what's the best thing to know if you are beginning to homeschool your child???

Question

any valid suggestions????

Answer 1

That they will be looked at as "dorks" if they ever get into college or return to school. They won't be as well socialized as other kids and won't be as free thinking, as you will of brainwashed them into all of your beliefs and views. Kids not only learn from the teachers, but from other kids. Allow your kids that right.

Answer 2

Set up a specific area for your home school. Be organized. Use a cirriculum set up for your childs age and grade level. States recognize home schooling when you follow their directions and have your child complete work they require -you can add any learning activities you wish including religion or what ever but need to make sure child is meeting state regulations. Just type in home schooling and check out the websites there -they are full of good info. i plan on home schooling and am already taking teaching classes at uni so that my kids wont soon be teaching me instead of the other way around. LOL and If you dont know how to do something either learn or take the kids to someone who does for instance my Dad taught wood shop to home schooled boys when I was growing up. I was homeschooled until 9th grade and then went to mainstream school. If I had it to do over I would not have done that now that I look back on it and think where I could be today if I had stayed home-school actually slowed down my progress.

Answer 3

The best thing to know is that you are an adult and you have years of education and learning behind you. You are working with a child, who doesn't know all the things you do and won't grasp things as quickly as you like. You have to learn to be patient and to be resourceful in finding other ways to help the child understand.
People learn in different ways -- some can grasp something easily, others need graphic illustrations or even physical conceptualization. For example, in math, some children can grasp the concept of multiplication easily. Others can't. For them, working with small blocks so they can see that 2X3 is 6 can be very helpful. When they get into squaring numbers and cubing numbers they physical context can make it more apparent.
But the most important thing is that you must have patience. It is sometimes difficult to separate the parent/child and teacher/pupil roles, but you have to learn to do that.

Answer 4

First of all, don't expect them to be able to do everything overnight. One of the main benefits of homeschooling is the fact that you can work at your own pace. You have to be very patient with your child if you are going to be their main educator. (If you are enrolling them in a distance education course, you will have to set a schedule and make sure they stick to it). You might have to go over something several times before it sticks, but it will be worth it.
Have a support group. It can be very hard to do it by yourself, but there are a lot of people who can help you. There are a lot of homeschooling parents on here alone. I'm sure they'd be happy to help you.
Set daily or weekly, and monthly goals. If you know what you have to get done in a short and long period of time, you'll be more likely to cover more ground. Make sure that the goals you set are reasonable for your children.
I hope this helped.

Answer 5

How to get to the library!!

I'd also recommend Patchwork of Days by Nancy VanLande. It gives a terrific overview of a number of different families "day in the life" style. I'm going to make a new post with my "Top 10 Questions/Answers about Homeschooling" soon!

Answer 6

That to teach a field you need to have knowledge far beyond what you are teaching - so just because i finished BC Calculus doesn’t make me a good high school math teacher because the filed goes beyond that. So I would try to find people who are trained in the classical arts - a math degree, (or physics/ engineering) life sciences - bio/ chem, literature, a foreign language, fine arts and history. If you don’t know that many people willing to take the time to help you and your child learn, with advanced degrees, then you are going to hurt your child. If you have a lot of money you can hire someone very well educated and intelligent to do this job - like some people hire a private tutor, only most tutoring agencies provide people like your public school teachers, so where's the point in that?
You must contact the State Board of Ed where you live and find out what their policies are. That is first. If at all possible your child is better off in some sort of school environment- that’s why nobility, movie stars, Nobel prize winners and most people send their kids to school. If this is a health issue/ unavoidable then contact your state because they have materials to help. Good luck.

Answer 7

set goals
year, month,and weekly
revisit goals occasionally to see how it's going and to reevaluate if they are realistic

find out your child's learning style (google)

schedule you as a family can live with. Try to stick with it but realize it's there to serve you not the other way around

find some home school support, real groups you can get together with and some on line

be ready to learn yourself

when you have a bad day try to laugh and learn from it. remember tomorrow is another day:)

enjoy the adventure

Answer 8

Don't pay attention to the negative comments!

Do your research. The library is a great place to check out books on the different homeschooling methods. Don't be afraid to try out different methods to find out which one will work best for you and your child.

Good Luck.

Answer 9

make sure they know the dangers of the outside world because some homeschooled children do not understand that its different in other places and do stupid things like end up with weed in their hands because they don't know what it looks like..im not being funny that has actually happend

Answer 10

Know that you aren't alone, and there are probably many home schoolers within a reasonable distance who are experienced and knowledgeable. Seek them out, they can help you much better than any of us here can.

Answer 11

well, get lots of different text books. you are not nessasarily going to like the books that you get but have others on hand so you can return the others. also, it's hard work. but it's also nice and fun.