Adding Online Schooling to Our Homeschool Day

As Munchkin moves along in her education, I am finding that she enjoys more independent learning. While this is what we’ve been striving for during our journey, it comes with a different set of challenges. I find that I’m not as connected with the complete learning process, so I have to make a point to really talk to her and stay on top of her schoolwork to continue to gauge how she is doing and what approaches may need to be adjusted.

We still work together on some subjects, but slowly, we’re moving away from doing work together and moving more towards completely independent work. As she embraces this new independence, I’ve found that different learning avenues need to be explored that fit better with this type of learning. One of these new avenues of learning is online classes.

The first class that we added was Foundations in Creation Apologetics through Answers in Genesis. Because this was Munchkin’s first time attending an online class and the first time she would be graded by someone other than mom, we chose to go with the self-paced course. She has been getting a lot out of the course academically as well as gaining a good bit of working knowledge when it comes to scheduling and understanding grading rubrics.

Once we saw this class was going well, we decided to add an online math class to the mix. Even though she had flown through upper level math, she felt she had a lot of holes in her knowledge and didn’t feel she genuinely understood the foundational concepts. Because of this, we decided to take a step back and fill in some of the gaps. We had heard wonderful things about Thinkwell, so we chose to go that route. I’ve been pleased with the course thus far, and she likes the instant grading and quirky video lessons.

Our most recent addition to Munchkin’s online learning is Homeschool Spanish Academy. Living near the Mexican border, we are surrounded by native Spanish speakers, so knowing at least a little Spanish is helpful. I’ll be writing more about this program later in the month as Munchkin has only had one class at this point in time. Other than being a little nervous, the first class went well. It is really unique as she was talking one-on-one with a live person via Skype. She’s looking forward to learning more as the weeks go by.

Over the next few years, we’ll probably add more online classes to Munchkin’s schooling. I love teaching Munchkin myself, but I also want to embrace her love of learning and her desire to learn independently. That’s one of the things that I love about homeschooling. I have to freedom to use various resources to craft the best learning experience for Munchkin.