Homeschooling your kids- a new trend

Parents choose to homeschool their children for many different reasons. Sometimes a kid is sick and can't go to regular school. But more often, kids are homeschooled because their parents feel they can give their child a better education than the local school can. Parents also might choose homeschooling because they want their child's education to include religious instruction (learning about God), which isn't offered at public schools.

If you don't like school, homeschooling might seem like the perfect solution. But it's better for everyone if homeschooling isn't chosen just as an escape from school or problems there, such as bullying. Finding solutions to the problem should be the first step. Your school counselor and other school officials, such as the principal, often can help. As long as you're a committed and involved parent with normal intelligence and no history of serious mental illness you can homeschool your children. You don't need an impressive educational background or lots of money to succeed at homeschooling. Research has shown that parents with only a high school education or less can do about as good a job as those with advanced degrees, or education degrees.  Homeschooling yields positive academic, social, emotional, and spiritual benefits for any family that gives it an honest chance. By now it's no secret that all the research shows homeschooled children outstrip both their public- and private-school peers in every academic area.

Less well known are these benefits:

  • As a homeschooler, you won't have to worry about who is taking guns and knives to your local school. Your child also won't have to fear school bullies.
  • Most kids don't get their drugs at home. They get them at or near school.
  • Study shows emotional bullying-name calling, mockery, and humiliation-can be just as devastating as physical bullying. Smart kids, special-needs kids, and anyone unlucky enough to appear different" can expect a steady diet of this negative emotional input in a typical school.
  • Any child with low body fat (making it uncomfortable to sit still for long periods in a hard chair) is at risk of being labeled "ADD" or "ADHD," which in turn leads to pressure put on parents to medicate perfectly normal children. Homeschool parents also tend to learn child training methods that work, if only for self preservation! Instead of blaming the kids' behavior on invisible "disorders" that are undetectable by any medical test homeschoolers learn to accept a wider range of normal behavior

Once you have decided to homeschool, there are several steps involved in setting up your home classroom and getting ready for the start of the school year.

  • Check your country/state laws. Some states do not require the parents to have any contact with the local public school system at all whereas some states require parents to follow a set curriculum and to report test scores.
  • There is a cost associated with homeschooling. You will have to plan for expenses like curricula, textbooks and field trips. In some cases, you may consider hiring tutors for teaching higher-level courses.
  • Decide how many hours per day you wish to homeschool and whether you will school year round or have breaks. Divide the curriculum into time periods and make a assessment of how long it will take you to get through it.
  • You will have to keep records of both teaching and testing. Even if not required, it’s wise to detail out what was taught on a day-by-day basis. This gives a structure and discipline to follow in subsequent years or with other children. It can be as simple as making notes in a day planner or you can use one of the many software programs.

Amita, veteran homeschool mom since 1995, and active blogger on our site knows the challenges moms face in "getting it all done." She believes Homeschooling brings families closer together. Kids thrive under parental attention, and parents get to really know their kids. Homeschooled siblings tend to be more kind and helpful to each other, also. She shares tips and suggestions on how to effectively manage your time.

  • Locate your country/ state homeschool group
  • Join other homeschoolers online
  • Subscribe to a homeschool magazine
  • Read books on ‘how to homeschool children’
  • Locate curriculum providers

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