Homeschool Learning Platforms

For many parents, upon hearing the word homeschooling their first reaction is … freak out! It’s normal, especially if you work full-time. How in the heck are you going to homeschool while also trying to put food on the table? It’s a timely question, but believe it or not, lots of families make it work. The modern homeschool movement really took shape in the 1970s when a prominent educational theorist, John Holt, posited that traditional classroom environments were designed to craft “compliant employees.” Holt felt that education imparted at home could be more holistic and result in critical thinkers as opposed to simply “more sheep in the flock.”

This might have been radical stuff for some, but many parents were indeed moved. The biggest hurdle to jump through, however, was how to align homeschool curriculum with state and federal standards. This was tackled state-by-state, and while it took over a decade, by the 90s most states had aligned themselves successfully with homeschoolers and participation has grown ever since.

Before considering homeschooling (and of course figuring out which adult is capable of being home at least 6 hours per day to supervise the process), settling on which curriculum type is fundamental. Due to the demand for homeschooling, the range of curriculum (audio files, interactive TV, online books, physical workbooks, lapbooks, CD-ROMs, etc) available is vast. It’s not like the 80s when parents had a handful of books and the state standards to follow. Second, every child has a different learning style. Nowadays especially, holding a child’s attention is not as easy as it was in previous generations. Online learning has kids glued to screens, and while beneficial at times from a learning perspective, it’s not ideal. Homeschooled kids need to shift from paper to screen to audio and back again. Relying too heavily on one medium is not recommended.

There is a host of learning platforms, and we’re going to provide a list of some of the more popular. Do understand that these change by the month, so be sure to continue doing your own research in parallel.

ALEKS

If math is a particular area of interest, or one that needs strengthening, ALEKS is a wonderful place to start. Highly technological in nature, ALEKS calls on artificial intelligence to keep its offering ever-evolving, and provides parents with easy to follow instruction and 24/7 support.

Connections Academy

A long time leader in online homeschooling, Connections focuses more intently on high school and combines a range of activities and lesson plans that are designed not only to bolster autonomous working skills, but also involve parents in the learning process and foster accountability with the children. The system is highly flexible and customizable to all learners.

Easy Fun School

As the title suggests, your kid will have a ball! Perhaps, but the best part about Easy Fun School is the baseline subscription (free) gives you access to 1,500 plus tutorials of history activities, science projects, humanities lessons and more. They get rave reviews from parents, and in the homeschooling world this is who we need to listen to.

Internethomeschool.com

And lastly, the school with the hardest name to pronounce, unless of course you break out the address: Internet Home School. But they prefer being referred to as their complete online address, so we’ll oblige. Quite possibly the most complete catalog of materials of any of the other platforms listed, there doesn’t seem to be a subject Internethomeschool.com doesn’t cover. Tuition is also reasonably priced, which makes a difference.

We know it’s not an easy choice. Homeschooling takes commitment, resources and a real passion for teaching. If you’ve ever tried to teach your child for an extended amount of time you know too well. But homeschooling in 2020 is the most advanced it’s ever been, so if you’ve got the desire, now is the time to pounce.