Homeschool Computers:
Friends or Fiends?

Years ago I started to read the story of Hannibal to my sons. I started by explaining a little about the Punic Wars and one child wanted to know which side won the war. I told him, "You'll just have to wait and see how the story ends." He responded, "I'll just go look it up on the internet." At the time, I thought that was extremely amusing and told several friends who also saw the humor in the younger generation using the ultra-modern internet to look up information on ancient wars. No longer! In fact, if I wanted information on the Punic Wars today, the internet is likely the first place I would turn.

So will the internet replace books completely? Some think they will. But it just doesn't seem that curling up in your favorite chair with a lap-top is quite the same as enjoying a good book.

Nonetheless, computers are here and will continue to change and change how we do things. Here are some of the ways they are used in homeschooling:

• Researching curriculum ideas and homeschool information
  
• Internet based schools that are done at home
  
• On-line courses (usually high school and above)
  
• Software for homeschool subjects
  
• Student research on the internet
  
• Creating documents for assignments
  
• Record keeping
  
• Communication, participating in forums, etc.

Students who are doing unit studies have another unique option for using websites. Part of their unit study may comprise researching what type of information is available on the internet and evaluating and comparing websites.

Technology and Your Homeschool Program

Here are a few questions to consider:

Are you using textbooks or unit studies? Click here for the article Comparing Unit Studies and Textbooks

If you are using a traditional textbook curriculum, in what forms is it available. (Hard print, DVD, CD ROM, Internet)

Does your child enjoy working at a monitor?

Do you have a equipment for each student?

Do you have time limits for each student? Do those limits include study time or just recreational time?

A program with a strong technological emphasis would be 80% computer-based and 20% hard materials. Some subjects, such as physical education, art, and literature are not likely to be completely done at a keyboard.

At the other end of the spectrum, a non-computerized program in many households would be 80% hard materials and 20% computerized. Keyboarding, writing papers, and looking for current event articles are common activities that generally are done with a laptop or other equipment.

Are there any households that are internet-free? Of course there are and there likely will continue to be for a long time. However, considering you are reading this page, it is quite likely you are not in a completely non-techno household.

So part of your homeschool planning should consider these questions: What percentage of each student's education will be at a keyboard?

Is additional equipment or software needed? (Or updates)

How will keyboarding time be scheduled into the daily program?

Contemplating how the internet and soft-ware programs will fit into your homeschool will assist in choosing the right curriculum for your family.

Here is a scope and sequence for computer-skills for homeschool.

Click here to return from Computers and Homeschool to the How To Homeschool Main Page.