Homeschool Goes High
Tech
This is probably the most complicated issue of
home schooling ever. We are talking about a
detailed analysis of the educational features of online
services to an also detailed analysis of major curriculum
packages, from reports on educational conferences
to a side-by-side look at home school methods.
I may now shoot myself in the
foot by suggesting that the crux of home schooling has
nothing to do with all these sophisticated online techniques.
Is this true? You betcha.
Don't get me wrong. It's great to be on
the cutting edge of educational technology. While public school
districts that spent huge amounts of money on computer technology years
ago are now stuck with obsolete Apple IIs and PCs, home schools
have up-to-date hardware. While public schools hinder
themselves with expensive networked software
whose main claim to fame is fancy recordkeeping, home
schoolers pick up the very latest educational programs. Most
importantly, companies that used to market only to schools
are now producing "home school" versions of their products.
In almost every case, the home school versions are easier to
use, cheaper, and more efficient than the classroom
versions.
As more of America's educational instruction
moves online, onto video, and onto disks, it is easier
to duplicate and surpass a classroom education.
The classroom experience keeps getting fragmented into more
and more meaningless projects, e.g., "Let's gather shoeboxes and
spend time constructing a Valentine village" and
politically correct "skills." Meanwhile, home schools are
becoming more effective. Home schoolers are
moving away from "fluff" and towards highly effective,
easy-to-use educational programs, whereas
today's schools seem heading in exactly the opposite
direction.
Home schooling is now clearly more
sophisticated and effective than classroom education.
We have more and better resources. We can adapt the
latest technology faster.
We are far more committed to discovering what works, as
opposed to what sounds impressive.
That brings me back to my first point.
We are teaching our own kids. All the hubbub over the
latest technology and educational method is
nothing at all if these shiny new techniques do not directly
improve the spiritual, emotional, and academic lives of our
children. That is why we are
working so hard to stay on top of the educational tools of
today and tomorrow.
As we do this research, you don't have
to. You are able to both have time with your
children and use programs you
know are wholesome and will interest your children.
We suggest you spend lots of time with your children.
Don't get caught up in going online while
the kids run wild in the next room. Watch while they play with
their educational software, or at least check in
occasionally to observe their triumphs. "Mom! I got every
question right on this level of WordSmart!"
In the final analysis, most of the new technology is
a crutch to fill in the gaps in our own knowledge
and teaching ability. The more we know, the less we need this technology
for educational purposes. There's a world of information out
there, but most of what we need to know is still
between the leather covers of your grandpa's Bible.
Technology is fun, technology is entertaining, technology is
sociable (love those message boards!), but technology is not
God. If, instead of worrying about providing every
underprivileged child in America with a computer, our wise
leaders put some effort into removing the artificial
barriers the court system has erected between American
children and God, we would all be a lot better off.
