Q&A: How will online school work for my child since both his father and I work full time?

Answer: It is possible for a student to still experience success with an online school if both the mother and father work full time. It will depend largely on several factors: the age and maturity of the child, the online school format, and whether supervision and support are available to the child when the parents are at work.

Some families that have students enrolled in online school will form co-ops. This allows students who have full-time working parents an alternative place to study where there is supervision. And parents who are home during the day may find that their own student is more productive with studying when another student is at their house as well.

Another option of full-time working parents may be to either hire a tutor or to ask a grandparent (or other adult family member) to supervise their child during the day -- even if it's for only part of the day. Success in an online school format can be difficult for students who don't have the additional support available to keep them on task or to help them with a difficult assignment.

Finally, there may be some flexible options available to the student. Online school does not always need to be completed during the traditional school day, so check with the school to see if completing homework in the evening is an option. Some online schools also allow students to complete a portion of their course work at the online school site part time. This option gives the student the flexibility of an online school, and it gives the student some supervision during the day. There are also blended programs offered at some school sites where the student completes some school work at home and part of it in a brick-and-mortar school with face-to-face instruction.