Needless to say the internet is a real boon to any homeschooling parent. Want a curriculum to follow? Just go online and choose from free and paid versions. Want a worksheet to help your homeschool student practice a specific concept? Visit any education worksheets website and get it for free. Want to explain a difficult concept to your child using a video? Head over to any YouTube channel that deals with that concept.
There is a whole lot that the internet can do for you, but there is also a whole lot that the internet can take away from you. One of the main issues is that it can snap up all your free time. Here are some things that you need to watch out for when using the internet for home schooling purposes.
Browse for a fixed time
There is just so much information, and some of it is very useful, available on the internet that you get taken away from your main task. Write down what you are browsing the internet for and stick to websites offering only that information. Also limit your hunt for that information to ten minutes. If you lack self discipline to stop after ten minutes, have a nice loud alarm ring after the time is over. It will quickly bring you back to reality.
Fix up your source websites
Initially you may not know what sites you need to visit in order to find the information you need for your homeschool classroom. However after the first month you will have a fair idea about what websites are good for which particular subject. Book mark these websites and only look for the information you are seeking on them instead of going to a search engine and getting a mixed bag or good and bad results.
Do not get on to Social Media
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ are amazing sites with a whole lot of information. Unfortunately they are also the primary time wasters on the internet. You will always end up doing something you do not need to at that time and wasting precious time. Fix some time at the end of the homeschool day when all classes are done for social media. Trust me you can live without checking your notifications every ten minutes!