Nursing versus bottle feeding.  Natural cures versus conventional medicine.  Paper versus plastic.  The list of hotly debated topics is long and diverse!  And among the homeschool community is the hotly debated topic of home computer usage.

There’s no doubt that more and more online learning is being implemented and accepted into many households.  Can’t teach a subject?  Chances are there’s a company offering an online class for that.  But besides the obvious academic courses, is there room for down time that is enjoyable and educational?  Yes and no!  There can be opportunities for learning but there’s equal opportunities for getting into trouble or the equally dreaded “brain zap”.

A commonly asked question we’ve gotten is whether or not we use computer instruction or an online curriculum for our children.  We in fact use the computer sparsely in our  schooling.  Further questions ensue.  How do we handle computer use in our home? Do we allow non-school related time on the computer? How much time does each child get?

Admitted, I’m not a big fan of online learning in the early years. Personally I feel   there’s too much one on one time that is missing.  I’ve also commonly experience a child’s “decompressing” from too much screen time in the form of unkindness and impatience toward siblings. With these types of programs, we have also found that they were splashy and lots of fun, but retention was generally low. But the biggest take away was how much my children missed out on and craved one on one attention and interaction with their siblings. Ironically this reared its ugly head in an inability to interact with their siblings. Specifically, meanness and chaos replaced love and kindness!

I would have to say that in smaller amounts there are some valid use of the computer in schooling. Math drills, spelling games, drivers education and even some social gaming in measured amounts and within secure environments

In order to accomplish the secure environment here are my list of must-do’s that I   recommend to every household. In addition to a good profanity/safety/pornography filter, the family computer should be kept in plain view and not hidden away behind closed doors.  This combination cuts down not only on undesirable content, but also the amount of time spent in front of the computer.

As far as the amount of time children should play on the computer, that is up to each individual family.  In our household, my children have opportunities for free play on the computer. But, they have to earn it!  Up to 60 minutes per day. 15 minutes for completing schoolwork, 15 minutes for completing chores, 15 minutes for good attitudes and a bonus 15 minutes for getting started early and staying on task.  Some of the games they have access to include some areas of Webkinz, Poptropica, certain Minecraft and Roblox servers. They also have access to strategy games such as Axis and Allies, and Age of Empires, pet care games such as Horses and brain teasers such as critical thinking puzzles.