As we learn more about the educational process, we are learning that many children don’t exactly thrive in the traditional classroom environment. This causes parents to consider homeschooling, which they may not have the time to do on their own. To bridge this gap, the idea of cyber school has been implemented in a number of communities. There are some advantages and disadvantages to consider with this idea as outlined below.
The Pros of Cyber School
1. It provides a better learning environment.
Children who are able to learn in a comfortable environment tend to absorb more information. Not everyone is comfortable at school, but many kids find a home learning program to be quite comfortable.
2. It gets parents more involved.
Cyber school is a fully funding public school option in many communities, but it also has many components of a homeschooling program as well. This gets the parents more involved in the education of their children and that’s almost always a good thing.
3. It isn’t governed by homeschooling restrictions.
Parents who are homeschooling need to have lesson plans in place, may need to pass educational requirements, and qualify in other ways to legally teach. Children being homeschooled may need to carry a truancy card during school hours. In a cyber school, many of these issues tend to go away.
The Cons of Cyber School
1. It limits social interactions.
Although kids may find the learning environment to be beneficial, cyber school also tends to isolate kids. There may be field trip programs and other social gatherings, but the daily interactions that kids have traditionally had go away.
2. It has technology restrictions.
Although internet saturation is at 90% and growing in the US, that still means 1 in 10 homes don’t have the internet for some reason. Without internet access, cyber school is impossible.
3. It may not be free.
Many cyber schools are part of the public school system, but not all of them are. The costs of a cyber school may be several thousand dollars per year. Even if subsidized or on a sliding scale program, this may be too much money for some homes.
Cyber schools can provide children some unique advantages. If those outweigh the disadvantages, then cyber schooling might be the right choice for you.
Crystal Lombardo is a contributing editor for Vision Launch. Crystal is a seasoned writer and researcher with over 10 years of experience. She has been an editor of three popular blogs that each have had over 500,000 monthly readers.
