The prospect of educating one's children at home can be simultaneously thrilling and frightening. The truth is that in order to approach the possibility with confidence, a good deal of advance knowledge and information should be obtained. Continue reading the article that follows to get some great advice about how to avoid common homeschool pitfalls.
If you are homeschooling your child, always include reading in your daily curriculum. Depending on the age of the child, this should include reading aloud and allowing him or her a quiet time to read alone. With a younger child, begin with the alphabet, sight words and phonics, progressing to simple books. Older children will enjoy a variety of mediums, including newspapers and textbooks.
When you have a variety of ages in your homeschool environment, you can use older students to teach the younger ones. This is especially true of reading, where those who read well can read to the younger kids, pointing out words they may not be able to read on their own yet.
Be flexible. If a teaching method doesn't seem to be working, try something new. Sticking to something that is not working does neither of you any favors. A new approach can help your child see the subject in a new way. This might help shed some light on a previously confusing topic.
Limit the distractions in your workspace. This does not mean that you have to have a classroom. Simply, shut off the ringer on the phone, turn off the television and if the computer is not used for school, shut it down. The fewer distractions you have to compete with, the smoother your lessons will go.
Always take advantage of back to school sales just as if your child was going to regular school. You cannot disregard the cost savings of supplies during these sales. Children love to get new school supplies and you can stock up for the entire year easily as long as you have storage room.
Are financial considerations something you've looked into with regards to homeschooling? It can be a huge burden if you need to quit working outside the home in order to do it. Even if you are already a stay-at-home parent, you will have less time to perform your daily duties. Figure out if your decision will entail turning to more convenient but more expensive options such as grocery delivery or hiring a housekeeper.
Homeschooling takes quite a bit of time out of your day. This can make it difficult to keep up with the housework. If hiring someone is not an option, incorporate different tasks into the curriculum. Have younger children match socks by size and color, and teach older children about measurements by cooking.
It's important to know when to ease up and try a different path. When a particular approach is continually failing, start working on an alternative solution. Take a break and come back with a different method of teaching. The Internet, movies or perhaps tutors may be what you need. Try new methods regularly but focus on the ones that seem to work best.
Spend a little time networking. Use the Internet to find families in your area that are homeschooling, and arrange activities together. It is also beneficial to connect with people across the country, as you can share ideas and techniques with one another. You will also have a support system when/if things get a little difficult.
The great thing about homeschooling is that it is very flexible. Traditional classrooms are very structured with a strict curriculum. Homeschooling allows you to stray away from this one size fits all mentality, and structure your classes to suit your child's learning style. This means if your child does not understand the traditional way math is taught, you can teach them in a way they understand instead.
Homeschooling allows your child to learn in a more interesting and fun way. Your child is not tied to a textbook and can enjoy reading autobiographies and interesting books about history. Trips to the library and the zoo can be great learning experiences, and a great time for your child to ask questions.
Create a written schedule for your homeschooling children. To effectively educate a child, you need a certain degree of structure in each day. By creating a schedule, you give yourself a means for maintaining that structure. This helps to make the transition from one subject to the next easier, and it can help you, as the teacher, to know you are covering all the subject areas you wish to cover.
When you are homeschooling your children, things can get pretty hectic quickly if you are not properly organized. Create a schedule like you would if you were going to work. Do what you normally do in the morning, like making your coffee, and take a shower. Having a schedule will prevent chaos in your home.
Learn to match what your child is learning to how those skills apply to their real life. For instance, counting coins can be helpful with addition, subtraction and multiplication. Learning fractions can be learned by doing recipes or splitting pizzas into slices. Once your child sees how and why these skills are useful, they are more eager to learn them, and they make more sense to them.
Remember that home schooling is an extension of your role as a disciplinarian. At the beginning of a school year, it's best to plan your lessons and discipline actions ahead of time before you transition from a public school to homeschooling. Your parental role will now expand to include a teaching role. Be sure to think this entire situation through before embarking on home schooling.
There can be no doubt that homeschooling is a scary, exciting and potentially extremely rewarding process. The best way for any parent to approach the process wisely is to study the topic extensively before deciding to choose this route. With any luck, the piece above has provided some useful tips to make the choice as clear as it can be.
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