Homeschooling and the Internet

For anyone– homeschoolers especially– the Internet is a massive library. Its bookshelves are endless and full—not only with books, but with magazines and research papers. And it’s a library teeming with experts anticipating every need.

Thanks to the Internet, children around the world can go to school, from the comfort of home. And in a classroom this diverse, imagine the opportunities! Studying and exchanging information with children of other cultures, learning their foreign languages as they learn ours, sowing seeds of Christianity throughout the process.

Thanks to the Internet, parents have at their mouse-clicks: online curriculums and tutors, homeschool forums and blogs, thorough reviews of countless curriculums. Face it; parents can almost homeschool their children for free with access to today’s technology. And if they feel the need to generate some income, they can always peddle last year’s curriculum on eBay or at Vegsource’s Swap Boards!

When we decided to homeschool several years ago, many well-meaning people recommended favorite curriculums. Overwhelmed and fascinated, I turned to the Internet. I found curriculum review sites, I joined a Yahoo group so I could further explore Spell to Write and Read . If it weren’t for the Internet, my sister-in-law would never have found out about Professor B Math, which has literally been a time/money/sanity saving, not to mention unparalleled program…(just try it out online for free and see what you think! And no, I don’t get any kickbacks for plugging the links on this page!)

Just for fun, some of my favorite homeschool resources:

• Love to Learn
• Mindware
• Homeschool.com’s Top 100 Educational Websites
• R.O.C.K. Solid, Inc.
• Terri Camp’s Ignite The Fire site

So the above is just the tip of the iceberg concerning where the Internet can take your homeschool. Parents of the millennium, cop out no more! You can competently teach your child. (Btw, God can turn incompetence into competence with or without internet access!)

One word of caution. Many homeschool parents get caught in the curriculum trap. There’s so much out there, so many choices, sooo many temptations. You’ve got to budget not only your finances as you determine God’s best for your family, but also your time. There’s nothing wrong with browsing all the goodies, but at some point you’re going to have to commit to certain ones and get to homeschooling.

The Internet. Where homeschool parents play during recess.

Start your search engines!

Internet's Impact on Our Culture

• How Has the Internet Impacted Our Culture?
• The Internet @ Work
• The Internet’s Effect on Godly Women
• The Internet’s Effect on Sharing the Gospel in Far Away Places
• The Internet’s Effects on Sexuality and How We View Ourselves
• Homeschooling and the Internet