Using Home Schooling to Teach Children Responsibility

Teaching children responsibility is the goal of education whether it takes place in a regular school setting or through home schooling. Many parents feel that the regular school can do this much better than they can, but this is not so. Parents are the child's first and most important teachers and it is through the parents that children learn the quality of responsibility. This means that all parents are responsible for providing this education for their children.

In order to teach responsibility to their children, there are certain things that parents must do. These include:

- create an environment where responsibility is an expectation

- become role models for the children in the area of responsibility

- teach children to be responsible for their own actions at an early age

- let the children know that responsibility is the norm

- reinforce any responsible behaviors with praise rather than rewards

- provide consequences for irresponsible behavior to deter any future episodes

How can parents create an environment where children know they are expected to be responsible? In a home schooling situation, the parents demonstrate responsibility by making sure they pay attention to the children's needs in education and have times when children are expected to complete their schoolwork as well as their regular chores around the house. They should provide the children with time when they can work on their own and times where they can help the other children of the family.

Parents that admit when they make a mistake and take steps to correct it show their children that they are willing to take responsibility for their actions. They should not try to hide their faults from the children and if there is something that they cannot do or do well, they should say so and find another person that can help the children.

Even as toddlers, children should learn right from wrong. They should have rules set and know that when they break these rules, there will be consequences. Toddlers can learn to put away their toys when they are finished playing with them. Children can learn to speak politely at home and to ask for help when they need it. Teenagers usually have an allowance that they can spend as they wish. They will learn quickly that if they waste it or spend it all at the same time, they will have to do without until the time of the next allowance.

By breaking large expectations of responsibility into small manageable chunks, children can comprehend the concept better. Instead of assigning a large chunk of material to be completed by a certain date, parents can divide the material in manageable sections with a date of completion for each section. Then as the child gets older, the sections can become larger.

Every time a child shows responsibility, the parent should recognize it with praise. Praise is it s own reward by making the child feel good about himself/herself. When you provide rewards for showing responsibility, the child may get the idea that he/she should be paid to act in this way and may not do so when there is no tangible reward presented.

Author Info:

For more on teaching children responsibility, home schooling as well as home school lesson plans visit http://www.HSIdea.com

Write A Source Paper - Is Your Teen Ready?

College instructors expect students to develop informed opinions about important issues in their disciplines. To assess student progress, colleges require students to write source papers, that is, papers that draw on other people's reasoning and evidence.

Instructors may require students to use a combination of published sources (like books and databases) and unpublished sources, such as the student's own experience or an interview the student conducted, as evidence for their opinions.

Most college libraries offer classes in research skills to help students to use the library's resources to find published evidence for assignments. However, it's not the librarian's job to find Caitlin a topic for her sociology paper or tell Josh how to limit his biology paper to manageable size. Those are writing skills they should know before they get to college.

If you want to your youngsters succeed in college, make sure they have mastered the process of planning a persuasive paper before they hit campus. Specifically, they need to know how to

• Develop a thesis statement that expresses an opinion on a topic.
• Write supporting points for the thesis that are reasons for believing the thesis to be true.
• Systematically identify evidence they already have for each supporting point.
• Identify key words to use in searching for evidence they do not already have.
• Summarize in a sentence the main idea of a chapter, article, TV program, etc.
• Record enough information about a source that they can easily find it again.

These are skills students can learn in middle school and practice all through high school. They are equally appropriate for "paragraph essays" and for 10-page research papers.

Knowing just these few writing skills will enable students to develop the research skills necessary to write source papers for their classes.

Author Info:

Linda Aragoni is a writer, writing teacher, and editor of You-Can-Teach-Writing.com, the guide to enabling students grades 7-12 to become competent writers. Get a free copy of all five articles in the series "Is Your Teen Ready for College Writing? just by signing up for Linda's free monthly ezine by Aug. 1, 2008. Details at http://www.you-can-teach-writing.com/ezine.html

Copyright 2008, Linda Gorton Aragoni. You may reprint this article provided the whole text, the author's name, the links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

Texas Homeschooling - What You Need To Know

If you are trying to set up Texas homeschooling, there are some things that you should know about. Even though Texas is considered to be one of the most lenient states for homeschools, you should become familiar with some of the standards that are expected.

Even though it is not legally required of you to contact the school district, it is very likely that you will be visited by an attendance officer. To prevent this, you can simply write a letter to the principle of the school that your child was attending stating that you are withdrawing him/her. It is best to send the letter through certified mail so that you can receive proof of delivery.

With Texas homeschooling, all you need to do is obtain a curriculum and get started. I think it is wise, however, to find local support groups to help you get started. If the school contacts you and says that you need to do more, all you need to do is go to the central office and fill out a form.

In order for you to have a legitimate Texas homeschool, you must have a curriculum that incorporates reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and a study of good citizenship. This curriculum can be obtained from any source and can include books, workbooks, other written materials, and electronics.

One of the great advantages of Texas homeschooling is the fact that you don't have to have your curriculum approved. Homeschools in Texas are considered private schools and are not regulated by the state.

If you are developing your curriculum and you aren't so sure about what a "study of good citizenship" is, it is basically the study of civics. If you teach your children U.S. and Texas history, government, the pledge of allegiance, and other similar activities, you will easily meet this requirement.

Texas homeschooling abides by private school attendance laws. In public school children must attend 170 days out of the 180 days per year. Because homeschools are considered to be private entities, they do not need to meet any attendance requirement. The state of Texas doesn't regulate the number of days of hours of private schools.

Even if your child attends school at home, he/she still has the opportunity to participate in public school classes and extracurricular activities. However, due to attendance rules, your child will not be able to participate in competitions or contests.

Texas homeschooling parents also don't have to worry about standardized testing.

Author Info:

Discover How to Raise Your Child to Be a True Leader with Our Classical Christian-based Leadership Program. Great for Homeschoolers and Other Parents Who Want to Make Sure their Child Gets the Best Leadership Training Possible.

Homeschooling - How Does it Work?

If you've ever thought about homeschooling or just wondered what people do that homeschool, here is a basic outline.

1. Parents decide to homeschool their child or children. They use their own resources or purchase books that they want to use to educate their child. Some states have online programs that can be used at home. When you use an online school you are still enrolled in your local school. You just do your work online at home. Parents who don't use an online programs are free to choose the books and resources they think they will need. Students can also have input here on what courses of study they want to pursue.

2. All students must meet the state guidelines. Depending on what state you live in, your guidelines will be different. Some states just require you to take attendance. Some require a letter declaring you will provide 900 hours of instruction and a list of what you intend on teaching. And some states require even more than that. Some states require testing at the end of the school year and some just require an assessment by a certified teacher. Again, it depends on what state you live in and what they require for homeschoolers.

3. Education is now the responsibility of the parents. Just as some public school teachers do a better job than others, some parents do a better job of homeschooling than others. Most parents know their children very well and can do a very good job of helping their children learn.

4. Different learning styles and personalities can now be addressed on a more personal level. Public school classrooms tend to have to cater to the masses, while homeschooling can be more of a tutoring environment. Just as no 2 public school classrooms will be the same, no 2 homeschools will look the same. The personalities of the students and parents will determine what is taught and how it is taught.

Overall, homeschooling can be a very positive experience for both parent and child. The relationship is the most important factor in determining how positive an experience it can be.

Author Info:

For more tips on homeschooling, grab your free report "How to Homeschool using the Best Resources" at http://www.homeschool-how-to.com Heidi Johnson specializes in helping families find resources to simplify and improve their lives.