5 Reasons Why Parents Choose Online Kindergarten School

Kindergarten is a time of discovery for five-year-olds—when they start school, make friendships, and learn new skills. So how do you know if online kindergarten school is best for your young learner? The five reasons parents give for choosing to send their kindergartener to a virtual school like Connections Academy® include: 

1. Active parental participation.

Because your kindergartener will be working from the comfort of home or wherever internet access is available, you as a parent have the ability to work closely with your child (and the teacher) while working through a virtual kindergarten curriculum that includes the fundamentals in reading, writing, math, and more. Your child can access every lesson, workbook page, storybook, and assignment right from home—and you can watch every step of your child’s growth, both physical and academic! 

2. Frequent parent–teacher communication.

Much like in a traditional school, contacting your child’s teacher is easy. Virtual education teachers and parents communicate often by phone, through email, and in the online classroom. Teachers work closely with parents to make sure each child gets the support needed to learn and be successful in the kindergarten online school environment. Also, with online learning, notes and information are available at your fingertips.  

 3. Opportunities to socialize.

Online school kindergarteners have opportunities to socialize with their peers inside the virtual school classroom and in the real world when possible. Parents of early elementary-age schoolchildren can be more hands-on in and selective with the activities their students take part in. While we do host field trips and other in-person clubs, you can choose the level of socializing you feel is right for your kindergartener.  

4. Safe learning environment.

From kindergarten through twelfth grade, students can learn from the comfort and safety of their homes at an online school. And parents of students with underlying medical conditions or health concerns may find more comfort in keeping their young student at home, where they can more closely monitor their child’s wellness. With so many families looking for ways to keep their children healthy and on track academically while social distancing, starting out in online school for kindergarten could give children a solid foundation in 21st-century skills. 

5. Flexible learning schedule.

With school from home, you can eat breakfast with your child and then walk into the next room, turn on the computer, and begin the school day. This allows families to work around a unique schedule and spend more time together in a learning environment. 

Does virtual school fit my child’s learning needs?

Kindergarteners and young children are much better at adapting to new learning scenarios than you think. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Edinburgh recently found that preschoolers are better than college students at learning how unusual machines work. In the study, 106 preschoolers and 170 college undergraduates were introduced to a game called Blickets. The preschoolers and college students had to figure out which individual clay shapes or combinations of shapes would make a box light up and play music. 

“The kids got it,” says developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik, the senior author of the research paper. “They figured out that the machine might work in this unusual way and so that you should put both blocks on together. But the best and brightest [college] students acted as if the machine would always follow the common and obvious rule, even when we showed them that it might work differently.” Young children are clearly more capable of tackling complex topics than we realized. 

In online school for kindergarten, your child has the chance to learn in unusual ways and exercise cognitive skills. In fact, we believe that a solid kindergarten curriculum should be filled with varied learning opportunities, including trips to parks and museums, craft projects that tie in to a math or reading lesson, playdates with other children, singing songs, and other creative activities. 

Learn more about the transition to virtual school for your kindergartener to help your child prepare to start online school.