There was a time, not too long ago, that people would never have considered taking their high school classes any way than by going into a building. Over the past few years, taking online high school classes has become a lot more popular. Professor Clayton Christensen, from the Harvard Business School, has been quoted predicting that at least half of all students enrolled in K through 12 classes will take then online. At least 33% of all states had virtual high schools with full time students during the 1-14-2014 school year and 16% of states had blended online schools with a mix of full and part time students.
There are some benefits to sending your child to take online high school classes. Here are some of the reasons to consider it:
- Students studying for an online high school diploma are given more help. They also report encountering fewer obstacles that might get in the way of finishing with a diploma. Many studies show that people with a diploma have a much higher earning potential than those who do not.
- There are fewer problems with transportation. If the school is in an area that received a lot of bad weather such as blizzards, hurricanes or floods, there is always the chance that school will be canceled. Students with disabilities may face similar problems getting to and from school. That can lead to more absences that make it hard for these students to keep up with their peers. Online high school classes offer students to get to class regardless of the weather or their disability.
- The learning goes on all year long. Unlike traditional, brick and mortar schools, which have an academic year from August or September to June, accredited online high schools are open for business all year round. Many experts in education say that the time that students have off over the summer is problematic for their learning and say they lose of lot of what they absorbed over the summer during these breaks. This will also mean there is more flexibility for the parents of a kid attending a free online school. If they need to do to doctors’ appointments or therapy treatments, it is easy to schedule school around those commitments.
- There is no hurry to enroll in online high school classes. Often, you have to make sure your child is enrolled by a certain time for traditional schools. With your online high school options, all of that worry can be tossed away.
- Students can go as fast or slow as they want. There have kids who have been told to “slow down” their learning in traditional schools. Others may have their needs glossed over as the teacher needs to more along to the next part of their lesson plan to accommodate all of the students in their classrooms. This can be one of the best things about online high school classes. Students can do their own thing, at their own pace. They will move on only when they are ready to do so.
- Students still have high standards. The way things are in traditional schools, the standards are not supposed to be different from one place to another but they are not. Kids are often passed just to get them moved from one classroom to another. Students can only pass their online high school classes when they have passed them.
- Students can keep their own schedule. It can be hard for high school students to get up and be ready to go in the morning in time for them to get the bus. If your kids learn better later (or earlier) in the day, they can do that. This kind of classwork does take a bit more discipline but can be helpful for kids who need to work on a different schedule.
There are a number of reasons that students do not do well in traditional schools. Some are discouraged from studying subjects they enjoy and others need to do their work on their own time line. Both issues can be addressed by online high schools classes. At least, these kinds of course options can give a lot of hope to students who are not doing well.