There are many benefits to using a tutorial when homeschooling your child. For some, it could be hiring an educational coach to take over subjects you don’t want or have the time to teach at home. Tutorials can also bring your child special classes you would otherwise skip, such as theater, music, and dance. Tutorials can bring more accountability to your child when expectations to perform for someone other than you are required. But, there is one thing lacking in homeschooling tutorials – their inability to move past traditional teaching practices and to become more innovative with student learning.
Fusion Homeschooling has dedicated their mission to provide the resources and tools for educators and students to keep up with the 21st century way of learning. With a team of parents and educational coaches who are faithful to their craft, loads of time and research has gone into implementing a more technology driven curriculum for home and the classroom. “Flipping the Classroom” is a system that can take an educational coach’s class time and multiply it by allowing the students to learn through technology at home. Class time is not wasted on lectures or on in-class videos. This is all done at home in order for students to be ready for more in-depth learning with the educational coach through in-class activities and projects.
Empowered with a more interactive way of learning, students stay engaged with their lessons throughout the week as as they watch videos posted, or even made, by their educational coaches. Technology platforms are used to keep track of a student’s engagement throughout the week. Educational coaches can crop videos, add voice overs, and add questions for students to think about during an online lecture or video. Students have the ability to respond and get evaluated on their understanding. Understanding of concepts can be seen by the educational coach throughout the week, which drives the activities for class. Educational coaches also become the facilitators for the week, freeing up parents while the students learn at home. The flipped classroom approach is perfect for the homeschooled child.
There are many other ways students stay involved with their lessons through the flipped classroom approach. It’s interesting how students love to see their educational coach doing a video just for them. Educational coaches design videos that are interesting and short enough to keep their students’ interest. Students are encouraged to make and share their own videos for class. Learning by teaching is an effective way for students to master skills. Most of the time, student-made teaching videos are a lot more fun to watch than professional educational videos.
The flipped classroom approach works great with struggling learners as well. When material is presented before they meet with their peers in the classroom, they are less frustrated and more confident during activities. If students don’t understand a concept, they can contact their educational coach, and a video or an answer can be targeted for just that question. Feedback is immediate. With only an hour of class time each week, the time spent on the concept at home has been a huge success. Students have more time to process the information before beginning the in-class activities.
As Jon Bergmann, co-founder of the Flipped Learning Network, says, “Flipping your classroom gives students the chance to apply ideas rather than simply absorbing them.” We, as homeschoolers, want more for our children. Why go the traditional route? Isn’t that why we homeschool?
