Four things to keep in mind when Homeschooling

A decision to begin homeschooling can be a hugely beneficial one. Now that your child's education is in your hands, you can ensure that they are receiving a thorough academic experience. It's a big responsibility, but your diligence and hard work early in their education can enable them to demonstrate greater academic autonomy as they grow. This is one of the reasons that homeschooling is so attractive to many parents -  teaching within your own home gives the "students" a comfortable environment that offers the flexibility to cater to each of their unique academic needs.

Attribution: Chris and Jenni

But now that you've made a decision against putting your children in a traditional school you need to actually use the new learning environment to optimize their performance. The truth is that the term "homeschool" is almost a misnomer in some cases: the word "school" typically conjures images of students being herded from stuffy room to stuffy room throughout the day as they sit through hours of lectures in cramped desks, lugging around backpacks that are roughly heavy as the students, themselves. "School" doesn't necessarily suggest academia, but rather the physical institution that  traditionally delivers academics. Homeschooling isn't school at all - the reason that you have decided toward homeschooling is likely because you want to be able to provide your kids with a well-rounded academic career without, well, the school. 

In order to take advantage of this educational method you will need to capitalize on the fact that this is not "school", as most people would consider it. That doesn't mean that there isn't any structure or discipline involved in the academic process, it just means that the environment and delivery of academic material is unique to your home. Here are some things that you should take into consideration to make your children's homeschooling experience a positive one:

Read

We know that your students will be spending a lot of their time in the books, but that doesn't excuse you from learning the same way. The fact is that the homeschooling process requires you to grow with your children as they mature intellectually. Homeschooling can, in some cases, be a decade-long endeavor, so you need to be as committed to your student's academic development as you are to their physical and emotional development when you are playing "Mom". The best way to grow and learn new approaches to education is to read. 

You are certainly not alone in wanting to homeschool your children, which means you are absolutely not the first person ever to do it. There have been scores of parents who have made the same decision that you have and, lucky for you, have decided to actually write about it. You can find some excellent resources on homeschooling at your local bookstore, so consider picking up some "How-To" literature to assist you with planning and creating a learning regimen for your kiddos. 

However, try to avoid books that suggest "This is how your child should learn" - the reason that you removed your child from the public education system in the first place was because you thought that you could do a better job addressing your student's unique academic needs. These type of one-size-fits-all learning approaches really have no way of understanding how your child will learn best. Instead, stick to supplementary materials that help you devise a course of action, but still require you to supply the bulk of the creativity.

Make unique educational plans

This might be the most exciting part about the homeschooling process. Once some great literature has helped you set up a general framework for your student's learning schedule you can decide how you want to adapt the actual content to best fit your child's interests.

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Too often you hear the complaints of students in traditional school lamenting the surplus of boring material in their schedules. Don't get me wrong, I know that some necessary learning isn't very fun (we all need to learn how to write an essay some time), but this is where the school system fails to help students toward a curriculum that will direct them to a career field that they will enjoy. Homeschooling allows you to actually interact with your students and decide what would be the best way for him or her to receive a thorough education that will prepare them for an occupational field that they will love.

This process begins early - as early as possible is actually best. First, you'll need to pay attention to how your child learns best. There are generally three major types of learning styles: kinesthetic (tactile), auditory, and visual. Identifying these different learning styles among your children will help you start to provide them with more effective educational material and accustom you to the way that you will be teaching them in the coming years.

If these teaching styles are enforced consistently throughout your home curriculum, then your students will naturally begin to employ them as they become more independent in their studies. Additionally, being in-tune with their preferred learning styles can help them develop a more acute understanding of what they want from a profession. It's definitely going to require that you are more involved in each child's learning at the beginning, but it'll be worth it to see how your attention helps them grow into an academic lifestyle that they can be excited about.

Understand what your goals are

Of course, you want your student to be under your educational care because you aren't willing to entrust him or her to a (notoriously aloof) public school. That's wonderful, but you do need to be able to justify your decision with an academic approach that the public system can't provide.

Too many times you hear adults saying "I never used that after I left school", and it's absolutely true. The school system covers the student body in an educational blanket that designates (roughly) equal time to each of the major subjects. But your experience as a parent and an adult tells you that not everything that you've learned in school requires, or even deserves, an equal amount of attention. Before you start teaching your students you need to prune your educational approach of the material that you don't think will be integral to their growth, but also include material that you think is neglected in public education.

Attribution: crdtox

This is why there is often religious motivation for homeschooling children. The school system (at leas public school) isn't allowed to endorse or thoroughly address religious material. However, religious education is regarded by many families as an imperative part of academics, so parents of these families choose to homeschool their children to ensure that they receive sufficient religions education. This is just one example, but as the designer of the curriculum you are allowed to emphasize whatever subjects you think will be most beneficial to your student in the long run. Maybe you think that verbal and oral communication are important; maybe you want your child to have a math and science intensive curriculum; maybe you think that knowledge of our world's history and anthropology are fields that can lead to a solid education. 

Obviously you won't be limited to a curriculum that only features ONE area of focus (and you absolutely shouldn't), but these examples are just to illustrate the questions that you have to ask yourself when it comes to what your student will learn. Remember, just keeping them out of public school isn't enough - you have to be able to support that decision with an academic alternative.

Relax

Exploring both the academic and physical space that your home provides is important if you intend on allowing your children to get the most out of what you've provided. This means that you should adhere to a schedule when necessary, but allow your students the opportunity to enjoy some "extracurricular" activities, so to speak. Activities like cooking, physical activity, and (of course) leisurely reading should all be encouraged if your student is going to develop his or her own unique educational personality. 

This is also an opportunity to reinforce each student's particular learning styles: you might direct the visual learner toward a good historical documentary, the auditory learner to a great audiobook, or the kinesthetic learner to a small construction project. Allow their curiosity to be the primary tool in navigating toward some new material, but use your discretion to direct them away from things that are simply distractions.

As long as their behavior allows it, let them find space where they are going to learn most efficiently. Something like a portable lap desk provides your kids with mobility so that they can continue to study in their favorite nook or cranny in your home. Don't ever forget that your home provides a comfortable and stimulating environment for children to go on their individual intellectual journeys. Seize every opportunity to make your house the background that liberates your children from a dull, rigid educational career.