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As our public schools increasingly fail the needs of students, parents, and communities, home schooling is appealing to a major group of stakeholders, the moms and dads of the students. No Child Left Behind legislation has led to much frustration for the teachers in public schools, but I would imagine that the frustration is ten-fold for the parents and students attending those public schools. The pressure and stress of “the test” have both been wearing down all parties involved for years. Homeschooling is a practical answer for those who have had it with the teaching to the test mentality that has developed in the past decade.

Academic Advantages of Home Schooling

Picture a classroom of 30-35 students. These kids come from different environments and come with so many different learning abilities and levels. The teacher stands at the door on the first day of school and greets each child as he/she enters the room. This teacher knows nothing of each child who crosses the threshold. It will take her/him weeks to get to know names, backgrounds, and abilities (unless, of course, the teacher from the previous year has given a heads-up on behavior or difficulties in learning). Any prior knowledge is most likely the negative opinions of previous teachers and previous experiences.

Now picture your child coming in to the kitchen, dining room, living room (wherever lessons are going to take place). You know your child. You know his/her interests. You know his/her strengths and weaknesses. You know when he/she has had enough and has tuned out.

The above visualizations are reality.

There are so many academic advantages to home schooling.

1) The “one size fits all” mentality is gone. You know your child. You know when he/she has mastered a concept. You make the decision how to teach a certain concept. A public school teacher rarely has the time or resources to individualize instruction in this manner.

2) Flexibility, freedom, and creativity. Public schools have pacing guides which dictate how long to spend on a concept and the resources to be used to teach that concept. Then they must move on in order to fit it all in. You have the ability to take more or less time on certain concepts based on your child’s needs. You have the freedom to use creative learning experiences for your child. If a field trip to the park is going to help you teach a concept in math, science, language arts, or social studies, you have the choice to do so without having to prove to the administration that said field trip covers a certain “standard” of learning.
3) Immediate feedback. Unlike the experience of a school teacher responsible for a multitude of students, you have the ability to recognize immediately the mastery or the need for further instruction. It won’t take you hours of grading papers to realize that a concept hasn’t reached your child.

4) Teachable moments. Learning can take place at any hour, during any activity. The concepts of science can be taught while cooking dinner. The concepts of math can be taught during a trip to the grocery store. The concepts of character and plot can be taught while reading a book together at bedtime.

5) Freedom. I know I’ve mentioned this one before, but it’s a BIG one! Decisions that lessons should take place at the museum or during a trip to a historical park are yours to make. Public schools don’t offer that freedom to their teachers. Inertia and force of gravity can be taught on a roller coaster!

6) Individual attention. What is the typical teacher/student ratio in a classroom? Most likely it is around 30:1. What is the ratio at home? One on one instruction is an invaluable thing.

7) Assessment. While the schools use the mandated standardized testing as a final assessment, home school educators can administer tests to identify weaknesses and use that knowledge to modify instruction. In public schools, standardized tests are generally administered at the end of the year and scores are made available during summer hours. There is no opportunity to use that information for remediation.

Social Advantages of Home Schooling

Peer pressure and bullying has been headlining the news for quite some time. Reports of students being afraid to go to school, afraid to show how smart they are, and afraid to be themselves have alerted us to a major problem in the public schools.

Many of these problems are alleviated through home schooling.

1) Students are often labeled socially in the public schools and are bullied due to those labels. Home schooling takes that off the board.

2) Those labels have been attributed to poor performance in academics. Home schooling your child takes that pressure away. Without worrying about what clothes they are wearing, if other students are “talking about them,” and worrying about fitting in, your child is capable of concentrating on the learning taking place.

3) Peer pressure, especially during the middle school years, can be extremely detrimental for kids’ self-esteem. During the time when they are trying to learn and become young adults, home schooling takes away that added stress.

4) Family values. Public schools cannot, by law, teach the values that you may believe to be essential to your child’s learning. There are home school curriculums available that offer lessons and instruction that incorporate your beliefs and your specific values. You have the freedom to teach what the morals and values that YOU consider important. If you want to use a religious aspect in the education of your child, you are free to do so. Public schools are not.

5) Discipline. You know your child best. You know best how to get your child to accomplish what he/she needs to accomplish. In public schools, the teachers spend a great deal of time with discipline and classroom management, thus wasting precious teaching and learning time. That is greatly reduced in the home schooling situation.

In conclusion, there are many advantages of home schooling. Parents have maximum input and have freedom to monitor their children’s learning. Plus, lunch is ALWAYS better at home than in a public school!

As you begin your search for a math curriculum that works for your elementary aged child, you need to remember that there are three areas of math to cover: facts, computation and concepts. If math has already become a struggle for your child, then you will especially want to break math down into these three areas. Spread math over the course of the day with short sessions covering these areas in separate sessions.

1. Math Facts – Math facts are primarily a function of auditory memory so be sure you present this new information to your child auditorily as well visually. Whether you have a full math curriculum or find materials that cover the different parts, you must include this in your child’s day.

My Best Recommendation for Learning Math Facts: Rapid Recall System

2. Math Computation – At a different time of the day work on computation skills. Computation is primarily a function of visual memory so I recommend 75% visual instruction. That is you do three problems for your child as he watches. You say only a few words to identify steps as you go along. Then your child does the fourth one. Repeat for the duration of the session of say, 10 minutes. You start with simple addition and work up to long division, fractions etc. If the child doesn’t remember a math fact, tell them so that the process of computation is learned without interruption. You work on the math facts during a separate time. You can get the computation problems from any math book, but if you just want to pay for the computation problems, get a book that has only those problems in it.

My Best Recommendation for Learning Math Computation: Straight Forward Math and Keys to Fractions (Decimals, Percent, Measurement)

3. Math Concepts – The first two items are the nuts and bolts of math. Concepts are how the basics are applied to real life. If you want a regular curriculum, look into Math U See, Singapore Math and Right Start Mathematics. They cover the whole spectrum of math in a fresh way, but it makes it harder to separate out the three parts and concentrate on one at a time. There are a host of math games available that apply these math concepts in an interesting way. You can spend big bucks. Perhaps a better way is a book of games that you can play as a family. My best recommendation is actually a series of books, but the original is the best overall for K-8 math games. Family Math arranges the games in sections according to the different math concepts. Each game has an objective, instructions and sometimes a page that serves as a game board. You may need to add some household items for game pieces. Each game is labeled for one or more of the three age groups within K-8.

My Best Recommendation for Learning Math Concepts: Family Math

Bonus Recommendation for Mental Math / Auditory Skills: The Verbal Math Lesson Level 1 and 2 for early learners or those who struggle.

Since math skills build on each other, home educators find it helpful to use a “Scope and Sequence” for navigating through math. Downloadable lists of skills can be found on the Internet. By including math facts, computation and concepts you can prepare your children for Algebra, Geometry and beyond.

Home schooling your kid is a big responsibility. But it combines fun and learning to make the educational experience for your kid a memorable one.

Here are some strategies brought to you by experienced home schooling parents. Try using some of them to create a fulfilling learning experience, for you and your kid.

Strategy# 1 – It is never too late to change the curriculum
Yes, you can even do it mid-way in the academic year. Sometimes you might pick books for a course from your favorite publishers or you might buy a packaged curriculum only to find your child does not like it. Don’t hesitate to change it and sell it when you realize it is not working. Get feedback from other parents who are home schooling their kids. Explore online and go for curriculum resources with high ratings and good reviews.

Startegy#2 – Every child demands different educational approach
One of your kids might be more of the kinesthetic type while the other would learn better visually. Figure out the strengths of your child. For instance, a kid learnt names of American states and capital while skating with his father, in a day. The same kid if told to sit down and learn would have taken probably 10 days because it would not have interested him.

Strategy# 3 – Cover most of the syllabus in the morning
It is better to teach in mornings. It is the freshest time and children can pay more attention to what is being taught to them. It allows you to say focused on what you are teaching. Covering most of the work in morning leaves the kid enough time to go play or work on a project and frees you to do household chores.

Strategy # 4 – You do not necessarily have to cover week learning in 5 days, just like school
You could cover the week learning in 4 days or even 7. Make decisions that are best for your child. You could cover topics like spelling and handwriting quickly so that less time is consumed and the children do not get bored. You can move at your own pace when you homeschool your kid.

Strategy # 5- Get help of an educational consultant
An educational consultant helps the family work out the curriculum to homeschool the kid. Educational consultants guide and monitor child’s progress. Educational plans are developed according to child’s capabilities. Some educational consultants also include field trips to enhance child’s learning.

One major concern of parents considering a home schooling option for their children is extracurricular activity participation. The socialization and team building advantages of these activities are an essential part of a young person’s venture into society. So, can home schooled kids have as many opportunities for extracurricular activities? Absolutely. Many states in the U.S. have adopted equal access laws that allow home schooled children to try out for and participate in local public school activities. But, if that is not the avenue you want to take with your children, there are a plethora of other available opportunities available.

Sports are probably the first activities to pop to mind when considering extracurricular activities. Team sports offer important lessons in our youth such as learning social skills, working as a team, and good sportsmanship. There are many options for home schooling parents to choose from if sports happen to be the interest their children have chosen. Little League baseball is probably the most obvious of the choices. But, there are “little” leagues cropping up all over the country that cover anything from football to soccer to cheerleading. Most communities have a civic league for pretty much any sport children show an interest in. Check with your local home schooling network to find out what is available in your area.

Other opportunities for sports participation include local recreation centers, civic leagues, church leagues, and of course, the YMCA. Children of all ages have been participating in athletic activities at the Y for many, many years. While program offerings will vary with location, some of the options at the YMCA include: basketball, soccer, karate, fitness classes, swimming teams, dance clubs, and even skateboarding. Often, the Y offers competition in many of the athletics as well.
If your child is more interested in academic activities, there are many national competitions that home schoolers can get involved in. Odyssey of the Mind and Destination Imagination are two team competitions that welcome home school teams. These organizations promote critical thinking skills, problem solving, decision making, and teamwork. The National Spelling Bee is another example of how home schooled children can compete. Many local home school groups have developed their own academic clubs as well, complete with tournaments.

Many parents of home schooled children have chosen this education model because they want to preserve their Christian values. There are many churches and religious affiliates who offer programs for youth. The American Heritage Girls is one such group which focuses on life skills enhancement, girl leadership, developing teamwork and confidence, social development, character development, and spiritual development. Their vision statement is, “Build women of integrity though service to God, family, community, and country.” Awana is a program available for children from ages 2-18 and involves churches from 100 different denominations. It is the only organization with a fully integrated evangelism and discipleship that actively involves parents, church leaders, and mentors. Upward is a Christian ministry that offers sports activities in some communities.

The Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and 4-H programs offer a huge variety of activities ranging from sports to science activities. All three focus on building character, community action, service, and life skills.

Other opportunities for volunteering and interning in certain business arenas are also available for students. Check your local government offices, businesses, or the local Chamber of Commerce for opportunities just waiting to be taken advantage of.

Music and the arts are offered through community theater and lessons of all sorts.

Not only are extracurricular activities important to the social development of our youth, they help build confidence, contribute to coping skills in the real world, and provide a great addition to a child’s “resume.” Many colleges look at extracurricular involvement, whether it is participation in team sports or community service, as closely as they look at academic achievement. Be sure to provide your home schooled child every opportunit

Are you afraid to let your kid to go to school because he or she might be influenced by their classmates? Or are your child is having problem to socialize? Are you planning to homeschool your child? Then you should read this article because we will talk about tips that can help you on how to homeschool your children, this will also help you decide if you will homeschool your kids or not. We will also talk about some of the benefits of homeschooling. Before we start, let’s talk about the basics of homeschooling, the definition.

Homeschool is a home based learning or teaching which simply means that instead of going to school, kids can stay at home and they will have their lesson at the comfort of their homes. Their teacher will be a tutor or their parents (if they are qualified to teach or to homeschool their children). The lessons will be just the same at the school, they will study subjects like math, science, history, geography and other subject that can be learned in school. Most people get a tutor to teach their kids at home, while some get some license to teach at home, so that they will be the one who will teach their kids.
What can we get from homeschool? You don’t have to worry about your child’s safety because you can monitor them and the person who are teaching them at home. If you are the one who is teaching them, then you will get to know him more and it will be easy for you to teach them because you know how to discipline them and you know that they will listen. You kids will avoid bad influences and bullies, but there are some disadvantages too.

The only problem here is your kid might get used to being alone or just being with his family. He might have problems dealing with other people or to socialize with the people around him. We don’t want to see them like that right? They might feel different from the others because they have different lifestyle than the others. What you can do is you can go out during weekends or after school, you can let them meet friend or neighbors and let them play and let them live normal. This way they will experience the life outside the house.

Anyway here are the tips that can help you decide if you will homeschool your kids:

1. If you want to teach you kids or if you want to be as their teacher then you have lots of things to do, contact your state law representative and ask them about their rules about homeschool. Every state has its own law or the law for homeschool is different, but don’t worry homeschooling is legal everywhere in the United States.
2. Homeschooling require more time with your kids. Meaning you should have time reading them books and other things. You need to see their improvement as they grow.
3. If you are done teaching your kid, you can actually make it as a business. You can post ads about your homeschool services. This way your license will not be wasted and at the same time you are earning money.

These are just the basics of homeschool, contact your state law representative now or just hire a homeschool tutor. Have fun with your family.