Home School Curriculum

Whether you have decided to home school or are just looking into the option, there are some steps you can take to help you know where to start. The most important place to start is with your child assessing who they are and what they need. 1. Observe your children. How do they play? How do they interact with others? What do they enjoy doing and not doing? Do they enjoy loud or quiet? Do they enjoy creating or filling in the blanks? Answers to all these questions will help you know where to start when planning your home school. 2. What is your long term goal? Write down what you want your child to be like when they are 18 years old. You can be as detailed as you want. What kind of character would you like them to have? What kind of qualities would you like them to have? Remember that people who write down their goals are 90% more likely to meet their goals. Obviously, you don't have total control over how your child turns out. Much of who they become will be determined by the choice

There are as many ways to home school as there are people out there that home school. Basically most people will range somewhere in the broad spectrum between "school-at-home" and "let the kids play all they want and they'll learn what they need to know". You need to know your style and the temperaments and learning styles of your children to be able to come up with an educational philosophy that you can both live with. Children can learn with workbooks and they can learn with games. Some children love to work through a textbook and don't want to be bothered with games while other children may complete a workbook but not remember anything they did. There are all kinds of terms that are used to describe the styles of home schooling such as Eclectic, Classical, Unschooling, Traditional, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, and Unit Studies. Homeschooling does stretch a parent but it doesn't have to bend them out of shape. Each parent needs to evaluate what type of

Most home schooling programs are fully comprehensive and provide everything you would need for your child's complete k-12 education. However, you should keep in mind that many experienced home schoolers do not stick to just one program. They pick and choose from what they believe are best of each of the various programs. I cover in greater detail how people mix and match in my home schooling newsletter. There are many popular and respected home schooling programs. The ones I'll cover briefly here are Saxon, Center for Learning and Curriculum Associates. Perhaps one of the more well-known home schooling programs comes from Saxon. Saxon is a part of Harcourt Achieve, a publisher that provides a variety of educational materials across various subjects. Saxon focuses on math, phonics and early learning. Many home schoolers like Saxon's math texts. Math is an area that children will need expert instruction in. If the parents don't have a math background, Saxon may be the rig

It’s becoming more and more obvious, as research on the success of home schooling is making clear, that home schooling is outperforming the US public school system in the quality of the education, self-esteem, and social awareness it instills in its students. And there are large numbers of public school authorities who are not happy with that realization. The Tyranny Of Tenure The public school system, to be fair, is saddled with regulations which make necessary change almost impossible. The tenure policy in most public school districts, for instance, prevents the firing of tenured teachers and school officials, and allows incompetent or unmotivated teachers who have hung on long enough to achieve tenure the security of lifetime employment. They are free to under educate our children whose parents cannot afford to put their children in private schools. If tenured public school teachers were held to the same standards as private school teachers who are up for job reviews on a regular ba

Home school programs are the option for parents who feel public schools are deficient in prime education and in safety. The questions many people ask is, are home schooled kids lacking suitable socialization and what is the rewards and disadvantages from home schooling? Contrary to public-school children, children who are taught at home are not captives of a system of rules that could crush their self-esteem or their joy of learning. Home taught children do not need to sit down silently in a school room of 30 or more additional pupils and act as though they enjoy being in that confined public school prison. Most of the kids in home school programs are smart and independent. Home schooling in addition affords the parent the chance to interact with the child extensively. Teaching preschool at home as well gives you a chance to encourage your child to enjoy learning The procedure of formulating effective programs at home can be intimidating at the beginning, but is extremely worthwhile wh