Many Options Available to Homeschoolers

Homeschooling - Gustoff family in Des Moines 020 (Photo credit: IowaPolitics.com)

by Trina Higginbotham

At the present time, there are many options available for those wanting to educate their children at home.

These options include the online school offered by most public schools, as well as private, distance-learning academies. Still another option is the independent option of homeschooling.

There are benefits and disadvantages to each option.

One of the benefits of using the online public school is that in most cases there are no tuition fees. Often, a computer is provided for the student to use at no cost to the family. This may be a good option for someone who is unable to attend school for health or other reasons, but cannot afford curriculum or the tuition costs involved in other academies.

Some other advantages to the online public school are that the student's work will be graded by teachers, and the student's records will be kept through the school. This can save a lot of time involvement on the parents' part.

There are a few things to consider which may not make this a good option for everyone considering homeschooling. You will need to have internet access available on a daily basis for the child to do their work online. Also, the child will be sitting in front of a computer for the time it takes them to complete their school work each day and some parents prefer other options because of this.

Also, keep in mind that if you choose this option you will have little control over what the child is being taught.

There are many private academies available to students that are educated at home. While this option usually involves more time involvement by the parents, it allows the parents to have more control over which curriculum is used and which courses the student takes.

The services offered by these academies vary greatly from one school to the next. Most will keep your records, however, you will be responsible for most other aspects of the schooling. For example, you will most often be responsible for grading the child's work, and for teaching them the concepts that they are learning.

Also, you will usually have to send the child's tests to the school. Some of these academies are specifically for those students that use a certain curriculum, and others offer record-keeping services to students using a variety of curricula.

Many of these academies offer accredited diplomas to those who graduate through their academy and some even offer a graduation ceremony for the student to take part in, as does the online academy offered by the public school. One disadvantage is that you will definitely have more cost involved with this option, than you would if you chose to go through the public school.

There are still other options available to those that homeschool, and one of those is the independent option. This involves the parent teaching the child and keeping their own records. Since the student is not enrolled in an academy, this option is usually not accredited.

Many parents still choose to homeschool in this manner. Most states do allow this but you will need to find out what the laws are for the state you live in before you begin to homeschool, no matter which option you choose.

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