You have decided that homeschooling is the way to educate your child
and now you have to ready yourself and your kids for all the trials and
tribulations that come with it. You know that the road ahead may be a
bit bumpy, but the rewards more than make up for it. Homeschooling
affords you a chance to produce a well rounded and well adjusted
personality in your child that is by no means an easy achievement.
Obviously, the first thing you have to check out are your state laws
regarding homeschooling. You must do this to determine if you have to
meet any kind of state requirement. Most states need an affidavit filed
with the State's education department that you are choosing to
homeschool your
child.
There are basically three categories of homeschooling laws. These are:
private school laws, home education laws and equivalency laws. Find out
about your state's laws and know what your obligations are to the state
before you start homeschooling. For example, you may need to maintain a
portfolio that keeps a record of your child's educational progress or
you may be required to have a minimum educational qualification as a
homeschool teacher.
After you have all the state documentation and other matters taken care
of you can proceed to the next step. A good next step would be to look
for a home school support group. A support group is good because say,
if you live in a friendly or curios type of neighborhood, you're well
meaning friends may try to influence your decision to home school. At
the very least, they may put a lot of questions in your mind that have
you making second thoughts. A support group that consists of like
minded people will help support your decisions of your homeschool
process and help downplay some of the criticisms, pressures and
questions you will get from regular school goers. Many support groups
organize fun events like visits to the zoo, museum, tours to the ice
cream shop, etc. If your children hit it off with other home schooled
kids in your group, they may be able to build lasting relationships
with these kids that will not fade when their friends change schools.
Home school support groups therefore provide an important avenue for
your child's socialization.
The third item you need to do is to select a homeschool curriculum.
Depending on the method of homeschooling, you may choose various tools
that aid you in the process. The internet offers a rich resource for
homeschooling information. Do some research and look into the many
homeschooling materials that are available.
When you homeschool, you should set certain ground rules. Homeschooling
requires a lot of self discipline and hard work to make it work
effectively. Here is a list of some of the things to keep in
perspective:
1. Eagerness to learn
2. Hard work and effort - work ethic
3. Discipline
4. Time and patience
5. Schedule flexibility
6. Enthusiasm
It really boils down to knowing why you opted for homeschooling in the
first place. Your motives and your reasons to homeschool are important
pillars on which the whole basis of your child's lessons and personal
development plan depends. Consulting with your children to get their
thoughts about curriculum choices, etc. is often helpful as well. Once
you have every factor considered, select a curriculum or custom make a
curriculum that best suits your child's educational and personal
development needs.
Record keeping is an important part of homeschooling as it is your
record keeping that will be looked at or scrutinized later when your
child transfers into another school or enters college. Look into all
the various methods of record keeping and set up a schedule to update
your records every so often.
Your homeschool day does not need to be a long drawn out day. Allow
your child to have a part in the daily classroom activities and to what
extent of time is involved with each subject covered. Flexibility and
fun are the cornerstones of homeschooling. Be careful not to overload
too many skills into single term or school year as you can experience
burnout or end up skipping over details of over skills you really
should not.
It is a good idea to prepare a skill list for your home school. Make
the child learn the skills he is ready for as your child matures
educationally.
Gentle parenting is the secret to successful homeschooling. Often home
schooled children make great advances in learning and show more
enthusiasm than they would otherwise. Homeschool kids also turn out to
be surprisingly well balanced and well informed when they are taught at
home.
