Is Online Homeschooling The Future of Homeschool?

Online homeschooling programs are great ways of making sure that you child is learning the necessities. One of the greatest reasons why parents choose to homeschool is due to the fact that the values that your child learns are directly learned from you.

It is also important to teach your child academically. Sometimes you may need a little bit of help doing this. Sometimes developing your own curriculum from scratch can be overwhelming and too time consuming. Online homeschooling programs can help you achieve this.

Online homeschooling programs offer well thought out and tested curriculum. This curriculum is not the same stuff taught in public schools. Even though some of the same subjects will be taught, such as Language Arts, Math, History, Geography, and Science, you can also get additional subjects from an online homeschooling program.

For example, if you want your child to learn about the Bible, you can find a program that incorporates Biblical applications to the lessons. You can also choose electives in online homeschooling programs. You can find college prep courses, or even a state's individual history class.

Online homeschooling programs provide a challenging course of study that your child needs to become a great thinker. That is one way in how they differ from regular public education. They also help a child use technology and develop skills that they will most likely need in the future.

Usually online homeschooling programs will provide you with a CD-ROM and the software training to make the educational experience wonderful. You can download all the software for the courses and make backups of your work. Most programs will also aid you in completing projects.

One great thing about online homeschooling is that you can adjust the lesson plan to meet the needs of your child. Or, you can find an online homeschooling program that works with your child's strengths and weaknesses. This is one of the great advantages of homeschooling.

Don't think that you have to do everything alone. There are some great companies that are providing online homeschooling programs that are beneficial to you and your children.

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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.

Flexible Home-Schooling Time

Some home-schooling models lend themselves better to flexible time than others. Traditional "school-at-home" is the worst, where the kids follow the same rigid structure and time periods that they do in traditional schools. Some children enjoy the predictability and structure I suppose, although I have yet to meet any of them. Please don't feel that you have to (or even should) follow that model. Even for kids in public schools doing independent learning programs, there should be nothing wrong with finishing up the day's assigned work in less than 5 hours. So much traditional schooling is busywork anyway and a hurry-up-and-wait mentality.

For every model except un-schooling, the below approach to a flexible home-school benefits both kids and working parent. Stop thinking in terms of 30 minutes for this, 45 minutes for that, 15 minutes for the other thing. If a child needs or wants to spend a longer time on a subject such as reading, then let them. Ask them oral questions if you want to test their comprehension, or have them tell you a story from the book. They should not have to write formal book reports on each book they read, talk about ruining the love of reading!

When it comes to math, if you have a child who is utterly bored at the concept then let them take 15 minutes a day. Why not? They turn off after 15 minutes anyway. This is one subject by the way that you should take time from work to help with. Short sharp bursts do the trick. I know that I am a math underachiever. I just don't get it. But by "helping" my son with his math in short bursts and distinct lessons, we both learned something!

And why do you have to teach the same subject every day? Unless you are in a lockstep charter school program, you don't!

Another way to do this is to change subject concentrations. For example, spend the first semester on reading classic children's books. The second semester, concentrate on ancient history. This works very well for kids who prefer to go more deeply into a subject, and you are still teaching them what they need to learn. You don't have to do it on such a lengthened schedule of course, but can do language arts three days a week and history or art or science two days a week. Whatever works best for your child and you - whatever is the most flexible - is what you should choose.

Another way to be flexible is to remember that you don't necessarily have to standing over them all the time, especially if your kids are older. If you are homeschooling your 7 year old and 9 year old and you're working full-time from home, that can be a challenge. Consider letting the 9 year old "play teacher" - she might surprise you! And remember too that sending your kids into the backyard to look for certain plants or bugs (gulp!) isn't a cop out, it's a science lesson.

If your kids are older and/or capable of teaching themselves then this will also make your full-time working life much easier. For example, my middle-school-aged son and I sit side by side on the couch with our computer keyboards on our lap. Any time he needs help I just need to glance at his computer screen or at the book he is reading and help him. We do this in our living room because we frankly prefer the room's size and light to the upstairs office. Oh well. It works for us! It will work for you too.

Author Info:

If you liked this article and want more information on how to work from home and home-school, then visit http://workfromhomeandhomeschool.com and get my free report "Saving Time and Money for Work-at-Home Parents."

Help! How Can I Convince My Husband to Let Me Home School the Kids?

I always knew I wanted to home school our children. When I was in high school, I babysat for a home schooling family, and they had such exciting projects going on. Later, when I was student teaching in university, I discovered a more important reason to home school. It simply wasn't possible to meet every child's needs in a classroom setting.

My husband, however, took some convincing. He hadn't had any exposure to home schooling families, and thought teaching our two kids at home would put too much responsibility on me.

We ended up putting our eldest child in a public school, but three years later, he was so unhappy, we were ready to try anything. We took him and his younger sister out of public school and tried schooling at home instead. It's made such a positive difference in our lives, we plan to educate both our children at home all the way through high school.

After home schooling for five years, my husband has become one of the strongest advocates for home education I know. In fact, when I feel frustrated and suggest that we consider public school again, he completely shuts me down. He sees what a difference this way of life has made in the lives of our children and our family.

Now, none of this is to say that I believe public education is not as good as home schooling. Teaching your children at home is not the answer for everyone. However, home schooling is the right choice for my family.

If you believe home schooling is the right choice for your family too, but your husband doesn't agree, there is no magic pill that can make him change his mind. I do, though, have some suggestions that may help.

1. Pray. One of my favorite Christian authors, Stormie Omartian, says in her book, Power of a Praying Wife, that before talking to your husband about anything, you should talk to God about your husband.

If you believe that God wants you to home school, spend time with God and ask Him to reveal that to your husband as well.

2. Get involved in your child's school right now. I had always been involved in our children's education, but when our son's problems became more serious, I volunteered in his classroom every week. I got along well with his teacher, and she was concerned about him too, so this arrangement worked very well.

I was able to see the classroom environment first-hand, and see how my son's behavior compared to the other students. Because I was in the classroom so frequently, I was able to explain to my husband what was happening, and where the problems lay. This helped him understand my desire to home school our children, and why I believed our son would do better in a home environment.

Volunteering in a classroom isn't always possible, but if you can, I recommend it. If you're thinking of home schooling, watching how your child functions in a classroom can help prepare you for what's ahead. And, if you're ultimately not able to educate your children at home, you're building important relationships with your children's teachers and showing your children how much you value their education.

3. Explain to your husband why you want to home school. Does your husband know why you want to home school? Or does he think your desire is a passing whim? Present your reasons and try to explain what's on your mind.

This is where I found volunteering in my son's classroom so helpful. I could explain to my husband what I observed in the classroom, and how home schooling could make a difference in our son's learning.

4. Explore other educational options. No matter how much you want to home school, it's important to remember that this approach to education is not for everyone. I've met several moms who insisted on home schooling their children, and a year later, realized it was the wrong choice for their family.

Home schooling is hard. Being unhappy with your current schooling arrangement is not a good enough reason to home school. Explore your other options as well before deciding home schooling is the only alternative that will work for you.

Consider private schools, online schools, or maybe even an after school tutoring program. If your husband doesn't agree to home school, perhaps he'll be more open to one of these options.

5. Find current research about home schooling. Gather facts about home schooling to show your husband. Not to shove in his face and prove your point, but so you can be prepared when he does ask questions.

Find out how local home schooled students perform on standardized tests; learn if they're admitted to your city's university (usually they are); look for groups you can join to meet other home schooling families, and for your children to make home schooled friends. Then, when your husband does ask questions about home schooling, you'll have all the answers you need at hand.

None of these suggestions will guarantee your husband will change his mind about home schooling. But they will help you communicate with your husband about both your desires for your children's education, and help you make educational choices that will work for your entire family.

Author Info:

Would you like to learn more about homeschooling? Visit http://www.WAHM-Articles.com to read articles written by real homeschooling parents about their own home school experiences.

K12 Virtual Education - Parent Teachers And "Fear" In The Teaching And Learning Process

Consider this:

"Free Children are not easily influenced; the absence of fear is the finest thing that can happen to a child."

A.S. Neill, (1992) Summerhill School, A New View Of Childhood, Penguin Books.

We are all afraid of something. Whether it is the dark, small spaces, falling in our dreams or the neighbor's dog! When faced with these our bodies can react to the perceived fear of the situation.

Authority or perceived authority is sometimes a huge fear provoker. Who remembers the fear of facing a teacher without the homework finished? Or the fear of a parent finding out you had not done so well in French as they might have expected. Inadvertently we bring this fear with us into adulthood. As adults we become the feared and oddly enough we almost feel "entitled" to repeat the process without thinking. We fail to think of the repercussions this type of "authority" had on us as people.

In the world of teaching and learning it is common to perceive the "teacher" as a position of authority. Parent - teacher meetings can often leave some parents in a bit of a tizzy. When teaching in the home this can tend to back fire - a lot! In one instant you are mum or dad and the next you are the teacher. Your past experience of both these roles will dictate the way you view your own role of authority in your child's life.

Fear is a part of life. The trick is to not let it drive us in the decisions we make. Especially decisions we make for those we love very much! Here are a few things you may want to avoid doing.

What to Avoid:

Avoid making fear-based choices in education for your student - this leaves you as a parent/teacher in a very vulnerable place. Teaching a program without being 100% that it is the best fit for your student leaves room for doubt by both parties! Fear of the alternatives should not be the only thing that drives your home program. Fear cannot sustain a balanced educational program.

Avoid making your students responsive to fear only. It may be very difficult to ignite intrinsic motivation if they are only triggered to participate through fear.

Avoid living with the fear that your student's natural intuition will uncover your weakness. It is often very powerful to share with our students that which we find difficult. This gives our learners an opportunity to offer their help and ideas. It also brings them closer to understanding we are all human.

Do not fear to be human. Your child's perception of your authority will not change if you show natural human frailty. This doesn't mean you have them running all over the place like wild animals.

Avoid letting the opinions of others affect your ability to prepare and teach your students in the way you believe best fits their needs. Our fear of what others think can interrupt the natural flow of creative ideas we may have. Opinions of onlookers are just that. As parents and 24hour caregivers we must own confidently decisions we make for our children.

Having said all that here are a few things you might consider doing to be sure you are staying conscious about where fear may be lurking in your program.

What to do!

As Arthur Costa shares in "Habits of Mind" (2000), it is important to share with your child the importance of persistence, thinking flexibly, managing impulsive behavior, using humor, listening and understanding with empathy, thinking, questioning, applying past knowledge to new situations and remaining open to continuous learning. Moving away from decisions made of fear, towards thinking solutions can ignite a lot of creativity and intrinsic motivation in your student.

Let your child know that he or she is loved and accepted. Behavior comes and goes. The true spirit of your child is a constant!

Celebrate all that makes your child unique. After a public outburst of truth from my rather vocal 4 year old a passerby quietly shared with me - "What appears to be obnoxious at 4 is rather attractive at 24!"

Choose a program where you believe you and your student can be at your best. Choosing a program out of fear of the alternatives can leave both you and your student feeling frustrated and lonely.

Always be open to continuous learning. Our students/children are changing everyday. A huge advantage of teaching at home is we are able to understand and make room for these changes. Our teaching can be most effective when it grows with the needs of the child.

Throw caution to the wind and fear out the window! There is less to be fearful of when we learn and grow together.

Author Info:

Margit Barreras

2Think2Learn.com

Let us help you discover the "magic bullet" that engages your student in learning. 2Think2Learn.com offers many helpful tools for parents who teach in the home. Our "Guest Virtual Classroom" contains lots of ideas that you can integrate into your home program. Come see us for interactive and innovative alternatives in teaching and learning!

Are Homeschool Textbooks Really the Best Option?

While homeschool textbooks may appear to be the best way to go, they are usually the most expensive and least flexible routes.

If you have homeschooled your children before, you know that you have immense resources available at your local library.

Not only can you have access to free books, you can usually also use the library's videos, CD's, audiotapes, and sometimes even software to help supplement your homeschooling experience.

If you are looking for other free education materials, there are great resources out there that go beyond the "boring" homeschool textbooks.

It is not that difficult to build a year's worth of social study's curriculum around quality television programs, such as: The History Channel, Discovery Channel, and A&E Network.

Some of the shows may not be appropriate to show youngsters, but many of them are quality educational material, especially shows that are part of the A&E Classroom, A&E Biography, and Assignment.

You can simply check the websites for these networks and/or series, and surprisingly, they offer free teacher guides and schedules for upcoming shows.

When you incorporate these shows into the historical literature you are reading, it is easy to create a quality education with no expense.

Plus, children find that this type of learning is exciting and interesting, compared to homeschool textbooks that can be dry.

The Internet is also another resource where you can find free educational materials or sites. It is important that you use discretion and make sure that these sites are indeed child-friendly.

You can even run Google searches together with your child on various topics of study, such as science, math, history, and literature.

You can often find sites that have interactive problem-solving games to help develop specific math concepts.

Instead of just using math homeschool textbooks, I decided to complement my son's math education with some of these games. That way, we didn't have to use a textbook everyday. Using the computer is usually fun for children and can be considered a reward for working hard earlier in the week.

In addition to resources at the library, on TV, or on the web, you can also find free samples of worksheets, workbook pages, and puzzles from educational sites before you decide to make any purchases.

You can visit these educational sites and download free material. You will want to try them out before you give them to your child, or before you purchase an entire workbook.

Before you make any kind of investment in homeschool textbooks, you want to make sure the participating company has some kind of guarantee.

If you are like most homeschooling families, you are living off of one income and have a few children that have different learning styles. That is why I like to try to find as much quality material I can for the least amount of money.

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Making the Most of a Homeschool Convention

The homeschool convention is almost here! Are you ready?

Whether it is your first convention or your fifteenth, the annual homeschool convention can be an overwhelming event. With dozens of workshops, over 100 vendors, and thousands of new and used books, it can be a challenge to know what to do first. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your convention experience.

Before the Convention

Register

In order to maximize your time and money, start planning well before the day of the convention. Pre-registering online is amazingly convenient, and it will save valuable time when you arrive at convention. Members of the sponsoring organization often receive a generous discount on full registration, and pre-registering by the early-bird deadline can save even more. That is extra money to spend on something that will make your homeschooling easier!

Plan

First, know why you are going to convention. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to:

• Find out about homeschooling in general?

• Learn techniques for teaching toddlers or teens?

• Gain encouragement for educating your special-needs child?

• Get a hands-on preview of new curriculum?

• Stretch your dollars by buying used curriculum?

• Hear encouraging truths from veteran homeschoolers?

• Make a few dollars by selling your used books?

• Give back to your homeschool organization by volunteering for a few hours?

• Save shipping costs by purchasing your textbooks?

• Attend an inspiring graduation ceremony?

You can do all this and more at the convention if you plan your time wisely! If you spend time thinking through your goals for the coming year, and deciding what you need from the convention before you go, you are well on your way to making the most of this exciting weekend.

Make Your Lists

The sponsoring organization maintains a list of workshops and vendors on its website, and the preliminary workshop descriptions are usually included in the latest issue of the newsletter. Use these resources to plan your time at the convention. As you study the workshop schedule, you will begin to see workshops that you absolutely want to attend. Check them off on the preliminary program, and begin to prioritize.

Inevitably, there will be more than one workshop per session that you would like to attend. This is not a problem! Virtually all the workshops are recorded, and you may purchase tapes or CDs at convention and listen at your convenience later. This way, if you decide to spend all your time in the curriculum hall or the used book sale, you will not miss out on all the encouraging and informative workshops that are scheduled.

Plan for Children and Teens

While convention weekend is a wonderful opportunity for some special "couple time," the convention is family-friendly if you prefer to bring everyone. A glance at the program will reveal many workshops that are of special interest to teens. These teen-track workshops may include topics such as "Technology and Computers," "Creation vs. Evolution," "College Options," and many more.

Children ages 5-12 may have the opportunity to enroll in a special children's program, where they can enjoy skits, songs, stories, and crafts focused on the development of good character qualities. The children's program usually runs for the entire convention, except for meals, for which your children may join you to talk about all the things they've learned.

Read Ahead

If you are new to homeschooling, or are entering a new phase of home education, such as high school, you may want to do some reading before you arrive at the convention. You may wish to order books such as The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell, For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macauley, or 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy. There are many other wonderful resources available, and whatever you read will help you prepare for the convention, as well as for the coming school year. Ask a veteran homeschooler for her recommendations, and she'll probably be happy to share some of her favorites.

Make a List

If you write your shopping list on a business size or 7x9" envelope, you will be able to place all your receipts in the envelope as you make purchases. You can jot notes about what you see on the back of the envelope, and keep a running total of what you spend on the inside of the flap. Just be careful not to lose your envelope!

At the Convention

When you arrive at the convention, you'll receive a program booklet and a bag of literature from vendors. The program will contain a map of the convention hall, speaker and graduate profiles, listing of vendors, and a final schedule of workshops. It pays to sit down for a few minutes to get acquainted with this valuable resource. First, check the workshops you want to attend and verify the time and location. Second, locate the bathrooms, concession stands, bag drops, and other conveniences, and locate the booths of vendors or speakers you particularly wish to visit. Now you are ready to plan your day!

As a point of courtesy, if you spend a lot of time with an author or vendor who patiently answers your questions, please remember that it would be very rude to go across the aisle to save a couple of dollars on the same curriculum from a vendor who has not given so generously of his or her time. Most authors and vendors are at the convention, not only because they truly want to help other homeschooling families, but also because they need to make a living.

If This Is Your First Convention

If this is your first convention and you are able to come more than one day (I highly recommend coming for the whole time, if at all possible), don't buy anything until the last few hours you are there. Use your first day, or first few hours, to attend the introductory workshop sessions offered for new homeschoolers, then browse the curriculum hall, picking up catalogs and brochures. If you know you have a bag full of information, and will be able to order anything you see later, after you have had time to make a careful decision, you will not feel pressured to decide too quickly on anything you see.

Take all the literature you have gathered back to your hotel, or out to lunch if you are there for only a day, and look through it. Focus on things that fit your needs now - elementary curriculum if you have young children, high school curriculum if you have teens. Get acquainted with some of the things that are available, so that when you return to the curriculum hall, you can go directly to the items that seem most interesting or useful to you. Write down questions you would like to ask different vendors, and do not forget that the homeschool organization probably has a table is staffed with veteran homeschoolers who would be happy to answer questions for you. Remember that you do not have to make any quick decisions, but that you may order virtually anything, including workshop tapes, after the convention.

If You Are A Veteran Homeschooler

If you have been homeschooling for years, but have not been to the convention in a while, prepare to be astonished and delighted by the amazing array of high-quality curriculum options that are available. You will find many resources for the high-school years, as well as a great deal of information on helping your student make the transition to college, the military, or a career. There are encouraging new books and resources, as well as workshops and vendors that can answer many of the questions you may have as your students grow older.

Veteran homeschoolers are probably also aware of the many opportunities available for volunteer service at the convention. The convention takes place only with the help of the many volunteers - both new and veteran homeschoolers - who donate a bit of their time to make it happen. You may choose to help in the exhibit hall, graduation, security, hospitality, registration, publicity, used curriculum sale, or as an office volunteer or speaker host. As a special thank-you, volunteers often receive special privileges such as first admission to the used curriculum shopping area, or a free workshop recording.

After the Convention

When you reach home after the convention, you will have much to digest. Make time to read the books and catalogs you bring home, and listen to the workshop tapes you have purchased. As you put all you have learned into practice, you will be thankful you took time to learn more about home education. Your new knowledge will help you experience joy in the journey!

Author Info:

Janice Campbell, author of Get a Jump Start on College! A Practical Guide for Teens, Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork, and the forthcoming Excellence in Literature series, has been writing and speaking in central Virginia since the late 1980's. She homeschooled her four sons from kindergarten into college, using the principles she now shares in her books, blog (http://www.Janice-Campbell.com), workshops, and her free e-newsletter. Sign up for it today at http://www.Everyday-Education.com