9 Tips on Effective Home Schooling
With mounting concerns about overcrowding and the quality of public education, search parents are increasingly considering the home schooling alternative. According to the U.S. Department of Education, dosage the number of students being home schooled is growing each year.
While there are many philosophies and approaches to home schooling, all parents want to see their children reach their full potential.
Here are a couple of tips on effective home schooling.
Investigate the local regulations governing home schooling in your state and county of residence.
These regulations vary by state and often counties will try to impose additional requirements. Knowing the state requirements will help you deal with the county school board more efficiently.
Join the state home school association that supports the families.
HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) has a listing of state homeschooling associations. HSLDA is the national legal support that we recommend all home schooling families join HSLDA for support. They are always on top of any legal changes in the pipeline and will defend your family if it becomes necessary.
Try to designate a separate area of your home to serve as the learning center.
If possible, it should be someplace that is comfortable and free of distractions. Depending on the ages and ability to focus, this could be anywhere. My boys could not go read in their room because they would be asleep in 10 minutes while the girls would curl up and read for hours.
Include your children in the course selection when possible.
Let them have input on some of the subjects or type of workbooks needed for each subject. As long as on the appropriate grade level, any topic that strikes their fancy is worth diving into in order to encourage and support their interest in the subject. The more your child is involved in the process, the more excited he or she will be about the subject matter.
Connect with other home schooling families through community support groups.
Such groups often organize field trips; discuss approaches to home schooling and share stories and advice.
Home schooling is more of a lifestyle for a lot of families.
Since you are together a lot more of the time, always be on the look for “teaching moments”. For example, if you are baking cookies, discuss the measurements of ingredients. What would you need to double the batch of cookies? What if you wanted to only make half of the recipe? Walks in the park become field trips as you look for bugs, leaves or particular plant life. Almost everything you do can be turned into a learning moment.
Incorporate a large range of tools including games, videos, movies, etc.
By using different tools or methods, you can keep the interest up in your children. For example, use a chalk board for spelling lessons or for a math drill. Draw a hop scotch board on the porch or driveway and use it for math lessons (both addition and subtraction).
Remember that little ones need a lot of activity.
Plan on shorter learning sessions and then get up and do something that requires movement. Play games like red light, or mother may I while asking for answers such as the capital of Virginia is ???
The most important tip I would give parents is to focus on the relationship.
When you are having struggles, take a break and find out what is really going on. Is your child having issues with a sibling or friend at scouts? Taking the time to build a strong and open relationship with your child while they are home schooling will build a foundation of trust that will be there as they being adults and leave the home.
Effective home schooling will look different to each family. Mine was a get up and get it done first thing in the morning but my best friend schooled after her husband got home at 4pm. You will need to try different settings and determine which works best with your family. Remember you do not have to all the scheduled lessons at one time. This is your school, you set the schedule…and enjoy the time with your children.
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