Home school parents as a whole are a pretty creative resourceful bunch. This is one of the reasons that they have made the decision to take their child education into their own hands. Something was lacking in the public or private school arenas that they thought they could do better. I have continued to be amazed by the creative ideas and numerous teachable moments that home school parents seem to come up with.
Home school families tend to be middle class Christian people that live in semi rural areas. They also tend to have made some sacrifices, mom may have given up a job to stay at home and accept the responsibility of educating her children. Aside from the fact that they are already paying school taxes and not receiving any benefit, homeschooling is expensive. There are books, curriculum, field trips, school supplies, etc, that all must be begged borrowed or stolen. Unfortunately what I see happen is that technology, such as computers, is often neglected. This could be because of financial constraints, a desire to go back to simpler times, or the parent’s lack of knowledge, but whatever the case kids need technological experience to compete in the new world.
Kids today are plugged in, wired, internet savvy, and bombarded with enough to make and adults head spin. While I believe that kids need their fair share of dirt and sunshine I also believe that it is important to go with changing times instead of fight them.
Give the kids what they need. Healthy doses of exercise and plenty of technology. Too much of any one thing is harmful, so ration and be the gate keeper, supervise their use of the internet. Get home school software that allows children to have access to more aspects of their own education. Take advantage of software language programs, websites geared towards learning. Allow kids to experiment with computers and you will be amazed at what they are capable of. Give responsibility and you will be pleasantly surprised at what your child gives in return.
Bill Gates through some luck breaks and turns of fate had almost unlimited access to cutting edge technology that was so far ahead of its time that by the time he was in high school he was one of only a handful of people in the world that was adapt at computer programming. I am not saying that every child will grow up to be a Bill Gates, but the potential is certainly there and giving children full access to as much technology as possible will ensure that we have forward thinkers tomorrow.