Home Schooling in Ohio - ECOT is a Leader

Home schooling in Ohio is becoming more and more popular. Parents are deciding everyday to keep there kids at home and do home schooling through the internet. There are many different views about this and whether it is good or not. But for now I'm going to concentrate on the advantages of home schooling and give information on ECOT one of the better know home school programs in Ohio. There will be those who have different views and I welcome any ones opinions in the matter. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with home schooling. Just giving what I have researched and found out about it.

The fact is it is catching on, my kids are still in public schools. This is there choice they like school and being with there friends. But I am not saying I will never decide to home school. Parents decide to home school for many reasons such as a child that will not go to school, some parents feel they can do a better job in there child's education if the child is at home for them to monitor and still some are doing it because of everything that is going in the world today such as drugs, violence and terrorist attacks.

There are advantages to home schooling such as:

The most important thing for a young child is to feel secure and one of the advantages of home schooling is that there is nowhere more secure than at home. It is safe, warm, familiar and is in the control of those who the child trusts most in the whole world!

It is a simple fact that children learn best when they have access to one on one help from an adult whenever it is needed. This is not possible in a formal school but, of course it is the nature of a home school.

The best way to learn about something is to learn about it in real life. Schools are disconnected from the real world. Home schools can be disconnected too but they have the potential to use the real world to learn about everything children can learn about numbers and math when doing the shopping with Mom and about practical work by helping to build a shed with Dad.

One of the most important advantages of home schooling is that at home the values of Mom and Dad are not challenged each day by the values of school life or of your child's friends. This is critical because of the nature of a child. A young child's mind is very delicate. Whatever a child sees, hears, touches, tastes or smells influences them. It is essential therefore that whatever the parent holds to be true is presented to the child first and often and that the child is not confused by different value systems. My daughter had a teacher that would actually call the students "APPLES" when she was referring to them being Assholes. And this was even a elementary school. I could not believe this and nothing was done about it. I do not feel that is a appropriate thing for a teacher to do. It just teaches a young child to substitute regular words for curse worlds. Plus where does a teacher have the right to call a student that young an asshole (apple) anyway?

Another advantage is a student can do there school work when it fits best. If they need to go to appointment they are not counted absent or tardy. And just like in regular school they do have a certain amount of work that has to be done in a certain time span and they do have to check in with their teachers.

ECOT is a home school program becoming popular in Ohio. ECOT stands for The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow. ECOT, based in Columbus, Ohio, has provided students throughout the state with a quality, online public education since the 2000-2001 school year. Regionally based teachers, supported by a team of advisors, are committed to high performance standards and innovative educational methods.

A growing number of graduates have earned their high school diplomas, and many more will follow in their footsteps. As an online public school, ECOT provides its students with a flexible, tuition-free alternative to traditional public education. ECOT is a national leader in this growing trend. ECOT educates over six thousand students between the ages of five and twenty-one from every county in the state of Ohio.

Running an online school requires as many resources as a traditional public school. In addition to teachers, they have a staff of counselors, school administrators, customer service specialists, computer programmers, database managers, school-funding experts, shipping handlers and consultants which all enables ECOT to work. ECOT is a public school that relies solely on a fixed per-student state tax allocation, without the addition of property taxes, private funds or donations from special interests. ECOT, as a public school, charges no tuition.

ECOT parents do not need to educate their children alone: ECOT's teachers provide instruction online and actively engage with each student to offer assistance and guidance. Parents have the freedom to directly support their children's education while letting ECOT teachers do what they do best, teach.

ECOT also will provide each student with a computer, printer and headphones if needed or you can choose to use your own. They will also help to offset the costs of internet usage. The computers they provide are protected so your child cannot access inappropriate sites. ECOT uses a secure intranet operating on secure servers. Students cannot venture to unapproved Web sites, and outsiders cannot reach ECOT students through the secure firewalls of ECOT's special intranet.

There are services for gifted students or students with physical, developmental or learning disabilities. Teachers with specialized training are dedicated, committed and highly qualified to serve all special needs children. High school students meeting state graduation requirements will receive a standard high school diploma upon graduation- not a GED.

ECOT students are required to take the state's proficiency tests and all state-required tests. Since these tests must be administered in person, students are responsible for providing their own transportation to regional testing locations and attending all required testing sessions.

ECOT students have completed coursework during pregnancy, while in foster care institutions, while suffering terminal illness; from home, the library, or in between work shifts, alone with little teacher assistance or with constant parental and teacher support. Students have the freedom to learn in the environment they prefer. Students can schedule their week however they need, and pace themselves according to their levels of interest and aptitude. Many ECOT students are learning more than they ever did in a traditional classroom and appreciate learning and education like they never have before.

So as you can see there are advantages to home schooling. It is not right for everyone. But the ones who do it seem to really enjoy it and they still get a quality education.