There’s nothing that says homeschooled children are any less prepared for the world than those who go to traditional schools. In fact, the trends suggest that they do better in college, which can lead to better careers. But preparing them for the world is all about teaching them the right skills and anyone who has their finger on the pulse of the work environment knows how important the digital side is.
The skills of tomorrow
We are already seeing a great focus on tech literacy amongst the skills most sought by today’s work environment. If you want to bring your homeschooling into the 21st century, you need to think about what skills are most important. The ability to use office software, such as word processors and data sheet software, factor into many more careers than just office jobs. Even tradespeople are using apps and software to help improve their businesses. The online side of things, such as social media use, web publishing and design, and data analysis might be great digital skills to teach your older kids, too.
The resources you need
This means that it might be time to invest in creating a better online classroom. If your computer is an old heap of junk with an outdated operating system, it might be time to replace it. If your connection is so bad that you spend more time trying to connect as opposed to actually teaching, it might be time to switch internet services. Tech problems are the bane of teaching digital skills to your kids since learning is so often interrupted by errors and connectivity issues. Invest in creating a better learning environment for them.
There are even tools to help you
The internet can be a fantastic resource to help homeschooling parents, as well. For instance, this blog is chock full of advice, tips, and information on how to help teach your child at home. From how to help your preschooler learn to read to how to choose the perfect tutor for your child, we have lots of tips for homeschooling that will help you. We recommend many digital teaching assets like ABCmouse.com and language teaching software to help you craft your kid’s curriculum with ease while teaching them digital skills as well. With the right tools, you can provide your child with a good quality education without demanding quite so much of your time.
How it’s going to help them
If you’re not certain just how relevant it is, then take a look at the current trends to figure out which skills are going to be most relevant in future workplaces. Data analysis is one of the fastest growing career skills, with almost every big business looking at marketing data, user data, productivity data, and so on to help them make better decisions. Data visualization, such as creating graphs and charts, is likely to become even more important, too. You don’t have to teach your kids all the details of some of the more complex skills, but a healthy IT education can lead the way to those digital skills in future.
How you weigh your computing and digital skills classes against the others you provide is all up to you. However, ignoring it could be more detrimental to your child’s career than you might be aware of, so it’s worth having some education behind the monitor, not just behind the books.
How do you help build your child’s digital skills? Tell us in the comments!
