroom sessions and that the rules of the school are being adhered to. Understand the policies set forth by the school for proper etiquette in using these boards and in interacting during class time. You want to ensure that this learning environment is safe for your child.

You’ll need to make sure that the distance learning school you choose for your gifted learner is an accredited institution. Schools are accredited through a governing body, such as the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WACS). In order to achieve accreditation status, the schools must provide information about their school and submit to a monitoring process. Taking courses from an accredited distance learning school will ensure that your child will be able to use those courses in the college admissions process.

Education is one of the most important needs of any child, allowing them to nurture their curiosity and explore their thoughts. Parents who realize this may however decide not to send their child to a mainstream school for this education, but instead educate their child at school. Choosing the right home schooling curriculum to use is quite an overwhelming decision for parents thinking about it for the first time.

Homeschooling is an alternative means of educating children where the children are educated at home, often by their parents. A curriculum to follow may be obtained through a homeschooling program offered by an institution.

There are many advantages to homeschooling for both parents and children which is why there are so many parents which are now opting for it.

As choosing homeschooling may be quite daunting, here are some tips which may help you to make your decision.

• Making the decision.

Many parents who are thinking about homeschooling their child may be struggling to decide whether they should actually homeschool their child or not, as it is a very important decision to make. One of the most important things to think about is whether or not as parents you are equipped to satisfy the requirements of any homeschooling program.

• Remember that homeschooling is an ongoing process.

Parents should remember that homeschooling is an ongoing process and so it is important to think about one thing at a time. This means that if your child is young you should focus only on what a pre-schooler needs to learn and not try to go too far too fast.

• Be aware of state laws on homeschooling.

Every state in the U.S. has different laws relating to homeschooling so it is crucial to know what they are in your state. This will make sure that you stay within the law while offering your child a good education.

• Find a support group.

If you find a local support group then you will be able to gain additional support from others undergoing homeschooling and also find others for your child to socialize with. Members of support groups can also swap tips to allow you to get even more from your homeschooling.

• Research your choices

Doing your homework on the options available to you is one of the single most important things to think about when you are choosing whether to homeschool your child. If you know everything that you have to do to homeschool your child then you will be able to get the best from the process.

• Think about your child’s learning style.

Assessing your child’s learning style will help you to choose the best way of homeschooling your child. Picking a homeschooling program which will suit your child’s learning style will make it more effective in the long-term.

• Get yourself organized.

Homeschooling will require you to have a set of different materials and also a set place in which the learning may take place. You need to organize an area where there are suitable conditions for learning.

• Organize a budget.

There are a number of costs involved in homeschooling, especially for materials. This means that you need to carefully allocate money for the essentials and then think about optional extras which may be of use.

You can look around on the Internet for many books, as this will often lower your costs. Homeschooling is really a change of lifestyle and something which you need to research carefully to make sure it is for you before making this important decision.

Setting up a traditional high school course schedule can be difficult. Many students struggle to create schedules that include all of the courses they are required to take to meet state and local requirements, and still have time in the day to take courses they might actually be interested in taking! Many times, students try to sign up for courses at their traditional high school only to be told that they have been shut out of the class because there are too many students, or that a class is no longer offered for any number or reasons.

Many students find that a distance learning school can provide classes for them that their traditional schools don’t or won’t offer. Students can take required classes from an accredited distance learning school during the summer and receive credit for the class from their traditional high school. Students can also take elective classes from a distance learning high school during the summer and receive credit for those as well.

Many students take advantage of course offerings from distance learning schools that fill in the gaps of their traditional high schools. Many distance learning schools offer accelerated classes during the summer that are available for students to take so they can accelerate their course progression. If a student wants to take a chemistry class during the regular school year but does not have the required math, the math can be taken during the summer from an online distance learning school. When the student completes that course, the student can then be prepared for the chemistry class at his traditional high school in the fall.

An online summer school class can fit easily into a student’s schedule and into the summer activities of his family. Students can complete assignments at a time that is convenient for them during the day or evening, leaving them time to volunteer or work a summer job. The dynamic atmosphere of an online school often surprises students who take an online class during the summer. The classes offered are interactive and challenging, and students build relationships with their teachers as well as with one another. Many students are delighted to find that at the end of the course, they have new friends from all across the country.

An online summer school class gives students an opportunity to be in a class with a group of their peers who are also interested in the subject they are taking. If a student is taking a higher level French class, for example, he will find himself in a class with people who find the class interesting and exciting. He can collaborate with other students on interesting projects and he can learn from those other students as well.

An online distance learning summer school offers a unique learning experience for students. Many students who start out by taking just one summer school class from an online school decide to come back again and take more classes. Students often find a home in the online school community.

As school budgets get tighter and tighter, more schools are looking to ways to maximize every dollar. Often, that means only funding classes that are fully enrolled. Foreign language classes, especially at the higher levels, are often smaller classes filled with only a handful of students. Many schools are looking at distance learning technologies as a way to still offer these classes to students, but in a more efficient way.

Distance learning classes for foreign language are often used in school districts where finding qualified language teachers is difficult or when districts are looking to expand course offerings in a cost efficient manner. Many homeschool students look to distance learning programs in foreign language as a way learn a language in an engaging manner. Technology has greatly improved the quality of distance learning foreign language courses.

A strong distance learning foreign language program will be taught by an accredited teacher proficient in the language she is teaching. This can often mean the teacher is a native speaker, but she should be a certified teacher as well. A foreign language distance learning program should be interactive. This means that there should be two way communication, preferably both audio and video. A computer terminal with a camera and microphone are necessities for this. These technologies should be tools for teaching and the students should be proficient in using these technologies before the class begins.

Using these technologies, foreign language teachers should interact with students on a regular basis, both in writing and orally. Especially in introductory level classes, students need immediate feedback on their speaking abilities. This can be done on an interactive basis. Due to the intense nature of the need for interaction in distance learning foreign language classes, these classes should be limited in size. They should include no more than twenty students so that each student is assured of getting quality, real time feedback and constructive criticism.

Foreign language teaching should focus on teaching the mechanics of the language, but should also include teaching the culture of the country. Using technology allows for enrichment in that area, and can even provide the ability for students to connect with native language speakers from that country. The technology being used should augment the textbooks that will be used, which can be online or in traditional hardcover form.

The distance learning environment for foreign language teaching should also involve time and a forum for student collaboration. This sort of collaboration is especially important in foreign language learning because it provides students the opportunity to use their budding language skills and practice with one another. Group projects can be facilitated through the use of technology.

Interactive technology has allowed distance learning foreign language classes to blossom and to take form. Use of this technology allows students to speak to their teachers virtually and to hear the language being spoken. Students can listen to recorded sessions as many times as they need to fully comprehend the language and to develop their skills. This technology has taken the teaching of foreign language through distance learning to a high level and is an excellent choice for traditional school students of homeschool students.

One of the common concerns of many parents when they are considering homeschooling their child is that their child may not get to socialize with other children. It is however a fact that most children who are receiving homeschooling are not being isolated from society but it is just that they are receiving their education in a slightly different manner to most others their age. Many children that have homeschooling still participate in other activities outside of education, for example they may play for a sports team, go to dance classes or music classes. Many parents may also take their children on field trips and offer their children a wider range of educational opportunities than they may get in a state school. In fact, many children that are home schooled may actually be exposed to a wider range of social situations than those in public schools.

There is nothing stipulating that the only way in which to gain such an education is through public school. In fact in the past it was common that children were educated at home by a governess or parent. Examples of famous people who have been home schooled include Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, LeAnn Rimes, Ansel Adams and William F. Buckley Jr.

Most children usually spend around 7.5 hours in school every weekday, with classes only taking up around 6.5 hours of that time. The other hour of the day is split between lunchtime and getting to and from each class, and there is not a whole lot of time for socializing in that time. Many children at school get most of their socialization experience from out of school activities and clubs.

The public doesn’t generally know that much about homeschooling however. This means that many people may not have an accurate perception of what actually happens when a child is home schooled. It is not often realized that one of the founding principles of homeschooling to encourage participation in activities outside of the classroom to explore other areas than academia, and develop a whole range of interpersonal skills. The fact that homeschooling may not result in recognized qualifications doesn’t mean that social skills are not developed. In fact there are a number of national spelling bees which are often won by home schooled children, including the National Geographic Bee and Scripps National.

One of the main reasons that there have been such a lot of misconceptions built up about homeschooling is that before the 1960s many of the people that were home schooled were those with learning or mental difficulties which couldn’t be provided for in mainstream schooling. This may have contributed to the current idea that home schooled children are deficient in social skills.

There are many who today are working to try and dispel these myths, such as homeschooling organizations and the media. In fact, given the higher numbers of children winning many national competitions, it is only a matter of time before the merits of homeschooling are better recognized.

A subscription to Home school Success News or another specialist publication allows parents to stay current with the latest news in homeschooling.