What ‘Stuff’ Do I Need to Start Home Schooling?
You can start home-schooling with just the items you have around the house. Bearing their age and abilities in mind – in fact you want to keep assessing their level of ability as you go so you don’t overwhelm a child too young and turn them off learning altogether.
My daughter Veronica started reading before she was 3. That talent was facilitated by just one hour of our time together at the crafting table. She cut labels for me, I wrote words on those scraps of paper, and she stuck them to objects around the house. For a few months she’d walk from room to room, slapping the labels as she passed, and naming the item. Eventually, she wanted more – to read her own picture books, following my voice along with her finger on the words of each page.
Try it yourself and see. Give it 6 months or so. Stick a small piece of paper on the wall "wall", one on the chair "chair", one on the "door". Use all lower case or all upper case letters (we used lower) to start. After that we used scrapbooks to keep our ‘learnings’ in. The first sheet was a color sheet – color names written in their color – blue, red, green, yellow, etc.
Once a child begins to read the entire world opens up to them.
As children grow they will learn with gusto about the things that interest them. Discover their interests and you’re off and running. Kids are natural learners, we don’t need to impose on them. We do, however, have the responsibility to ensure they don’t grow up lazy. Too much television, video games, and lack of interaction will ruin a child’s creativity and desire to learn. Life becomes complacent, the children become apathetic.
"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouths."
Billy- age 4
Educational Games for Home Schools
Games are fine, as long as they have some educational value. My daughter inherited my old work computer and I bought up some outdated and cheap learning games (edutainment), for the old beast.
She played and learned on that computer for over 3 years, right beside me while I worked from home on a newer, faster, laptop. Soon I’ll have to upgrade my own machine and pass it on to her. (In fact, I’m editing this page 9 years after I originally wrote it, she ended up acquiring her own laptop and maintains it herself today.
Social Interaction and Life Skill Building
Take your children everywhere with you – banking, shopping, helping others, whatever you do make them a part of your world. Be sure to talk to them about what you’re doing through the day, why you’re making the decisions you are, and how your decisions affect the household, the environment, your health. You’ll be amazed by the questions they ask while they process your decisions and the learning opportunities within each conversation.
A friend of mine said his kids learned more on a 6 month road trip to Mexico than 4 years of being in high school. Culture, art, language, business, monetary exchange rates, survival, and so on. Both of his children have grown to be highly successful adults, well rounded and appreciated for their good nature, honesty and morals.
Learning Through Play
Some people say that children learn heaps in play, and I do agree with them.
Let them play at home. Learning to amuse themselves at home, instead of being told what to do all the time at school, will serve them well later in life. As a rule, children don’t like to be bored and they’ll come up with something creative – if you can just give them time to do so.
Reading for the Home Schooled Child
I cannot stress enough to parents the importance of reading the printed word. If a person can read they can learn any thing, any time.
Instilling the love of reading is the greatest gift you could ever give a child. However, some children seem to have trouble with reading. Find some teaching elementary level reading at a home school tips.
Finally, if I may add, that life is a journey, let your child lead (even just for a while) and see where it takes you. Children adapt remarkably to responsibility and they will take their educational responsibility mindset into the future.
Laura Childs, A Home Schooling Mom
This article was originally written and posted on GoodByeCityLife back in 1999
Comments feed
I had do remove my daughter from school and Im now suppose to b homescooling her,but am at a loose on were to start or whats requierd. Please help
Jennifer:
I don’t know your circumstance nor the age of your child, but if you are at a loss on how to home school, I’m going to suggest you don’t proceed alone in this regard. There are many unemployed teachers and tutors who will help you, on every subject imaginable, to ensure your daughter receives the education required to move forward in her life. Understanding the situation (that you will be home schooling) they should spend time with both of you to ensure that you have ample instruction to provide to your daughter as you’ll be working through the material together.
I personally suggest receiving directions and instruction from the school. They might also have a list of people interested in assisting you in this matter. They certainly will have government (state) regulations on home schooling that you’ll need to be aware of.
Some municipalities, provinces or states may require and demand an affidavit filed with the local education department. The area of law you will need to investigate for home schooling are private school, home education, and equivalency laws. If you can’t find a lawyer specializing in this field, attempt to find a homeschool group in your area that can provide answers.
You may also be required to maintain a record of your child’s educational progress. Some States also stipulate a minimum educational qualification for the parent teacher.
A support group consisting of like-minded people will protect and insulate you from well meaning criticism of family and friends as well as pressures and questions of public school supporting parents.
Belonging to a home school group has more benefits as well. They often organize fun group events like trips to the zoo, museums, tours of local factories and more. This is also valuable for controlled socialization.
Good luck with home schooling and by all means enjoy yourself! Although it may seem daunting at first, you’ll be all the wiser and closer to your daughter as a result of your time together.
Laura