Home Schooling, Online Schooling
Home Schooling vs. Online Schooling: What is Best for Your Child?
The concepts of **Home Schooling** and **Online Schooling** became widespread terms during the recent global disruption. While many parents discovered these alternatives during the pandemic, they represent fundamentally different approaches to education.
The time spent out of traditional school settings significantly impacted the foundational years of education for children in Britain and worldwide. Naturally, parents are now more concerned than ever about securing the future of their children’s education.
Clarifying the Difference: Home Schooling and Online Schooling
Although often confused, these are distinct models. **Home Schooling** is one of the oldest, most traditional forms of teaching, dating back centuries before mandatory attendance laws. In this model, the parent or a private tutor assumes full responsibility for the child’s education, including curriculum design and assessment.
Conversely, **Online Schooling** is a relatively modern concept, revolutionised during the quarantine era. It involves fully structured, remote delivery of an accredited curriculum—such as the **British Curriculum**—by certified teachers within a complete **virtual school environment**. This framework includes scheduled classes, assignments, social activities, and formal assessment by the institution.
In the post-pandemic era, parents globally face a difficult choice between traditional physical classes, unstructured homeschooling, and the structured online school model. This article will provide an in-depth, data-driven comparison to help you secure the best educational path for your children.
Home Schooling: The Focus on Individuality
The resurgence of homeschooling is largely driven by a renewed appreciation for individual learning needs. The core objective of homeschooling is to tailor the education precisely to **what the child needs**, acknowledging that each student is unique, especially when dealing with issues like ADHD or specific learning styles.
The Uptrend and Motivations for Home Education
Recent years have shown a significant uptrend in home education. A 2018 survey indicated over 57,000 homeschooled children in Britain, a number that experienced a spike in interest during the pandemic (according to Forbes). But why is this traditional model gaining traction today, even against the prestigious backdrop of the British education system? (Learn more about British Education history).
The primary motivations are rooted in addressing shortcomings of the crowded traditional model:
Addressing Bullying and Mental Well-being
For children who are shy, introverted, or are targets of bullying, home education offers a **safe, monitored environment**. A private tutor or parent can provide focused attention that is impossible for a teacher managing 30-50 students, helping to prevent the development of insecurity or an inferiority complex.
Flexibility of Curriculum
Homeschooling allows for high **curriculum flexibility**. Parents have the luxury of allowing the child to focus on what they genuinely need for their future career, rather than strictly adhering to all aspects of the statutory curriculum (Learn more about the British Curriculum). This enables deep knowledge acquisition in specific areas of interest from an early age, which can be invaluable in the long run.
What one needs for Home Schooling
Okay, now that we have already discussed why homeschooling is getting more and more popular, it is time to discuss what parents want to know and how to start with kids’ homeschooling. Now, most parents will start panicking over where to find the teachers and how it can affect the child’s social life, relax. However, homeschooling does not necessarily mean that one has to confine their child at home. Instead, it is totally opposite. With homeschooling, one can manage their child’s schooling time more optimally and get the maximum out of less time.
Before going for the teacher hunt program, one needs to talk out the details with their child. It is imperative to have the child’s opinion included in every decision when one goes for homeschooling. First, you need to ask them about if they want to go for homeschooling or not. You need to know what they want to focus on, their ambitions and goals, and then as a parent and with your experience, help them get a teacher who can assist them in achieving that. Another main thing is that although it is not a school and you do not have to replicate the environment completely, still it is essential to give them a comfortable environment. Keep a single room for purpose and try to keep it dedicated for the purpose. Research shows that children tend to learn more in a dedicated room when they are only allowed for educational activities in that room. So try to make sure your kids only use the room for learning activities and nothing else. The crux of homeschooling
Just remember one important thing, the primary purpose of homeschooling is for convenience and peace of mind for you and your child. Do not hesitate to change teacher when your child is having some genuine issues. It is crucial to heed your little one’s complaints when you go for homeschooling as they see you as their authority and only solution to all their problems. With the Covid situation, almost everything tends to shift to online mode. Jobs, work, and even business started to shift to online dealing. The same goes for schooling and education. Even for homeschooling, you don’t need to worry about teachers anymore, and you can just hire someone to tutor your children online while staying at home. This is kind of a mashup between online and homeschooling, but let’s first look at Online Schooling to help you better comprehend the concept.Online Schooling
The online schooling concept mainly was taken as a freelancer concept for middle east and Asian countries. People started tutoring students from US and Europe online. During the quarantine, the concept tools a comprehensive approach and became a primary method of carrying out academic activities all around the globe. As the fear of infection grew among people, schools had no other option but to develop their LMS system to carry out educational activities.
The concept turned out to be a success as it offered the best teachers for students with the ease of both parties operating from the comfort of their homes. As of now, physical classes have started again, but still, many people opt for the online schooling option as a part of homeschooling their kids. Why Online Schooling has an Edge
The best part of online schooling is that it combines the best teachers for your kids no matter where you are. In addition, most classes are interactive where learning is not just one-sided, but kids can also ask questions from their teacher. However, the catch here is that, unlike physical classes, online classes, in most cases, are also available in recordings. So your kids can repeat their lectures whenever they want.
Plus, they have complete access to thousands of books and other data that can be helpful in studies. The modern age is just overly influenced by technology. No matter which field your children opt for, they have to be familiar with changing tech to excel in their field. With online schooling, they are more in touch with exploring the online world, and daily they learn something. Also, there are even programs that offer a combined global classroom. Such an environment can have a significant influence on your child’s social life and understanding. They get to know people from different cultures, get to meet them, know more about their culture and tolerance beyond any discrimination. These traits and qualities have a significant impact on personality in the long run. Learn more about forming international friendships. Maybe a short session can help
If you are one of those parents who still cannot decide on the future of your kid’s schooling, do not worry just yet. You are not alone, and many parents find it hard to go out of line and start online schooling for their children. In such a condition, we recommend you give it a try first. Just remember you can always switch back to traditional school any time you want, and their no harm in trying out online schooling to help out your child. You can go for an online summer camp or, for even better results, one year of online school and compare the performance.
If your child can actually outperform their traditional grades and learning, you have all the more reason to settle for it. On the other hand, if at any point your child feels difficult to relate to the new model of schooling, you can always go back to traditional schooling. The Final Call
As discussed before, the final decision to opt for online education or schooling should be left to your child and your peace of mind. Sit and discuss what they want from their schooling, their ambitions, and what they are looking for in a school.
Especially those students who are having a rough time at school either because of bullying or just being shy and could not come out as strong tend to perform tremendously better with online schooling. Give confidence to your kids and help them overcome the difficulties they are having in their studies. Whether online schooling, homeschooling, or traditional schooling, always remember that the most critical part is to help your kids learn not to fall victim to extreme pressure and stress. This can only be achieved through constant support and regulation. So, the critical part is being there for your kids when they need you. This was all from our guide to online schooling. If you have any queries or confusions regarding this or any other questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. We will love to hear more from you. Till then, stay safe. Bibliography
- Fears Children Going ‘Off-Grid’ As Homeschooling Up By 700% by Nick Morrison, Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2020/03/06/fears-children-going-off-grid-as-homeschooling-up-by-700/?sh=7155ddf154b4
