One of the challenges for my daughter in her sophomore year of high school is English. My daughter is Vietnamese, and was held back in school in her earlier grades twice due to her English. Now that she is in her teens, she has improved greatly, but still does not consider reading and writing her strong points. This year, however, she is going to an online high school.
Her computerized studies have many advantages. First and foremost, her studies are self paced. This is not something that can be underrated. Every child, and every person of any age, has strengths and weaknesses. There will be some subjects that seem to take forever to grasp. Some subjects can be powered through with little effort. The computer is infinitely patient, and can progress at blinding speed. My daughter’s school allows for complete self pacing.
Here is another important point. As my daughter reads, and studies lessons, she inevitably runs across new words. These may be on vocabulary lists, or in the middle of stories. When this happens, she simply highlights the word on her computer, and has the computer pronounce the word out loud. I can’t tell you how often she does this, but trust me it is very often. Compare that to traditional classes, and books. Usually students study independently. They read to themselves, alone. My daughter used to simply skip words that she didn’t know and read on. If you can’t pronounce the word, you don’t know it’s meaning, you will probably miss the gist and nuance of the sentence. I am very impressed with this little feature of computer classes.
My daughter has become an avid, voracious student since she began online high school. I have seen a dramatic change in her focus, and motivation. This has become quite a success story for her. The choice of an online school was the difficult part for us, however. With more than 200 advertised, we sorted and eliminated for days on end. You will certainly face a similar problem at first.
A word of caution. Choose a school with a strong, challenging curriculum, good accreditation, and a self paced program. Watch out for diploma mills, and fakes. If they are offering a diploma without taking classes, stay away.
Tags: computer classes, curriculum, dramatic change, gist, high school, important point, nuance, online, online high school, online school, program, school, sophomore year, strengths and weaknesses, strong points, student, students, study, virtual high school, vocabulary lists, writing