There are so many homeschool sites online today. It seems that every homeschool parent is creating their own site. You may wonder what the purpose of so many sites, most containing the same information, could be. Why would a homeschool
have its own web site? After all, it takes a lot of time to create and maintain such a site. What is the benefit of such a site to the the students and their parents? If the benefits are deemed numerous enough, then what are the most important features that should be found on such a site?

If you're a homeschooling parent who's considering getting your own web site, then read on and gain a better understanding of the needs of other homeschooling parents and students. Understanding these considerations will help you learn where to focus your effort.

To begin with, the Internet is deemed a recognizable communication medium today. It is a place wherein you can communicate both your thoughts and your ideas. For instance, the information about you the homeschooling parent doesn't change very much. However, your daily lesson plans will change daily. So, here is some of the information which you should include on your homeschool site:
(1.) You should provide a little information about yourself and your family since others may want to get a feel for who you are. This is where a "biography" proves helpful. You may also want to provide a picture of yourself and even a picture of your children so that others can put a face with what they are reading about. You should also include your contact information here. Providing others with your email is a great help in encouraging communication.
(2.) The next thing that you'll want to share is information about your homeschooling approach: Are you eclectic? Do you use a specific curriculum? Do you unschool? You'll also want to share information about any unit studies or projects that you do. For instance, if you have a great idea for a lapbook or file folder game, here's the place to share it. Have you taken a great field trip or found a resourceful site, then share that too. Any suggestions on where to find useful information are also welcomed in this section.
(3.) You may also want to have a "fun" section with links to games that you find useful, sites that pertain to your current studies (ie we're currently studying outer space so I would include some sites that I've found that would interest my child, sites that she could look at by herself - with parental approval of course), a picture gallery of the latest event, etc.

As far as how to layout your homeschool web site... First of all, it is important to start off with a good design. You don't want your "users" to get confused or lost. This is why it's often wise to give each of your children their own page and even then you may also considering giving each of these page's a link to another page that lists each topic you're studying (ie math, science, social studies, English, etc). This way your users can bookmark each individual page and only view what they need whenever necessary. As far as navigating each of these pages, you should keep your design simple and consistent. You should place navigation links at the top and/or left that help your user get to where they want to go, and then to easily back out again. Your site's look and feel (backgrounds, color scheme, and position of the navigation) should be consistent throughtout the
site. This is important in that it will help your users know that they're still on your site and haven't strayed onto a different website.

If you're a homeschooling parent, having your own web site can be of great value. There are numerous free hosting services that even offer you tools to help you get set up. It really isn't as difficult as it may seem to get a homeschool site up and running.


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