Social skills is an area of deep concern when it comes to
homeschooling. Many critics point out that since man needs to hone
his social skills, a homeschooling environment where social
interaction is limited is detrimental to his growth and
development. But studies have proved this wrong.

Children put into the fiercely competitive school environments
lack the confidence to hold a conversation. Such children show
little genuine interest in the topic of conversation and don’t
know how to interact with people of various age groups,
especially their elders.

Children who learn at home are more aware of the implications and
the purpose of their learning. They will ask intelligent questions
and make accurate observations. Children begin their life by
imitating their parents. Homeschooled children therefore pick
up the sterling qualities they see in their parents. On the other
hand, they are protected from the detrimental influences of their
peers.

These children are thus better equipped with the tools necessary
to face the world. The positive reinforcement that takes place
in the homeschooling environment as opposed to being abandoned,
embarrassed or ignored in a normal school environment strengthens
their self-esteem. Children turn out to be better balanced and
well-rounded as they progress into adulthood.

Tags: Accurate Observations, Adulthood, Age Groups, Confidence, Elders, Genuine Interest, Growth And Development, Homeschooled Children, Homeschooling, Intelligent Questions, Parents, Peers, People, Positive Reinforcement, School Environment, School Environments, Self Esteem, Social Concerns, Social Interaction, Sterling Qualities

When the child stays at home all day, and mommy is the teacher,
there are certain issues of discipline at stake. It is easy for he
child to misconstrue the freedom he has at home and feel that
homeschooling is just a long summer holiday. This is a potential
landmine and children need to be disciplined right at the start.

Homeschooling gives you and your child a truly immense amount of
flexibility. You and your child decide where to learn, how much to
learn and when to learn. But,these should be decisions made at
the beginning stages. If your child is too little to take an
active part in the decision, chart out a few hours of the day for
the various activities, and stick to it. When there is no outside
agency to supervise and no exams to answer, it is easy to get
sidetracked. If your child is old enough, consult him and find out
when he wants to learn. Apply your parental discretion and come up
with a timetable.

Homework is also a part of homeschooling. What this means is that
once lessons have been taught, the child should be asked to do
some part of the course work by himself without your guidance. You
will need to make sure that your child sits willingly and finishes
his work.

Courtesy, manners and punctuality are some of the various facets
of discipline that a child has to imbibe in the early years of his
life. The school where he interacts with his peers, his seniors
and juniors and his teachers mould these values quite
automatically. At homeschool, the child should be taught the
importance of speaking and behaving in a proper manner and
appropriate corrections need to be meted out if behavior is
unsatisfactory.

It is advisable to keep aside a particular room or a part of the
room for your homeschool. The child should be expected to reach
his desk at the appointed time, in proper attire with all the
necessary material. It is easy to allow the school to become an
extension of play if these ground rules are not laid out and
followed. As the teacher, supervisor, principal and janitor rolled
into one, you should also approach the study area with a cool
professionalism.

Homeschooling is doomed to fail without patience. In spite of all
the precautions and steps one takes, it is easy for a child to get
familiar’ at homeschool. At such times, it may be difficult to
discipline the child and get him to listen to you attentively.
When this happens, switch to something new. Allow the child to
take a breather and enjoy a break yourself.

Homeschooling is not easy. It requires a lot of hard work and
patience. The very informality of the whole procedure sometimes
works against it by making it too easy. If you take steps to
establish rules at the very beginning and adhere to these rules,
your homeschooling experience will be a huge success.

Tags: Appointed Time, Decision Chart, Discipline, Facets, Homeschooling, Homework, Landmine, Manners, Mommy, Necessary Material, Parental Discretion, Peers, Proper Attire, Proper Manner, Punctuality, Seniors And Juniors, Stake, Summer Holiday, Timetable, What This Means

It’s not all hunky-dory and smooth sailing on the homeschooling
front. Like all things in life, there is a downside that has to be
seriously considered when you explore the homeschooling option.
Though one man’s bane may be another man’s boon, there are certain
common reasons for concern.

The responsibility of teaching your child rests solely on you. You
cannot blame anyone else if your child is seen wanting in the
skills that his peers excel in. If your child cannot do the things
that are expected from other children of his age group, it
reflects badly on you as an educator as well as a parent.

A critical part of homeschooling is the time that you have to
spend with your children. You may have to give up your friends,
shopping and other entertainment and dedicate all these to your
child. This can become frustrating at times. You have to learn to
take the aggravation with equanimity and wait for the rewards with
patience and enthusiasm.

A parent who is dedicated to tutor his or her child single
handedly does not realistically have much time left over for a
career. This means that the family is robbed of an additional
source of income. In turn, this may lead to stress over finances.
You will have to train yourself to live on a strictly controlled
budget. While this is a matter of habit, it does need some getting
used to.

You cannot take a break when you feel like it. Feelings of guilt
will assail you if you neglect studies just because you are
feeling blue. You also fear that the child will take advantage of
the situation. Even when you have given homework, you have to be
around to give a helping hand. This means that anytime your child
is around you, you are on duty! For some, this may mean working
every waking hour. The child studying at home also needs to get
out more. This comes from staying at home all the time.
Interaction with adults and other children needs to be given
special attention.

Children tutored at home cannot develop in the various directions
that are open to children attending public schools. To achieve
that kind of exposure, you either have to be a super-parent
skilled in everything, or enroll your child to various activities.
This may not only prove too costly, but also be
counter-productive.

It is sometimes observed that homeschooled children do not do as
well in SAT tests as their school-going counterparts. Without a
diploma or a GED, some students find it difficult to get into the
military.

Lastly, if you envision enrolling your child to a public school,
there may be a certain period of emotional as well as social
adjustment. A child who is used to being at home for the whole day
and enjoying so much of uncontained freedom may have to undergo
some distressing emotional upheavals before he or she gets used to
the rigors of a regular school life.

Tags: Age Group, Aggravation, Attention Children, Bane, Boon, Darker Side, Downside, Educator, Equanimity, Feelings Of Guilt, Habit, Helping Hand, Homeschooling Option, Neglect, Patience, Peers, Smooth Sailing, Staying At Home, Studying At Home, Time Interaction

Grading in homeschooling is done by the teacher-in-charge. In most
of the cases, this means mom! In this situation, grading can get a
bit tricky because it can be a little difficult to grade your own
child. There is no benchmark against which you can evaluate your
child’s performance. In most cases, you also have no awareness of
how well other children are doing. So, obviously the traditional
method of grading is perhaps not the best method to follow.

When grading a child undergoing homeschooling, it is more
important to assess whether the child has understood the subject
that is being taught. Inherent in this is the fact that if the
child has not understood something, you will go over it again.
This will work in your child’s favor in 2 ways. Firstly, the child
knows that if he or she fails to catch on, the topic will be
repeated till it is mastered. Secondly, the child also knows that
once the topic has been mastered, he or she will get full credit
for his hard work. Getting full reward for the hard work put in is
a great motivational factor, especially for kids.

When assessing your child’s abilities, do not allow emotions to
overcrowd your rationale. Do not yield to the cries and tears of
your child if he or she resists certain topics or subjects. If
mastering these skills is necessary, then you as the teacher (and
not as the parent alone) have to go over the topic over and over
till it sinks in. When dealing with tougher concepts, the child
may get restless and may even show frustration or belligerence.
When the child is still young and unable to understand the
importance of his lessons, it is your responsibility to see to it
that the child develops the skill set necessary for future growth.

In case you belong to a state that requires yearly tests, this
will help you to judge your child’s ability vis–vis his peers.
Even if it is not mandatory, you may want to test your child every
year. These tests will reveal the variations in the child’s
learning pattern. It may show up unexpected areas of strength and
hitherto unknown areas of weakness. This enables you to structure
your teaching to cover the areas that are weak, and build upon the
areas that are strong.

In case your state requires a homeschool report card, keep a
record of the yearly development and scores of your child. Include
pertinent areas like punctuality, discipline etc in the report.
You may also need to keep a record of the number of working days
and attendance schedules.

While grading your child, make sure that you use as many external
tests as possible. There are several websites that deal with the
various age groups, and allow free downloading of question papers.
This is an excellent and cost-effective method to assess your
child. Homeschooling, if done in the proper manner, will boost the
child’s confidence because he will be studying to satisfy his
natural curiosity. The scores therefore will reflect his true
intelligence.

Tags: 2 Ways, Belligerence, Benchmark, Emotions, Frustration, Homeschooling, Mom, Motivational Factor, Peers, Rationale, Sinks, Variations

When we consign our children to public schools, we feel satisfied
that they are receiving ‘quality education’. But, are we really
getting our money’s worth? More importantly, are the children
gaining anything from this kind of a learning procedure?

Socialization is hailed as one of the greatest advantage of
schools. This is the place where the child picks up the rudiments
of social skills that help him survive. But in truth, a regular
school-going child can interact only with his peers. He may bully
younger children or fear older ones. He does not know how to
behave with an adult. This is because in the school environment
he interacts only with his peers. A homeschooling environment
brings in a more natural social environment.

A regular school going child cannot read literature. He cannot
keep silent or think in depth about any one thing. The artificial
‘busy’ness imposed upon him by the school disallows quiet
contemplation. Rowdy and destructive behavior, as seen among
peers, is more noticeable in school-goers.

There is little long-standing knowledge among regular school goers
because most things are learnt for the exam. There is no
correlation of facts with life. The child may know a lot, but
understands very little. This is where the homeschoolers beat the
regular school goers. Ultimately, homeschoolers emerge more adept
at facing the outside world.

Tags: Adult, Advantage, Correlation, Destructive Behavior, Goers, Homeschoolers, Homeschooling, Literature, Money, Peers, Public Schooling, Quality Education, Quiet Contemplation, Rudiments, School Environment, Social Environment, Socialization, Truth