A Non-traditional Tradition

More and more people are talking about home schooling and online schools. As talk about it increases, so do the questions of parents as to what exactly is home schooling and online schools. Are these two things the same and do these methods really work?

Well to begin, home schooling and online schools are not the same things although it shares a basic principle, which is that the student studies and learns at home.

These two types of schooling are considered non-traditional learning methods as opposed to the regular schoolroom type of setting. However, being non-traditional is one of the few things these two methods have in common with each other.

Home schooling entails that the child or children, are taught by a parent at home. Although done outside of the classroom setting, children that are home schooled still learn the same things that other children learn in school like basic curriculum.

Also, home schooled children will still go on field trips or other social activities that the parent-teacher will plan, as well as learn music and physical education, among other things. There are many reasons as to why a parent may decide to home school their child or children and some reasons may include the fact that traditional schools have their own philosophy and set of values that they teach to their students, so much so that certain basic lessons will be taught with certain slants toward their own preference. To avoid this, a parent may decide to home school his or her child or children.

Another reason could be that one of the parent's job entails a lot of traveling and instead of breaking up the family unit, home schooling will allow the flexible of learning anywhere home is. This same flexibility is shared by home schooling with online schools. An online school is available to its enrolled student anywhere, anytime as long as there is a computer connected to the internet.

An online school's main benefit is the flexibility in time it affords a student. This is why, online schools are preferred by a lot of adults who may want to pursue further studies but cannot do so in a traditional setting because perhaps they already hold jobs or they have other responsibilities that prevent them from learning in a traditional setting. Just like in a regular school, online schools have set curriculums and lesson requirements that an online learner needs to accomplish to earn an online degree.

Home schooling and online schools are considered non-traditional methods of learning only because it is yet to have enough people utilizing them to become the norm. Although they are non traditional, this does not mean that they are any less better than attending a regular traditional school. In fact, in some cases, these non-traditional methods are the best solution available.