Posts Tagged ‘Homeschooling’

Homeschooling – Do It Yourself Education

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Homeschooling is a special type of education, a do it yourself education, if you will. So, if it is a do it yourself education, just who is the “you?” Parents have hectic lives with work and other pursuits that benefit their children and family. It is somewhat of a challenge for many parents, particularly single parents, to find the time to devote to giving their children a full time education. So, what is the answer?

Many parents choose homeschooling for their children because they are dissatisfied with the quality of education as well as the values that are taught, implicitly or otherwise, in public schools.

As the homeschooling movement has come to a point where second generation education is possible, children who were homeschooled are often homeschooling their own children. They are also often the best choices in providing homeschool education.

On the other hand, those who endured public school education also have many valuable contributions. They have many valuable life lessons to impart but they should take care to avoid falling back on public school methods.
Neighbors can provide homeschooling as can stay at home moms. These moms provide childcare services as well as incorporating homeschooling. Another option is to find a family who is already homeschooling their own children and have them take on your children as well.
Busy parents also have a somewhat newer facet to homeschooling but is centuries old and that is finding a tutor. In many other countries, tutors are often the primary education giver. In fact, the public school system which is modeled after the Prussian system of the 1800s is a relatively recent endeavor which has, for the most part, failed.
Tutors come is all varieties with a wide range of backgrounds. Some may specialize in a certain area such as music or languages while others have a broad background. Some are even former public or private school teachers who were unhappy with the system, yet love teaching.
Parents often mistakenly believe that they can not afford a private tutor to homeschool their children. However, they soon realize after research that this is simply not so. The cost of a tutor is somewhat nominal when the quality of the education is considered. They may even elect to start a home based business so that they can still be a part of their children’s lives while the tutor carries the bulk of the educational load.
Often parents will discover that children who are fairly motivated and independent thrive well in a homeschooling environment and the time required for schooling is actually less than anticipated. When a parent or tutor provides a child with guidance and resources the children largely teach themselves. This in itself makes tutoring far less expensive. One of the greatest benefits of homeschooling is that homeschooled children are usually at the top of their classes in college because their love for learning is self generated.

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Homeschooling Becoming A Viable Alternative?

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

Last year alone, more than one million children in the United States choose homeschooling over traditional education. This stunting figure was released according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Homeschooling is a recent development in education. Not that long ago, it was considered too radical by many education experts. Nowadays, it is legalized in every state and more than 1 million children has undergone homeschooling and I suspect many more parents are seriously considering homeschooling.

The interesting thing was what prompted such a change? There have been many recent surveys to suggest that parents are getting impatient and fed up with our public schooling system. It is seen as being superficial with no real-life skills being applied and taught.

Parents are also concerned about the negative publicity often portrayed in news. Examples are school students taking drugs in schools, abusing fellow students physically and even students bringing guns and knifes to school. Parents are concerned about the negative peer influence these students cause to their child.

Homeschooling offers an opportunity to end all that and allows parents to bring up their children in a natural and loving environment. I believe homeschooling is especially important in the early years of a child’s development (between three to twelve years old) as this is the period where they are prone to negative influences and peer pressure and cannot differentiate what is right and what is wrong. Homeschooling helps to protect them from such negative influences.

Another benefit of homeschooling is an inevitable bond between the child and the parents. The parents and the child spends more time together forming an unique bond. The bond gets stronger as time passes and later you will find that you can connect with your child better than you never thought before.

Parents can also have better control over the kind of moral and religious beliefs a child should have. Parents can impart their moral values and beliefs to their child easily since they spend more time together.

So what’s stopping parents from adopting homeschooling? For one thing, homeschooling requires a lot of time and money. For most families, both parents needs to be working full-time to support the family. Most homeschooling families I know of is dependent in one parent for the income. The other parent has to devote full-time in homeschooling the child. Therefore in some cases, it is not possible to adopt homeschooling unless you are financially stable.

The other interesting phenomena is that more and more homeschooling support groups are cropping up in your neighbourhood. They help to guide and support each other. Some homeschooling support groups have even gone online. If you do decide to go homeschooling, find a homeschooling support group in your area.

Homeschooling for Your Child

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Requirements: Every state in US has their own laws to setup homeschooling. So, abide by the laws, where you need to qualify to conduct a homeschooling in your area. Most of the homeschooling requirements are quite simple and it is not a big problem.

Support groups: Though it is not a compulsion to join a homeschooling support group, still it would help you, if you associate with such a group in your neighborhood. You would be in touch with the parents, who are into homeschooling. You can take advice and suggestions from them, especially when you have plans to start homeschooling. The support groups organize educational trips, such as visit to museums, zoos and libraries. You could even participate in discussions and forums, which are conducted to assist parents involved in homeschooling. You would widen the scope to exercise the process of homeschooling.

Create an environment at home: You may need to make rearrangements at home and allot a specify area and adjust a time frame for homeschooling. If you have a separate place for homeschooling, this would develop an interest in the child for studies and would have less chance for distraction, in spite of the home activities. As far as possible, allot a fixed time to teach and help the child to learn. This would help your child to be organized and disciplined.

Design a plan with easy schedules: You have to design various study schedules for everyday lessons, games etc. You can also prepare a book with a plan to be systematic and to track each day’s tasks to be completed by your child. In some of the states this is an official requirement. It will also help you to understand the areas, where your child needs improvement. Develop a goal oriented study method. Try to make the study quite effective that is to start the day with a tough subject as the child will be in a fresh mood and end his academic tour of the day with an easy subject to rest his brain.

Curriculum for homeschooling: Select a method for homeschooling, which would be based on the child’s learning aptitude and his learning ability. Some of the methods are Montessori classic and Charlotte Mason homeschooling. Don’t purchase curriculum from one place, instead you can pick and choose from different resources.

Writing a Homeschooling Blog

Monday, July 19th, 2010

A blog, or “web log,” is an online journal website where you can post entries as often and as long or short as you’d like. Blogs are usually subject-based and are geared toward a specific audience, and in this case, your main subject would be about homeschooling, attracting a readership of homeschool students and homeschool families or other individuals interested in homeschooling. Blogs also feature comments that allow your readers to provide feedback to a particular entry.

If you’re concerned about the fact that your writing abilities may not be “good enough,” take heart. The blogging world is fairly casual. You don’t have to be a stellar writer and your grammar and spelling need not be perfect. You do, however, need to have something to say. You need to find a voice, write in an interesting, engaging style, post often (or at least regularly), and interact with your readers through comments.

First of all, what can you write about homeschooling, the homeschool life, and your homeschooler? There are endless ideas here. You can write about the different benefits of homeschooling, the challenges of having a homeschool, how to switch from public school to homeschool, personal experiences, your children as homeschool students, opportunities for homeschool families, and curriculum issues and ideas.

Now that you have some ideas of what to write, you need to find your writing style. First, try to write the way you speak or think. Forget about being technical or trying to be a professional-be natural and relaxed, like you’re having a conversation. For example, don’t just regurgitate online research about Homeschooling, talk about your real homeschool experiences as well as thoughts and stories about your homeschooler. Also, keep your audience in mind as you write, and finally, check out other blogs about homeschool families or homeschooling to get a feel for it.