Top 10 Tips for Homeschoolers
Published on October 4, 2007 - 31 Comments
Homeschooling is an excellent alternative method to educate your child or children. It allows you to spend more time with your kids, and to structure their classes to suit their temperaments. This is a list of ten useful tips for homeschoolers or people thinking of taking it up.
1. Know the laws in your place of residence
This one is particularly important since laws regarding schooling can vary from state to state, and country to country. Do some research before you start and find out what is required and what isn’t. Some places require meticulous record keeping and others only require the student to be evaluated regularly. Make life easier on yourself and just find out.
2. Talk to your children
While the decision to home school ultimately rests with you as a parent, it is always a good idea to discuss it with your children. Let them know why you are thinking about it and what benefit you think it will have. Listen to any concerns that they may have and discuss solutions and strategies. If a child is adamantly opposed to homeschooling, it may not be a good idea to attempt it. Homeschooling really works best when everyone is working together.
3. Frequently use a library card
This one should go without saying. A library card is like a treasure chest. I have heard it said that in the beginning a child learns to read. After that they read to learn. Encourage a love of learning. Visit the library often. Encourage your child to pick out many different kinds of books. Take advantage of the resources available to you as well; there are books specifically written for home schoolers that would cost hundreds of dollars to buy.
4. Have an internet connection
This is a tremendous tool. There are so many websites and groups dedicated to education in general and homeschooling in particular. There are places with printable activities, curriculums about specific topics, forums with other home schoolers, and so much more. Just trust me, have an internet connection and use it. Oh - and don’t forget to include The List Universe 101 in your curriculum.
5. Extra curricular activities
Socialization can be one of the biggest problems when it comes to homeschooling. The concern is that if a child is not in class room with other children, they might have a difficult time relating to their peers. This is easily solved! Get your child involved in group activities of another sort: sports, martial arts, clubs, play groups, or anything that gets them around other children on a regular basis.
6. Find other home schoolers in your area
Other home schoolers can be a wealth of information and support. They will have often tried various curriculums and methods and can give feedback on what did and didn’t work for them and why. They might even have an old unused or reusable curriculum laying around. If you can’t find any near you, which is possible, look for other home schoolers online.
7. Be realistic about time and effort
Homeschooling is both labor and time intensive - especially with a younger student that needs more supervision and guidance, and even more so when you are teaching more than one child. This is not to say that it is difficult, just that it requires discipline. It will take several hours a day and a certain amount of organizational skills. I am not saying that it is the most difficult thing in the world, it really isn’t, just don’t fool yourself into expecting everything to be perfect and easy.
8. Explore your options
Some parents are more comfortable with a set curriculum, others prefer to have a less structured style. Think about your strengths and weaknesses and what you want to achieve with homeschooling. If it is legal in your country, you can even find the old classical curriculums online that were taught in schools many years ago - there is nothing wrong with learning a bit of Latin or Greek at a young age.
9. Be willing to be flexible
Like any decision that one makes regarding their children nothing goes quite the way you expect it to. You may start with a strict curriculum and decide that it is not allowing your children to progress at their own pace, slowing them down in some areas or leaving them behind in others. Alternately you may find that you need more structure if you find that you aren’t getting things done or you have no idea what you are supposed to be teaching for your child’s age group. Just be flexible and willing to make whatever changes it takes to make it work for your family. Understand that most children will excel in a subject or two and have more difficulties in others. If your child takes to reading and science like a fish to water but math leaves them cold, allow them to move through at their own pace. Let them push through the good stuff as fast as they like, and make the time to focus with them on areas that are difficult. This is one of the most beneficial aspects of homeschooling. You don’t have a classroom to keep up with or hold back with. Take advantage of it. Also, be willing to admit if it just isn’t working for you. It’s not the end of the world if you can not make homeschooling work for your family. Bear in mind that you can still be very involved in your child’s learning process, just in a different way.
10. Have patience
Finally, patience is essential. Be patient with yourself and your child. There are going to be days when everything goes splendidly, and others when it seems like nothing is working. Trying to plod along on a bad day is often completely counterproductive. Take a breather and come back relaxed. Don’t expect everything to go perfectly. Just take a deep breath and work through the issues as they come up.
Contributor: heavenlymayday
Technorati Tags: education, homeschooling
Related ListsTop 15 Tips for Spotting a LiarTop 10 Stain Removal Tips Top 7 Zombie Survival tips Top 10 Things You Need To Survive The Streets |
SubscriptionsLike this article? Subscribe to the RSS feed to keep 'em coming, or subscribe via email: |
If you find this site helpful, please leave a donation so you can enjoy the spirit of giving too.
Email This Post
1. dalandzadgad - October 4th, 2007 at 4:38 am
this list is a good one, might use it in the near future
2. jfrater - October 4th, 2007 at 5:11 am
dalandzadgad: It is - I think heavenlymayday did a good job!
3. heavenlymayday - October 4th, 2007 at 5:23 am
Yay!
4. Ravyn - October 4th, 2007 at 7:02 am
It is a very good list. I just don’t see me using it ever. I like my free time away from the kids.
5. DMH - October 4th, 2007 at 8:52 am
Interesting enough, I work in a Virtual Academy in CO, the tips listed are all excellent ideas. For those families who are still interested in home-schooling, but are a little hesitant about the amount of dedication or lack of support, Virtual Academies are a great alternative. They allow you to learn at home while still being enrolled in a public school, with all the support that comes with it. Didn’t mean for this to become a sales pitch, but if anyone is interested, please check out their own states VA (virtual academy).
6. jfrater - October 4th, 2007 at 8:56 am
DMH: Interesting - thanks for sharing that.
7. MrSelfdestruct - October 4th, 2007 at 10:51 am
There are two important factors that should also be mentioned: Writing and LD/Speech and Language issues.
As a college educator, most of the homeschooled children that I see are deficient in their writing abilities. I have recommended a good portion of them to my campus’s tutoring center. I don’t know if there is established data regarding writing and homeschooling, I am just reporting what I observe.
In discussing my childrens’ education, my wife, an accomplished Speech/Language Pathologist, has informed me that, all too often, learning and speech deficiencies are commonly overlooked by the parents because they can be hard to detect, even for an expert.
I do like the devotion in this list to socializing. From what I have read, low social abilities are often found in children who are homeschooled.
8. JOE ROSSON - October 4th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
My sister homeschooled her children and they turned out great, hard workers, raising their families and are totally self sufficent.Homeschooling is good for the right people, but not everyone.I like it because the homeschooled children don’t have to deal with public school problems like bullying, drug influences, ,strange people that hang around schools or sexual issues that can happen on occasion,or gang issues.
9. jfrater - October 4th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
MrSelfdestruct - your observations are very interesting - thanks. Though I must say they are quite the opposite to my own experiences. I spent some time staying with a family of 12 who homeschooled their children - they were the brightest most eloquent children I had met. They were years ahead of other children of the same age and they were extremely well adjusted socially.
Joe - I agree completely - those are all excellent points in support of it.
10. petey mcgee - October 4th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
every homeschooled child i have ever known has no social skills whatsoever. I think that the socialization is the most important part. in fact, i remember a homeschooled student joining us in highschool and leaving after a month. she couldn’t handle being around all the people. you can always pick out a homeschooler, and i think they are at a significant disadvantage for college.
11. MrSelfdestruct - October 4th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
I have nothing against homeschooling. I have worked/taught/interacted with people who were homeschooled and I have no problems. They have their ups and downs just like anyone who was raised in a public or private school.
I believe that the key to the argument is based in the skills of the parent. I have seen some students who were taught better at home than I was in a public school. I have also had students whose parents seemed to take on homeschooling without any idea of what teaching entails. It is to those parents that I will pass this list on to.
12. Kwame - October 5th, 2007 at 8:49 am
One other important point: Be honest with yourself about what you’re capable of doing as an instructor. The source of most student deficits in home-schooling comes from ill-prepared parents who assume they’re teaching all the students need to know.
13. jfrater - October 5th, 2007 at 10:15 am
MrSelfDestruct: I think you have probably hit on the head the nail (sorry - I am still thinking in rhetoric mode after the 10 Rhetorical Figures article). And because you are probably right, this list can be very valuable because it points out the need to get your children socializing. In the case of the children I knew, they had a lot of out-of-the-home activities to partake of and they did. I would still homeschool my own children if I had any. I simply don’t trust any government in the world at present to educate my child.
14. jfrater - October 5th, 2007 at 10:16 am
Kwame: right - my last answer applies to your comment too.
15. TheClassicalScholar - December 17th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Great list! The decision to home educate our kids using a classical method has been the best one we have ever made, and I agree with MrSelfDestruct who said the parent’s skills make the difference…I personally wouldn’t recommend homeschooling unless you feel called to the task because it can be overwhelming at times if you are not sure that this path is for your family. As I mentioned, it has been my best decision but also the most difficult thing I have ever done. It’s one of those decisions that sort of hangs out there waiting to be confirmed until many years later when the kids are grown and successful. Until then you hold your breath, pray alot, and keep pushing onward.
16. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
TheClassicalScholar: you will like our other list then - Top 10 books for a classical education - it explains the full classical syllabus from start to end with books to cover each area.
17. miss_ali1984 - December 19th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
I was homeschooled through Junior High and High School. I asked to be homeschooled because I was not really on top of the social hierarchy at my public school and I wanted to devote more of my emotional energy to STUDY, rather than the ridiculous social games involved in high school. One thing on this list that I highly disagree with is that you need to find other home schoolers. This didn’t work for me because (at least in my region of Texas) most home schoolers are CRAZY Christians. I just had a conversation with a girl who was home schooled K-12 the other day, a college aged girl, and she told me that she doesn’t think that Hillary Clinton should be president because the Bible says it’s wrong. Do you really want your kids associating with these people?
18. MadMonkey - January 8th, 2008 at 12:54 am
miss_ali1984, anybody who doesn’t want Hillary for president who I want my kids hanging around
I was homeschooled for my entire 12 years and glad of it… I learned a lot more (in my opinion) than I would have in public school.
Yes, some homeschoolers grow up with social problems… but so do those who were public schooled. Personally, I don’t know any homeschool kids (that I grew up around or otherwise) who were socially stunted. I can be a loner now and then, but it depends on my mood
19. fishing4monkeys - January 25th, 2008 at 3:39 am
I’m homeschooled and, contrary to what alot of people think, it’s no harder to make friends then if I was in a public school! I know a few homeschooled kids who do appear to suffer socially to anyone who has gone to public school but that’s just because their friends are homeschooled aswell so they aren’t focused so much on being “cool” or fitting in…they seem to get in alot less trouble aswell…
20. cowsareholy - January 28th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
i thought the first rule was dont date the teacher
21. Kwame - January 28th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Mad Monkey:
How do you know you learned more than you would have in public school?
miss_ali1984:
Yes, I’d want my children associating with them. I’d like to think they’ve been taught well enough to make their own decisions and be able to associate with anyone of their choosing.
22. Rashid - March 7th, 2008 at 4:02 am
fxd
23. Vera Lynn - June 19th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Good advice here. Good comments, too. A lot of good points were made.
24. Tempyra - June 24th, 2008 at 2:45 am
My two cents: I was homeschooled in New Zealand from the age of 8. By about 12/13 I was mostly capable of directing my own education with support from my parents. I chose which subjects I wanted to study and when I wanted to study them. Consequently, in my early teens I didn’t study anything more than basic math skills (nothing like algebra, geometry, or calculus) instead focusing on English, literature, history (Classical Studies was my favourite!), art, music, and science.
Getting into university wasn’t a problem despite never having done any of NZ’s secondary school qualifications. I had an interview with the head of department and started a Bachelor of Applied Science. Despite not having much experience with mathmatics I applied my ‘learning how to learn’ skills to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year statistics at uni and passed everything. Finished my degree at 20 (the only one of the 30 people I began it with to complete it in three years) and started a Master of Mineral Resources.
Contrary to the expectations of some commenters here I have good social skills, excellent relationships with my family and friends, and a generally positive attitude towards people in general. I think being homeschooled gave me a definite advantage in learning to interact with others.
If I ever have children - they’ll be homeschooled.
25. jfrater - June 24th, 2008 at 5:49 am
Tempyra: 3 cheers to you! My own experiences of homeschooling in NZ are the same - I wasn’t homeschooled myself, but I have spent a fair amount of time with people who were or parents who were doing it. I was always incredibly impressed. Good on you for showing how well it can work - especially in light of some of the negative comments here.
26. Tempyra - June 27th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Thanks JFrater
Isn’t it interesting how a few of the commenters on this list talk about homeschooling disadvantaging the social life of homeschooled children but no-one really stops to think whether ‘forced’ socialisation is good for us?
I don’t know exactly at what point in history schooling began to be structured by age but I think it’s fairly recent (150 years?) - the concept of putting 30 or 40 children exactly the same age together for 6+ hours a day 5 days a week is a bit unnatural when you think about it in comparison to before regimented education. It might be normal now, but it is really that beneficial to children’s social development?
27. MPW - June 27th, 2008 at 2:12 am
good point Tempyra,btw I’m not stalking you I’m just bored:)
28. Tempyra - June 27th, 2008 at 2:14 am
It’s easy to follow people around Listverse via the recent comments isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be cool if Listverse had a whole page that was just recent comments on all lists? That’s my bright idea for today.
Did you go to school MPW? Still there?
29. MPW - June 27th, 2008 at 2:20 am
I went to public school and now I’m in College, me in college
that idea could work, better run it by the big guy
30. Tempyra - June 27th, 2008 at 2:25 am
You’re American right? So college = university?
Does JFrater have a suggestions page somewhere or does one just email him? If he doesn’t have a suggestions page I’m claiming it as my next brilliant Listverse idea