We have ventured into the 8th yr of homeschooling this May 2010! Homeschooling has become a popular choice of alternative education these days, that it is not longer a rarity as we had originally felt when we started 8yrs ago. We have evolved over the years into an eclectic mix of 'Unschooling-Child led-Outsourced-Self-Coop-EarlyCollege-Learning' family. Though I can confidently say that we have found something that works for our family /children over the years by trial and error, we are quite aware that there will be changes in our kids' learning paths that will be happening all through the year! Being open minded about such changes, and embracing it as and when it came about has helped us in being successful homeschoolers.
We have also involved our children in the decision making process of how and what they have want to learn, which has given them the responsibility for their own learning. Both kids have been successfully taking college classes for the past few years as high school students, and life lately for us -parents has become more of driving the kids around to places for their learning.
Our present challenge is to keep the kids satisfied with learning and enrichment activities at home as much as possible and delaying their entry into college full time anytime soon. That said, my 11 year daughter is looking into an early full time college in a couple of years as she feels she is ready for the same. Plus, I am running out of options to keep her at home, challenged and happy. My new 10yr old son will probably find some interesting things to do while being enrolled part time in community college for next few years.
We are looking into a lot of travels, time with extended families, sabbatical abroad, music programs, volunteer activities abroad, art exploration, nature activities, and plenty of science and math research for the next few years to keep our children engaged and happy.
There are plenty of online communities, e-lists, forums, homeschool groups and the like to help with concerns, questions or just a place to share your thoughts as a newbie homeschooler. I have listed several such forums in the links below.
To get a better idea about our homeschool journey, read ABOUT US and PG and Homeschooling. Though we homeschool two profoundly gifted children, this blog and its resources are useful and adaptable to any homeschooling family with children avidly interested in learning. If you have a gifted child and have decided to homeschool, take a deep breath, fasten your seat belts, and just enjoy the ride.
Few Thoughts:
- Take it slow initially, and be willing to make changes.
- If your child has been in school before you began homeschooling, do give him or her time to deschool, so he/she can recharge his/her learning interests.
- If thinking of a homeschooling trial experience, then try it during summer.
- Remember that homeschooling is just like any other educational choice. So you can always scratch the idea if it did not work out for you.
- The above said, do give yourself 'enough' time to see if it can be made successful.
- Learn to identify your child's learning styles. Bear in mind that kids learn differently and even amongst siblings. See some resources here on learning styles.
- Remember that homeschooling offers you a wonderful opportunity to think outside the box and encourage your children to think and learn outside the box. Help them embrace their creative spirit.
- Do not try to fit in your homeschooling as how the others are doing. Try to find something that works for your child and family. That is the beauty of homeschooling. You can fit things as per your child's need, instead of fitting the child to something that is generally followed by rest of the world.
- And remember, just because something worked today or this week, it does not mean it will work for the rest of the month. This is normal and sometimes changes are good.
- Homeschooling does not mean sitting and learning / cramming at home. Take plenty of advantage of outdoors, homeschool park days, co-ops, play dates and local community center classes.
- Remember that you do not have to know everything to teach or help your child learn. You can always find tutors, mentors, a local class or 'create' something for your child and invite other interested homeschooling families to participate.
- Let your child find his passion in learning. Be patient and be creative, tolerant, adaptive and just be there for your child.
- Don't despair if you are not good at something. Learn alongside of the child. Be a motivating cheer leader in your child's life.
- Remember that in homeschooling, you can cover materials faster and better than a school. It is because a homeschooler can cover many things with a single child in a short amount of time when compared to a school classroom of 20 plus kids and a single teacher with many admin work. So, keep lessons shorter and learning time crisp.
- Learning in homeschooling does not have to follow a day time routine. If it works better for your family, think evening learning and weekend learning. And learning happens all around and all through the year. Feel free to take breaks as and when needed.
- If you are struggling with multiple children, and wonder how to cater to each of their learning, think in terms of adapting the same subject / topic to multiple levels, and formulate work for each age/grade children. For example, a older child can be quite capable of doing his own research work or book work, while the younger child would need some assistance, while the youngest one can be given something pertinent to watch as educational DVD or some related art work.
- It does get better as they grow to be independent learners. They DO take off on their own with time.
- This is coming from a veteran homeschooling mom. The early ages and stages of learning at home with children younger than 10 are some amazing years. Do take advantage of those times fully with your children. Enjoy the time with your children.
- Encourage learning output in multiple ways depending on your child's interests. It can be written work, art work, a presentation, poster board, a speech, a story...oh my! Endless possibilities and creative fun.
- Curriculum...hmm, plenty of choices available these days. But do not hesitate to make your own and formulate your own. Mix and match and do a buffet style learning.
- Talk, discuss and ask questions in the homeschool forums. Chances are someone already has passed through the stages you are faced with, and there will be btdt advice available for you so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Better yet, a different perspective from different homeschooling families can give you plenty more ideas to feel rejuvenated with whatever you would be facing in your personal homeschool life. Also, you will feel powered to know that you are not alone.
- Have a spouse or family member not happy with your homeschool choices? Well, that would be hard if it is a spouse. Read many homeschooling books together, bring in articles, and think and discuss together why homeschooling is the best choice for your child. Remember the key thing to look for is a 'happy well adjusted healthy child interested in learning'. With time and seeing the progress of your child, your spouse may come around to embrace the idea of homeschooling too.
- Learning in homeschooling is beautiful thing. There are plenty of field trips to unusual places that can be made to happen. You can visit universities and attend their talks. You can formulate classes geared for your child's interests and levels in museums, science centers, institutions , art centers, and the like. You can hire a teacher and form a class for other homeschoolers. You can hire a college student to act as a mentor to your child.
- It IS freedom in learning. You can make every living minute a learning experience. Enrich your learning through educational movies, DVDs, field trips, audio books, libraries, and books freely. You can travel widely and learn from the world. You can shop together, cook together, learn to work with family members, maintain home, learn about healthy living, do experiments at home, do online learning, learn new languages and crafts, learn to sew or quilt, go on passion led paths of indepth non stop learning.
- If you need access to talent search programs and such, check the e-learning page. Homeschooling does not have to an expensive choice. Use public charter programs for financial help if need be. Use the libraries to the maximum. Also, there are plenty of FREE online choices available these days to learn at any level.
Some sites that maybe of help to newbie homeschoolers.
New to Homeschooling? This page is meant for folks who are new to homeschooling. Here are a few sites that will help you ease into understanding what homeschooling is, how it works, what the different philosophies are, the popular question 'what about socialization?' etc etc.
Homeschooling Links Galore A LONG list of resources.
Homeschooling Basics from about.com.
For CALIFORNIA Homeschooling, check CALIFORNIA HOMESCHOOL RESOURCES page for various California based resources.
For families with GIFTED CHILDREN AND HOMESCHOOLING, then check the GIFTED 101 page for various resources, forums, articles, books and such.
For families with younger aged kids and gifted kids interested in early college classes or already in college classes, then check the EARLY COLLEGE page for various relevant resources.
Handinhand homeschool.com has plenty of Homeschool Curriculum reviews.
100 Essential Web Tools Taking on the education of your children can be a rewarding and fun experience for all involved, but it requires a lot of preparation and organization. You can use the following web tools to enhance your homeschooling experience for yourself and your children. From general organizational tools to tools for specific subjects, you are bound to find some inspiration from the list below.
Homeschooling Links Galore A LONG list of resources.
Homeschooling Basics from about.com.
For CALIFORNIA Homeschooling, check CALIFORNIA HOMESCHOOL RESOURCES page for various California based resources.
For families with GIFTED CHILDREN AND HOMESCHOOLING, then check the GIFTED 101 page for various resources, forums, articles, books and such.
For families with younger aged kids and gifted kids interested in early college classes or already in college classes, then check the EARLY COLLEGE page for various relevant resources.
Handinhand homeschool.com has plenty of Homeschool Curriculum reviews.
- For homeschool organization:
100 Essential Web Tools Taking on the education of your children can be a rewarding and fun experience for all involved, but it requires a lot of preparation and organization. You can use the following web tools to enhance your homeschooling experience for yourself and your children. From general organizational tools to tools for specific subjects, you are bound to find some inspiration from the list below.
Organizational Tools Some tools are listed below that are useful in web research and in organizing the web resources collected.
