Jennifer Blanchard Read all posts by this authorBest Virtual Homeschool for Military Families
It’s inevitable that we find ourselves in situations and circumstances that we would never envision for ourselves, both good and bad, for better or for worse. For me, the one that looms largest in my mind is that fact that I’m now a military wife.
While I always respected and had a deep appreciation for both military members and their families, that was something that I wanted absolutely no part of. I teared up whenever I heard Zac Brown Band’s song that salutes those who give their life for our country, but I wanted to keep that at a far distance. Having a cousin who has committed much of his life to the military, I remember seeing his wife and kids solo at a family Thanksgiving, when I was just a kid myself. I always envisioned myself as a wife and a mom, so having to do much of life without a husband did not align with my passions and dreams…or so I thought.
…And then I met my now husband. Oh, the irony!
My husband, Shane, and I met at church and began our dating relationship when we were both living and working (non-military related) in Houston, Texas. We had a year of dating in Texas until Shane sat me down and told me that while we both knew joining the military was always something he wanted to do and was constantly in the back of his mind, now was the time that he was going to have to go through with it.
I know this is an education based blog and not necessarily a lifestyle blog, so I will cut to the chase. Let me just say that was a pivotal point in our relationship; I had to do some serious reflecting and I had to realistically (albeit emotionally) consider if I could live the military lifestyle, regardless of how much I loved my now husband and otherwise 100% saw a future with him.
I know this hesitance to fully commit to being a military wife is extremely common. Very few of us grow up saying “I want to be a military wife!”, yet many of us find ourselves in that position where the reward of being with our significant other the majority of the time outweighs all the challenges that come along with it.
Returning back to our situation, fast forward three(ish) years and here we are, doing this military and marriage life, full of moving across the country, learning (truly!) more acronyms than even the educational world has, enduring a 6 month deployment, and oh so much more.
Military life has also immersed me in the world of virtual education.
While I don’t have kids yet myself, I am surrounded by military families, and I see firsthand how Dailies education is ideal for so many types of families- but especially for them!
HOW or WHY could this “learn from home” virtual setting work for you, if you are a military family?
- Consistency- Your child will have consistency with the same classmates and teacher. Your student could even have the same teacher from year to year! We all know that consistency is essential for education and consistency is often one thing us military families are lacking.
- Scheduling- Your child can be educated anytime! I know firsthand that we do not have typical schedules. We often want to make the most of family time when we get the chance- and that isn’t always dictated by us. You can schedule classes and make the timing of school work for you and your family, to take advantage of that precious family time when your military spouse is present… or even when it’s the perfect time to give yourself a break when you are on solo parenting duty!
- Location- Just like your child could be educated anytime, your child can also be educated anywhere! Us military families are all over the place…literally. Take out the location stress factor of education and incorporate your child’s education into wherever you are.
- Recorded classes- Building on those previous two bullet points, if your child does have to miss a class due to scheduling or location, he/she doesn’t have to miss out on anything. Your child can watch a recording of the class whenever and wherever!
- Prevents learning gaps with curriculum- This is a point that really gets to me. As a former public school teacher, I had a few students who were military children and moved into our school. The students were severely struggling, interventions were put into place, and special education testing was even being discussed. However, the only aspect that was hindering the kids from learning was the fact that they missed out on so much content from having to move schools so often. All classrooms, schools, districts, and states do NOT have the same curriculum. The students don’t necessarily learn the same concepts and skills, and they definitely don’t learn them in the same order. If you move in the middle of the school year (hello, PCSing!) your child simply might just miss certain topics and skills, based on the pacing of the schools. As those learning gaps pile on year after year, especially at the fundamental elementary level, this can severely impact your child’s academic success. It’s completely out of your hands…except for, it’s not with Dailies virtual learning!
- Gives you choice with your child’s schooling- Oh, the ongoing passionate debate of living (and schooling) on base or off base. Regardless, schools vary drastically based on the general area where you are stationed and have to live. Since you don’t really get to choose the general location of where you live, you might be left with slim pickings. You lack choice and control over this. It might seem unfair since many other civilian families often choose where to live solely based on schools. Eliminate this stressor by choosing online schooling that you know is up to par.
- Sense of community- Finding new friends and new “family” to then leave them and start over again every few years…it’s tough. Community is so extremely essential to our wellbeing, yet it is so hard to genuinely find through the military lifestyle. Your child will have consistent classmates and peers while you have consistent academic success partners and other Dailies parents. That community is a priority for us and is a huge part of our mission and vision. Take advantage of it! We surely need it!
- Full school replacement- We have a full school replacement (homeschooling) option, except for you don’t actually have to teach and do true homeschooling. I know you have enough on your plate- arguably more than a civilian household. A lot of my military wife friends homeschool (for many of the reasons listed above), but without a background in education, they are extremely overwhelmed. Get the benefits of homeschooling while letting us do the work for you!
- Can be supplemental- If your child does attend school but you are still fearful of learning gaps or you just want to set your child up for success with extra support, we have a supplemental program that is perfect for those needs.
- Military discounts- Many online schooling components often offer military discounts that you just can’t resist taking advantage of. My husband hates to use his military discount, but I know that we make the sacrifices so I sure take advantage of it as much as possible!
When I review the list that I just typed above, the two overarching reasons that stand out to me as being extremely beneficial amidst this military lifestyle are: CONSISTENCY and COMMUNITY. Two elements of life that are so important, yet we have to try harder than many others in order to make them a reality. And all the other military wives out there said “Amen!”
If you are intrigued or just want to chat with a fellow military wife more about this, I’m here for you! I’m confident you didn’t envision your life being the way it is now (in regards to all the change that military life brings!), so you may live and therefore educate differently than many others…and THAT’S OKAY! In fact, you might just find your child being set up for educational success in so many ways that other civilian families lack.