How to Know if you Should Homeschool your Child

More and more parents are thinking about homeschooling their kids, but not everyone can do it. Here are some tips to help you decide if you are able to homeschool your child.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Curriculum
• Study Area
• School books

1. The very first thing you need to find out about is your state's laws regarding homeschooling. You can usually Google the information to find out where to start and then if you need more specific information, call. This is important because you can't just get a book out of the library and start teaching your child as you need to follow a curriculum for two reasons. One, just in case your child has to go back to public school and two, just in case your child wants to go to college.

2. 

   Decide on a curriculum series that you would like to follow. Abeka, BJU and ACE is a favorite for homeschoolers that are faith based. Bedell and American School, are another. Check the websites at the bottom of this article for more information. You will need the funds in order to purchase the curriculum that you decide on, plus school supplies. You will also need to purchase the teacher's manual for each subject. They will help you when you run across a problem that you don't understand and you need to explain it to your child.

3. Take the time to decide if you are going to use an online home school or do it on your own. You can Google homeschool and find several online homeschool resources that will guide you with the curriculum. These websites are not necessary to get your kids started with homeschooling and you will probably will find that you can do just as well without them.

4. Go over each book and figure out how many pages will need to be completed each day in order to be able to complete the curriculum for the year. Not doing enough and your child will not finish the grade.

5. You will need to be able to devote the time to guide your child with their school work. You will want to watchful so that you are able to pace your child so that your child is not over worked nor under worked each day. If you find that you are completing all subjects in a couple of hours, then add 1-2 more pages for each subject. If you are taking more than 5 hours, then reduce 1-2 pages for each subject. On an average, it should take your child approximately 4 hours to complete their school work a day. At school the days are longer, because of time taken out for breaks, monitoring 30 or more kids in class and lunch.

6. Organization and dedication and time is of the up most importance and you will need to set an example for your child. Just because you are at home, does not mean that you can wake up at 10:00 a.m. and start the school day and work at it for a little bit and then decide to finish up the following day. You will be cheating your child out of their education. If you are not able to give the dedication then you should not homeschool.

7. Your child will need quiet to do their schoolwork and if there are younger siblings that you have to take care of, then you may not be able to provide adequate teaching to your child.

8. Arrange an area where you will be doing the schoolwork. For younger children you will need an area large enough for yourself and your child as you will need to be able to read and explain the assignment until they are able to read on their own. As they get older, they get more independent and they can do assignments on their own, but you will still need to be able to stop at a moments notice, to help them.

9. You will also need to be the recess monitor, nurse and the cafeteria lady during the day.

10. You will need to be willing to go to school yourself. Watch an episode of "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader" and you will understand that a lot of what you knew as a kid has been forgotten. You may find it necessary to relearn what a dangling participle is or how to figure the area of a room.

11. 

    Check over your child's schoolwork after they are done. When they make a mistake, mark the mistake and have them go back and redo the assignment. Be aware when your child has made a careless mistake and when they don't understand the problem to prevent frustration.

12. Plan field trips according to the curriculum. If your child is learning about parts of a flower, then go on a nature walk. If your child is learning about Native Americans then take them to a museum. Have them take pictures and then print out the pictures and label them. Make Friday's library days.

13. Keep a record of what has been taught each year and what books you used. It may be necessary to go back to this information for scholarship reasons or entrance to college.

Tips & Warnings

• Stick to the curriculum and have your child graduate each year. Remember that if for some reason your child would have to go back to a regular school, you want them to be able to go to their current grade level and not one or two grades below because you have not kept up their studies.
• Eventually, you will want your child to go to college, so while they are in 11th and 12th grade, have them do admission testing at home, so they will be prepared.

Resources

• Home School Reviews
• Home School Inc.

[ccharles1]

on 11/4/2008 we are doing the homeschool thing- its definitely a "thinking outside the box" approach to education!

[Pixie1976]

on 9/8/2008 Good topic.

[klnygaard]

on 9/3/2008 great article--very detailed

[Susanh]

on 9/2/2008 Good information here. One of the prime reasons we homeschool (along with many others) is because we can allow our children to learn how they learn, not the way a teacher in a classroom says they have to learn. Freedom! Homeschooling isn't for everyone, but if you are even the least bit interested, it's good to give it a try.

[oneloved]

on 9/2/2008 Good information. Purchasing or using a formal curriculum is not a legal requirment, however, and I know many homeschool parents who create their own, using science experiments, biographies, and other methods and learning resources. I recommend the book "What Your Child Needs to Know When" by Robin Scarlata. What matters is that your child learns what they need to know when they need to know it. HOW they learn it, based on their child's learning style, is up to the parents.