Home Schooling Reflections

Coming to the end of our 8th year of home schooling causes me to look back with reflection. How are we doing, how have we done, and would I have done anything differently? These are the questions I ask myself.

I think we are doing fine. As a matter of fact I think we are doing great! But we are not the same as when we started. We have changed over the years. I think most home schoolers would agree.

It is the nature of home schooling.

If I were to do something differently I would have started from the beginning. Both of my girls went to public school for kindergarten and first grade. That is a precious time. A time that can be spend exploring nature, planting gardens, watching birds, visiting zoos and museums, visiting libraries and curling up with books, cooking with Mom, and doing craft projects. Do these things and you've got it covered. There's no need to have a strict schedule, sit at a desk all day and then have to come home with homework!

If I were to do something differently I would not have used a Charter School. Tracking every assignment and staying on schedule even when Egypt calls for more time than a week is not what home schooling is suppose to be about.

Home schooling is about learning at your own pace in your own way. If you start reading at 5 great, if you're not reading until you're 8 then that's okay too. If you can't write paragraphs in the 2nd grade who cares? And please don't sweat spelling; it really does come with time...with or without a spelling program.

If I were to do something differently I would not have done school at home.

Many of us start out doing "school at home". We make it the way we remember it to have been. That usually doesn't last long.

Now this is all fine and good, but I must remember not to be too hard on myself. I probably had to go through the steps I went through in order to get to where I am today.
I needed to see that public school was not right for our family and I needed the security blanket feeling of a charter school when I started home schooling. Life is about growing and growing is a process and we have to go through all the steps.

So why am I even writing this article? Well two reasons. Maybe you are thinking of home schooling, but not sure you can. Maybe reading about my experiences will give you the strength to skip some of the steps along the way. Or maybe you, like me wish you had done some things differently. I needed to remind you and myself that the path we took is the path we had to take and that it really is okay.

Author Info:

Linda Tyler a home schooling mom in San Diego, CA. Please visit my home schooling how to web site. How to get started, how to choose curriculum and how to save money.

http://www.home-education-works.com

Home Schooling Math - Why You Can Teach Math

Math is one subject that scares a lot of home schooling parents, especially as their children get older. Usually this is because the parents didn't do well in math when they were in school.

The main problem with math, is that math is a very "sequential" subject. The new material always depends heavily on what you were taught before. If you have a problem (i.e. if you miss a few things because of sickness, a bad teacher, or other problems in a particular school year), you have to go back and "fix" the problem, or you will have difficulty understanding things after that point.

If this happened to you, even only a few times during all the years you were in school, the chances of you having done well in math, are very low.

Many people have a problem at some point, in school. Then they end up trying to learn the previous material and the current material at the same time. Normally this means they learn it more poorly. They struggle a lot with it, and they don't learn the current material fully. Then the next material is difficult, too. Then they conclude they are poor at math.

In my family, when someone had a problem with math at school, they were helped at home until they got caught up. We all got very good at math, and this is why. It was also because of the effectiveness of one-on-one tutoring, just like when we are home schooling our children.

Also, having helped adults who were "supposedly poor" at math, I know that their ability is usually not the problem. They just were not taught every thing they needed, to do it well.

Just because you found math difficult at school, doesn't mean you can't teach math to your children. And if you are starting off with the lower grades, you probably know most of that math by now, anyway. Get good materials, and learn the few details you missed, as you go through it with your child (also, go over it the day before you teach it, and you should be fine).

And, check out our home school math teaching tips, on our site, listed below. Many of these tips are not even used in schools yet (to be fair to teachers, some of these tips would be more difficult to implement in a classroom environment, with lots of children in a big class, but home schoolers don't have that limitation).

Combine these tips with a good curriculum, lots of determination from you, lots of love, and getting the occasional outside help when you need it, and you will build a great math foundation in your child, that will serve them well, as they advance to more challenging math, and through out their adult life.

You may also want to read "If You Did Poorly in Math," on our site, listed below.

Author Info:

Jim McGinn has many more home schooling articles on his site, here:
http://www.homeschool-guide.com and make sure you sign up to receive his free home school tip each week by e-mail, here: http://www.homeschool-guide.com/hs-tips-request.php

Jim McGinn is a home schooling dad. He is the primary home schooling parent in his family, and has been home schooling formally for 7 years. Before that, he owned and ran a computer school for senior citizens, for over 10 years, where he learned a great deal about teaching from the most experienced people alive.

What You Can Uncover From Homeschool Curriculum Reviews

There are a wide variety of reasons why parents choose to homeschool. More and more children are being educated at home.

What is the reason for this increasing number of homeschool? It varies from family to family. But you'll find that there are usually three major reasons why parents make the decision to homeschool their children.

I've been reading lots of different homeschool curriculum reviews. What I found is that the biggest reason parents take their children out of public school is because the system is not giving their children a quality education.

The public education system of America is struggling to give our children an adequate education. Much of this struggling is a result of out-of-date textbooks, inferior equipment, and unfit buildings.

When parents decide to homeschool their children, they have hands-on control over what kind of education their children will get.

By reading homeschool curriculum reviews, I also learned the second reason why people choose to homeschool: They want to control the influences their children are exposed to.

This is often based on religious preference, though not always. But in any case, the homeschooling environment gives your child the best chance to learn values important to the family. Families are also able to decide to when their child is ready for certain information.

Public schools are known to not encourage good disciplinary measures. Because of this, kids know they can get away with a lot: Students are known to disrupt and sabotage classes, showing complete disregard for teachers and the learning of their peers.

Discipline is one of the most important components in a homeschool environment.

If you read homeschool curriculum reviews, you'll learn a third reason why parents teach their kids at home: Safety. Just watching the news or reading the paper illustrates that violence is a common problem in the school system.

This problem is not getting any better. Increasingly, the acts of violence are becoming more and more deadly. The Columbine High School shooting isn't an isolated case: There have been other firearm-related incidents around the nation.

Schooling your children at home gives them a safe learning environment, whereas at school they are at great risk for harm.

There were also some disadvantages I read about when going over homeschool curriculum reviews. Some of these disadvantages include how the state decides to get involved when you decide to educate your children at home.

There are some states that require all homeschooling parents to be certified teachers. They also require that the children learn using state-approved materials.

Sometimes parents are afraid that by homeschooling their children, they might block from them athletic and musical opportunities.

Socialization is one of the most commonly voiced fears. People are often afraid that children will lack social skills if they don't interact with peers.

There are obviously ways to work around these disadvantages. Still, you'll want to weigh the pros and cons that are revealed in homeschooling curriculum reviews, and especially learn what your state requires.

Author Info:

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