What is better? Internet Homeschooling Or Regular Pad and paper homeschooling? and why?

Question

Please let me know!

Answer 1

Which is better, apples or oranges? Well, it all depends.

Kids learn in all different ways; that is why there are so many choices. For some, traditional homeschooling is the way to go, and for others, online schools fit them perfectly.

There really is no better or worse - just what is better for you. (I'm really not usually into relativism...but in this case it really is. What works for you, works for you. What doesn't, well...doesn't.)

Answer 2

I think when you say pad-and-paper and when you say internet homeschooling there is a tendancy to stereotype each.

When I think pad and paper, the first thing that comes to my mind is worksheets or maybe written notes and essays.

When I think internet homeschooling, I get two different lines of possible classes. We did K12 for 4th to 7th and that line brings images of the OLS and all the hands on activities we did. I was his primary teacher and the online component was a lot like having interactive textbooks. It was a big hit.

I also get the fresh memories of what we are doing now in our online homeschool course co-op which has the kids all logging in for us to do classes together in our online classroom. That image is social in nature. It is basically a homeschool co-op, run by traditional homeschoolers for traditional homeschoolers, where instead of us all meeting at a house we link in to a web conferencing link where we have full-duplex audio to talk with, a text chat system, the whiteboard which takes care of visual slides and interactive content.

We have had very positive internet-based experiences. What we have been involved in had plenty of flexibility and good academic support systems to make sure the kids understood the material.

My kids have always loathed worksheets, so even when we did not do internet-based classes they found ways to do every subject with the computer involved somehow. Instead of filling in the blanks of a worksheet they wanted to make e-notebooks. E-notebooks are sort of like scrapbook/portfolio/notebooks that are webpages instead of being on paper. With that method they could really get creative. Sometimes they took pictures of what they did and wrote up a scrapbook style notebook of what they learned. Sometimes they would design a timeline on the computer and used internet pictures to decorate it. With the webpage format they could make movies and audio stories and embed them in their e-notebooks. It has been a big hit.

I guess what it comes down to for us is what method lets them have fun learning and lets them get creative is the one we will go with. In our case, the computer is a key creativity tool. Internet-based classes just seem to have dovetailed better with that than the pad and paper curriculums. When we have used pad and paper style curriculums, they get transformed by the kids to be computer-based anyway. LOL.

If you are curious about that e-notebooking part, you can see one of ours, done by our son a few years ago when he was ten, at http://www.geocities.com/armoorefam/. We were using K12 (internet curriculum) at the time, but this study was so much fun we went way deeper into the topic. Yes, we had flexibility enough to select to go way beyond the curriculum.

Answer 3

Completely depends on the situation, kids involved, etc. I've known families to have one child do unschooling with the other doing online. Why? In that family, the unschooled one was highly motivated and just go-go-go with the learning, finding college level texts to learn from, etc. Her mom had no worries about her education level. Her little sister was a little different and her mom felt she'd do a lot better education-wise if she had the type of structure the particular online program offered. I know another family who, again, the older child is motivated and not doing online, the younger child will be doing online for high school to make sure that he actually gets the education he needs instead of trying to negotiate everything. :)

Answer 4

I am guessing that you mean 'internet' as a distance learning curriculum and 'pad and paper' as Mom or Dad directed? I think Mom and Dad directed, or even student directed, is a better choice. We use internet resources but we direct the education. It is more individualized. We are not on the same path as everyone else so why should we take the same prescribed courses as everyone else? We are unique and our goals are unique.

Answer 5

Well, in my country, there is no such thing as 'internet homeschooling'. Here, that is considered to be a form of distance education, not a form of home education.

Personally I'm an unschooler (from a family of unschoolers) so there's only one way to go: your own way.

Answer 6

I would say a combination of both. In today's world children need to know how to use the computer and internet within reason however, there is no substitute for reading a good book, creating your own projects and interacting with others mentally and physically.

Answer 7

Internet.

Answer 8

I'm gonna sound like everybody else, but ummm... it really does depend. For me I did both and it worked fine for me. My sibs are a totally different story. All humans learn differently some typing is soooo much easier than writing. Some prefer page turning than clicking.lol So, yeah it really does depend. LIke I said before I like the combination of both.

Answer 9

I guess it really depends on the student and how they learn. As a parent, I prefer the freedom of choosing my own curriculum and working hands on with my daughter. I'd pick traditional HS. That's just my opinion.

Answer 10

I think a great deal depends on the student, but my approach is to incorporate both.

It is important for kids these days to be able to learn to utilize all that technology has to offer, however it is equally important that they don't become completely dependent upon it.