Most home-schooling parents will make use of the internet to help educate their children, but very few will use it to its full potential. That’s a real shame; though the internet can be full of distractions, it also represents a whole world of educational opportunity, and there are plenty of ways you can use it to your advantage.
Firstly, you’ll want to fully benefit from online resources. There are plenty of educational materials available from well-known websites, such as BBC Learning, and you can always find more engaging materials by looking elsewhere. Teaching resource websites such as Teachit Primary, for example, offers plenty of games and other online resources that you can use to make education more fun, fulfilling, and effective. As an added plus, you won’t have to buy as many physical materials, which will cost you money and waste resources since you might not need to use them again.
Of course, you’ll also want to connect with other home-schooling parents. It used to be that you could only get advice from books when it came to home-schooling methods, but there’s now a whole world of forums and blogs where home-schooling parents share their tips and help each other work around problems.
As well as connecting with parents, you can let your children interact with other home-schooled kids. One of the inherent problems with home-schooling is not being able to have your children interact with as many people throughout the day. Thanks to webcams, microphones, and the internet, you can have children from all across the country test each other or work together to solve problems, bringing a slice of the standard classroom to your home without sacrificing the advantages of home-schooling.
Finally, there’s no reason not to start contributing your own tips and tricks. As a parent who has taken responsibility for your children’s education, your experience and knowledge will be appreciated by those who are either just starting out or are thinking of home-schooling their own children. Sharing your experiences can be very rewarding, and you might find yourself with quite the online following.