Article Vault A - Z (Home Schooling)


How To Prepare A Structured Plan For Home Schooling Your Child


Just like the typical method of teaching in schools, home schooling is also a process that parents should learn to understand in order to provide their children the best education that they could give.

Therefore, for parents who have decided to home school their children and do not know how to prepare an overall plan in order to come up with the best structure in teaching their children, here is a list of some tips that you need to know:

Know your benefits

If you know that you and your child can get more benefits in home schooling than the usual type of schooling, then it would be easier for you to pattern your teaching to the things that you and your child will both enjoy.

Create a goal and devise some motivations

Try to identify what you want to achieve for your children and for yourself as well. You have your goals as your guide in creating the necessary teaching approach that your children need.

Most parents tend to think that since home schooling provides a cheaper means of educating their children, it's okay for them to buy the best books available even if it would cost them a lot.

Indeed, home schooling materials are important in order to come up with the best teaching approach. Try to set a budget for your home schooling program. 4. Identify your child's capacity to learn and the way he learns things

Although there are many home schooling programs and methods available on the market today, nothing can come close to perfection in providing your child the best education if you do not know how to employ the method to your child. You can only do this easily if you know the learning style of your child.

It's best to identify the level of curiosity and interest of your child in order to come up with the best teaching approach that would motivate him or her to learn things.

One of the reasons why most children do not excel in school is because the approach to their interest and level of curiosity is sometimes inappropriate. Hence, it's best to focus on this aspect.

Have constant communication with your children

Most parents tend to forget that the very essence of learning is based on what their children needs to know. Most parents have the propensity to push the things that they think would provide the best education for their children.

In turn, the children end up miserable because there are things that they need, but were not provided simply because their parents failed to identify those things.

The difference of teaching approach in home schooling compared to the usual method used in the typical school is that teaching should focus more on the child's individual interest, learning style, and the ability to understand everything he or she has to learn.


Home Schooling

If you are thinking about home schooling your child or children, are you skeptical if that is the right thing to do? Do you need information on home schooling and the curriculum for a home school?

Every parent/guardian goes through the same set of questions when they are exploring home schooling as an option for their children. Like everything else, home schooling too has its own advantages and disadvantages. However, taking an important decision like this is not an easy task for any parent or guardian. They need to check the suitability of home schooling for their children. And they also need to check if they would be able to provide the required dedication for home schooling of their children. Yes, it's very true that home schooling is almost like a full time job (rather, more than a full time job).

Note that, here you are trying to setup a small school for your child (which is by no means a small task). You need information about the home schooling curriculum. You need to fulfill various statutory requirements. And you need to arrange for everything on your own. In such a scenario, you need access to a lot of information and resources that can help you with the task of home schooling your children.

Children are devoted to learn new things. This hunger for education exists within and outside the school. It is long lasting and it follows the children. Thus, even if they are out of the basic institution for education they can learn a lot.

Even if you are not enrolled in a university, you can still acquire knowledge. In addition, this learning can be had without traveling much. Yes, you can have same knowledge that other students acquire even when you just stay at home. This system is called home schooling.

Home schooling, otherwise known as home education, is a curriculum designed for children to study at home. This is in contrary to the usual education offered by an education institution like the parochial or public school.

When parents feel that complete education can no way be acquired in private or public schools, they resort to home schooling.

Home schooling is legal in all parts of the United States. However, said laws may differ from one state to another. In fact, home schooling evolves around three categories. They are private school laws, equivalency laws and home education laws. Inquiry must be done first in order to know which of the three laws are suited to you and your children.


Home Schooling Advantages And Disadvantages

Home schooling is an option that is becoming more attractive to parents as time goes on. Schools have become increasingly unstable over the past couple of decades. Children roam the hallways unchecked, textbooks are outdated, violence is prevalent, children are bullied mercilessly, and the quality of education on the whole has greatly diminished.

What options do parents have to combat this downward spiral? Initially, private school was thought to be the answer. As enrollment in private schools soared many parents failed to see a difference between public and private schools. The problems were still the same.

The option of home schooling has been around for a long time; however, until recently it had not been so popular. The idea of home schooling seems like a cure-all to many parents due to the advantages this type of education provides over traditional schools. Children who are home schooled can avoid many of the problems schools have become known for. For one, the environment is less threatening. Children can learn without fearing other students, aggressive or nasty teachers, and be under the constant supervision of parents. In addition, home schooling allows parents to dictate the academic course of their children. Home schooling also allows students to proceed at their own speed. If a child is weak at multiplication and division, a parent can focus lessons on those skills in favor of another skill that the child might grasp rather easily.

Home schooling is also advantageous because it keeps children away from other students that may be corruptive forces. There are many students in school who do not value learning. This is not any fault of the schools; however, it is still a painful reality. These students can lead to the destruction of a stable learning environment. Home schooling keeps children focused on learning and not on avoiding social pressures.

It may sound like the perfect option, but there are many disadvantages of home schooling. First of all, home schooled children are usually less socialized. While schools can sometimes be the breeding ground for poor social behaviors, school is also a place where students learn to interact with others and build social skills. It seems a bit like a catch 22.

In addition, another drawback to home schooling could be implementation of an educational plan. Many parents are not qualified as teachers and may not understand what is necessary to ensure a child has access to the proper curriculum.

Finally, another disadvantage to home schooling is the necessity for parents to take full responsibility for their childs education. If you choose to home school your child there is no one for you to blame if your child does poorly. The responsibility falls completely on the parent.

There are many advantages and disadvantages to home schooling. Before you begin a home schooling plan make sure you have evaluated your ability to properly instruct your child and provide a quality learning experience. If you do not think you can handle it, you might as well send your child to school but become more involved with his or her education.


When Can I Start Home Schooling?

Perhaps you have been wondering at what age I can start homeschooling. You would be pleased to know that when it comes to the question of age viability or minimum age for home schooling, there is actually no such requirement. When you find it appropriate to home school your child, his or her age will determine what you have to do in order to complete the transition into home schooling. Moreover, age matters very little when it comes to home schooling. This has perhaps been one of its most esteemed and valued characteristics.

Most parents who opt for home schooling are those parents who have children already enrolled in an educational institution of sorts. Regardless of what educational level or age your child is, he or she is good to go. However, because of the fact that your child has gone through some sort of schooling, you have to first consult with the educational institution. Once there, you must get your child's records assessing clearly the educational level and subsequent attainment achieved while in the school.

If your child is not yet within schooling age but you're already planning on home schooling him or her, then there's no other consultation you have to go through. All you have to do is follow the required procedure in your state for home schooling. That is, if your state requires being informed of the intention to home school your child, you must follow this and whatever other requirements they have set before you can go about home schooling. Otherwise, you're free to start home schooling your child anytime.

The fact that home schooling your child is not reliant on age surprises many individuals, and this may include you. While some parents move their children out of the formal learning environment to give them a more age-appropriate curriculum, home schooling in fact (and at times unknowingly) steps away from age-appropriateness to intellectual-appropriateness. While children in schools may be required to follow one standardized curriculum, you may opt to either give your child more time on the required materials you wish to teach, or advance to more complex materials if your child is more than qualified to take on harder materials. As such, the system is based more on merit than on age. Moreover, it allows you to create a curriculum designed to address your child as a growing individual, instead of a statistical age group recommended to take a particular group of lessons from a generalized spectrum of disciplines.

Another issue that home schooling addresses in a far more effective way is socialization. In schools, students are more or less encouraged to be in the company of peers within the same age group, give or take a year or two. This has resulted in age-based socialization. Some parents contend that this sort of limit on the social environment most accessible to their children actually hampers a more enriched interpersonal growth. While this sort of socialization is greatly emphasized with the various year levels in schools, the fact that age-based socialization is something seemingly arbitrary is quite evident. Comparing this to the home school environment with a child able to interact freely with people in his or her community without the pressures of a formal educational system, you can already see an inherent comparative advantage. It gives children greater experience and opportunities to grow at a pace dictated only by their intellectual and emotional maturity.

A little work in the beginning can go a long way, especially if you want your child to learn of values and other pertinent academic matter that the school will not teach. The best part is, there is no minimum age to start.


How Expensive Is It To Start Home Schooling?

Many believe that starting a home schooling program for their child is much cheaper then sending them to private or public school. This can be true at times, but it all depends on how
hard the parents are willing to work and how much effort they want to put into the program. So what exactly are some of the costs you may wonder? Here is a list of 5 high priced items
parents have to deal with when setting up a home schooling curriculum for their child.

Research Books

This is not necessary, but many parents opt to buy some kind of research books to know what they should teach and learn how to go about teaching their child. Parents that choose not to buy
these books usually research online putting more effort in to save some money. This cost on average is around $100-$150 per year.

Newsletters/Conferences

Many parents that begin home schooling programs buy newsletters to keep up to date on what they should teach and different methods that work best. This is not necessary either, but is
extremely beneficial to your child's development. Conferences are among the same lines, but also allow you to interact with other parents who home school their children and ask questions
you may have. For many families, this is new to the parents just as much as it is to the child. These costs average around $150 per year.

Software/Videos/Audio-Cassettes

Many home schooling parents use their computer to help teach the child. While the internet and online services are helpful, many go on to purchase programs to install on the computer to enhance the child's learning. On average parents spent around $130 per year on software. Videos and audio-cassettes are purchased for a wide range of subjects from history, math, social studies, and music. These ranged anywhere from $150-200 per year. Classes There are many classes that homeschoolers take that are not available to many parents for their home schooling
program. These classes include music, gymnastics, ballet, Spanish, swimming, baseball, basketball and so on. These classes are one of the most expensive items on the list running
on average at $1,500 per year.

Text Books

The much dreaded cost of text books is one of the key problems parents do not like to think about when setting up a home schooling curriculum. The problem with text books is after a
year or two, more have to be bought to keep up with the child's learning development and to keep up with times. Depending on how many subjects you plan on teaching your child, costs of text books per year is at $400 on average. While these are just some of the costs, there are plenty more to worry about. On average, parents spend around $3,200 per year to home school their child. While this may be discouraging to some when they see all the costs they were not aware of, it is important to remember the reasons you decided to set up a home schooling program.


What Regulations Are There While Setting Up Home Schooling Curriculum?

When setting up a home schooling curriculum, how much information and attendance you have to send out depends on your state. There are four types of state regulations for a home schooling program; no notice, low regulation, moderate regulation, and high regulation. The larger the state is the more options parents have to choose from for setting up their program.

States requiring no notice

Some of the states that require no notice for your home schooling curriculum whatsoever include Texas, Oklahoma and Illinois. There are 11 states total that do not require any notification. What this means is that the parents do not have to send to the government or local school any records of testing, attendance, or any sort of recordkeeping according to
homework scores.

States with Low Regulation

States in this section include Arizona, California, Kentucky and 10 others as well. There are four options one can go about in California including qualifying as a private school, using a private tour, enrolling in an independent study program through the public school, and enrolling in a private school satellite program.

All four of these options require that you have a teaching certification or are qualified to teach. The rest of the regulations go according to the program, such as attendance and recordkeeping. Options one and two do NOT require that you send in testing, whereas options three and four DO require that you send tests in.

States with Moderate Regulation

The closer you attempt to keep your home schooling curriculum between you and your child, the more recordkeeping you must make. For instance, in Colorado to establish and operate a home school you must take attendance 172 days a year for four hours a day, maintain test and evaluation results and immunization records, and administer a standardized test for grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.

If you choose to use a private tutor, there is no attendance, record keeping, or test scores that must be distributed anywhere for the home schooling curriculum. There are 20 states total that are in the moderate regulation zone.

States with High Regulation

When setting up a home schooling program in this category, there are a lot of restrictions and qualifications. There are a total of six states that fall into this category including North Dakota, New York, and Vermont. In New York, attendance must be
taken and be equivalent to 180 days per year at 900 hours for grades 1-6 and 990 hours per year for 7-12.

Things that must be filed and recorded to the local superintendent include attendance, quarterly reports listing the number of hours instructed during the quarter, description of material covered, and a grade for each subject. Grades 4-8 must have a standardized test every other year and grades 9-12 every year with the child scoring above the 33rd percentile.


Getting Help With Home Schooling

Think of the next time you join a discussion around home schooling. When you begin sharing the fascinating home schooling facts below, your friends will be absolutely amazed.

Home schooling, despite of its popularity, is yet to have one singular standard for acceptability or validity. This means that as you go all over the nation, separate states have different levels of requirements for home schooling to be duly recognized.

The decision to home school your youngster isn't the simplest one in the books. However, once you've made your decision, it may be a good period to start thorough research and inquiry into state requirements and other guidelines you have to take into consideration once you've made the decision.

There are states like Texas, Illinois, Missouri, or Oklahoma, among others, that do not require informing the state of any intention to home school your youngster. So technically, you may opt to begin your preschooler on home schooling already or pull your youngster out of the formal pedagogical system at your own will, should you decide that home schooling is for you.

Other states, however, would require you to inform the state and your child's school of your intention to begin home schooling. It is only in this way that the state can accredit your child's grade level standing. Alongside this expression of intent and plan is the requirement of the state for you to submit exam scores, progress evaluation grades, and even your child's attendance record. The state may also specify an amount of time that should be spent in this informal school studying the various subjects you intend to teach your child.

The states with tightest home school regulations set requirements of informing the state of your intent to home school your child. Alongside this expression of intent is the submission of the curriculum you intend to teach while home schooling. You may also be tested if you qualify as a parent-teacher when you home school your youngster. State-appointed officers may also visit your home to check if it is suitable for home schooling. Separate from these requirements, submission of periodical documents like exam scores, progress evaluation grades, and attendance records may be required of you as well.

The information about home schooling presented here will do one of two things: either it will reinforce what you know about home schooling or it will teach you something new. Both are good outcomes.

Specified this volume of information that you must be familiar with when you decide that you want to give home schooling a try, where will you find the essential information?

In general, your first and most primary source of information should always be your state or local government unit's education office or authority. You can approach these agencies in two ways either through the agency's website or by visiting the physical location of the said government office. In order to save time and money, you should perhaps visit the website first. This is also most recommended as the primary course of action because of the fact that some of these educational agencies actually upload the necessary forms you have to fill out in relation to home schooling. Some of them even prefer your getting in touch with them and submitting your requirements online !

Next, you may want to check home schooling support groups and legal specialists who have put up various websites on the subject. This way, you will be able to read of firsthand experiences of people who've tried home schooling before, and in the long run, learn valuable tips and tricks in order to make it work for you. They even provide various suggestions on activities and teaching strategies you may want to try as you home school your child.

Much of home schooling is very much feel-your-way-through, so don't be scared to visit these support groups and forums and ask questions. By doing so, you would be able to make sure that you are giving your child the best sort of home schooling you can provide for him or her. Additionally, you can even find out more about the post-home schooling period, which is the time when your child begins applying for university or college, from home schooled applicants who've gone through the usually much longer process.

Home schooling, as it is, is yet to be standardized across the country. Various legislative and administrative changes are underway each day. This is where online home schooling websites may help. They can give you news updates, briefings, and summaries of various state and federal legislation on home schooling. These timely bits of information may lead you better in home schooling your child, and keep you up to date with trends and changes in rules on home schooling across your state.

Take time to consider the home schooling points presented above. What you learn may help you overcome your hesitation to take action.