December 2018 - How to Plant Trees

Homeschooling hours

How many, how often and when? These are some oft-repeated
questions when it comes to homeschooling hours. Flexibility is of
course one of the fundamental underlying principles behind homeschooling.
This flexibility applies not only to the curriculum but also to
the number of hours. It is only natural that parents, especially
if they have just started out on homeschooling should feel that
their children should be at their books all the time when regular
school-goers are at school. This is not only fallacious but can
also be damaging and counter-productive.

One of the most ignored but glaring drawbacks of the public
schooling system is the sheer waste of time and energy that it
causes. Many periods are merely wasted away, and the child
effectively derives only 1-3 hours of study every day. Then, there
are days when the studies become too intensive and other days when
it’s just games and no work at all. There is a lot of ‘invisible
wastage’ involved here.

Daily Routines

Early on in your homeschooling practice, work out a schedule. It
is advisable to stick to the same hours every day. A routine makes
it easier to learn and gives structure to the learning experience.
It also tells the students that parents are strict about their
learning. A routine also allows your child to free his mind from
other activities and concentrate on studies. He knows that the particular time is strictly set aside for learning.

Engaging curriculum

The actual number of hours that you need depends on the curriculum
you have chosen and the learning style that suits your child. If
you are dealing with a subject that seems to be more involved, you
may need to sit with the child for a more extended period. Using various
techniques, it may be necessary to demonstrate what you are trying
to teach. For instance, a lesson in Algebra may take more time
than experience in English.

Homeschooling does not refer to the practice of sitting in front
of the books and learning the printed matter. Field trips,
watching documentaries, visiting factories and libraries also make
up an essential slice of the homeschooling process. It makes sense
to intersperse these activities so that learning becomes fun.
You may want to finish off the few hours of textbook learning
in the morning and dedicate the afternoons to these kinds
of activities.

Given the fact that too many public school hours are wasted in
meaningless activities ranging from talking to extra-curricular
activities, do not allow public school hours to dictate the time
you should spend teaching your child at home. Remember that at
home, he is getting a high-quality one-to-one time that is highly
productive. About 1-3 hours of study is enough in the primary
level. It is, of course, true that the number of hours you put
in, the more learning takes place. This is also the reason why
homeschooling children are much smarter and more balanced than
regular school going children.

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Grading in homeschooling

Grading in homeschooling is done by the teacher-in-charge. In most
of cases, this means mom! In this situation, grading can get a
bit tricky because it can be a little difficult to grade your own
child. There is no benchmark against which you can evaluate your
child’s performance. In most cases, you also have no awareness of
how well other children are doing. So, obviously, the traditional
method of grading is perhaps not the best method to follow.

When grading a child undergoing homeschooling, it is more
important to assess whether the child has understood the subject
that is being taught. Inherent in this is the fact that if the
child has not understood something, you will go over it again.
This will work in your child’s favor in 2 ways. Firstly, the child
knows that if he or she fails to catch on, the topic will be
repeated until it is mastered. Secondly, the child also knows that
once the subject has been learned, he or she will get full credit
for the hard work. Getting the full reward for the hard work put in is
a significant motivational factor, especially for kids.

When assessing your child’s abilities, do not allow emotions to
overcrowd your rationale. Do not yield to the cries and tears of
your child if he or she resists specific topics or subjects. If
mastering these skills is necessary, then you as the teacher (and
not as the parent alone) have to go over the question over and over
till it sinks in. When dealing with more robust concepts, the child
may get restless and may even show frustration or belligerence.
When the child is still young and unable to understand the
importance of his lessons, it is your responsibility to see to it
that the child develops the skill set necessary for future growth.

In case you belong to a state that requires yearly tests, this
will help you to judge your child’s ability vis-à-vis his peers.
even if it is not mandatory, you may want to test your child every
year. These tests will reveal the variations in the child’s
learning pattern. It may show up unexpected areas of strength and
hitherto unknown areas of weakness. This enables you to structure
your teaching to cover the areas that are weak and build upon the
areas that are strong.

In case your state requires a homeschool report card, keep a
record of the early development and scores of your child. Include
pertinent areas like punctuality, discipline, etc in the report.
You may also need to keep a record of the number of working days
and attendance schedules.

While grading your child, make sure that you use as many external
tests as possible. Several websites deal with the
various age groups and allow free downloading of question papers.
This is an excellent and cost-effective method to assess your
child. Homeschooling, if done properly, will boost the
child’s confidence because he will be studying to satisfy the
natural curiosity. The scores, therefore, will reflect the childs real
emotional intelligence to learn life skills.

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Disadvantages of public schooling

When we consign our children to public schools, we feel satisfied
that they are receiving ‘quality education’. But, are we really
getting our money’s worth? More importantly, are the children
gaining anything from this kind of a learning procedure?

Socialization is hailed as one of the most significant advantages of schools. This is the place where the child picks up the rudiments
of social skills that help him survive. But in truth, a regular
school-going child can interact only with his peers. He may bully
younger children or fear older ones. He does not know how to behave with an adult. This is because in the school environment
he interacts only with his peers. A homeschooling environment brings in a more natural social setting.

A regular school going child cannot read literature. He cannot
keep silent or think in depth about any one thing. The artificial
‘busy’ ness imposed upon him by the school disallows quiet contemplation. Rowdy and destructive behavior, as seen among peers, is more noticeable in school-goers.

There is little long-standing knowledge among regular school goers
because most things are learned for the exam. There is no correlation of facts with life. The child may know a lot but understands very little. This is where the homeschoolers beat the regular school goers. Ultimately, homeschoolers emerge more adept at facing the outside world.

Financing homeschooling

When people talk about teaching their children from home in the
absence of any formal or structured curriculum, it is perhaps
natural to think that homeschooling is cheap. But this is far from
the truth. Although homeschooling does not stick to any particular
text, this is probably more of a bane than a boon, when it comes to
financing.

When you need to make sure that your children receive
state-of-the-art education so that they can compete with regular
school goers, expenses will naturally mount. The actual cost of
educating a child at home is surprisingly high. Up-to-date
textbooks, course materials, a library, computing equipment,
lighting, specially designed furniture all cost money. In this
case, the cost may be slightly lesser when it comes to
homeschooling the second child. Add to this any additional tuition
cost for tutors who come to teach subjects that cannot be handled
by parents, like higher-level math or science. The total cost can
be a bit mind-boggling.

If you take another important factor into consideration,
homeschooling costs may be effective triple. The need for having one
of the parents tied to the house and entirely dedicated to providing
education deprives the family of a second earning member. The
average homeschooling teacher is usually a lady with a college
degree. This means that she can easily bring home pay of $35,000
or more. It is also interesting to note that most families that
have more than 2 children do not opt for homeschooling at all.

But, there are those who have been successful in carrying out
homeschooling at low rates. This is dependent on the size of the
family, the support group, the type of materials used and the
availability of the equipment. When successive children can reuse
the materials, the cost goes down. Much of the course material can be
got from vendors of homeschooling materials. Membership in a
public library, theatre, concerts, ballets, and other cultural
events also help in cutting costs. Sometimes, it is even possible
to barter expertise. For instance, the mother of an 8-year old
gives dancing classes, and her daughter receives drawing classes
for free. Support groups allow you to divide the cost of field
trips, science projects, and fairs.

Whatever the cost, advocates of homeschooling say that the
benefits far outweigh these considerations. When you are able to
decide what knowledge your child receives and when he or she
should be taught and to what extent, it gives you a lot of freedom
and a lot of power. Both the children as well as the parents
benefit from this mutually enriching experience.

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Benefits Of Homeschooling

Benefits Of Homeschooling Explained

Why let Sam and Betty learn at home rather than send them to a local school?
Well, first of all, you don’t have to wake them up at 7 every
morning and bundle them off to school with umpteen numbers of
instructions and wait with an anxious heart till they return.
Homeschooling gives you more control over the influences that
affect your child. The growth and development of your child
is removed from the realm of the unknown. You and you alone
can decide what your child needs to do or learn. Tailoring
the curriculum to suit the needs and interests of the child
is one of the most apparent benefits of homeschooling

Individual attention is another salient benefit of
homeschooling. For instance, if Lisa needs more time to learn
Math, then she can reduce the time for her English lessons.
There are no fixed hours of learning per subject. This means
that a child has the advantage of assigning more number of
hours to the issue that seems harsh WITHOUT any additional
pressure. The amount of time needed to learn each subject
will depend on the abilities and interests of the child.

The schooling of the child becomes an extended family activity.
Parents get involved in every step of the learning procedure.
Field trips and experiments become family activities. Thus,
the child receives more quality time with his parents. The
entire family shares games, chores, and projects. Family
closeness becomes the focus here. The child is also free of
any negative peer pressure while making choices and decisions.

Competition is limited when it comes to homeschooling. The
child does not need to prove his ability with regards to other
children. His confidence remains intact. Since parents have a
deep understanding of their child, they can plan the learning
program to pique the child’s interest. It is also possible to
intersperse difficult tasks with fun activities. A tough hour
with Algebra can be followed by a trip to the nearest museum.
Learning becomes fun. Parents can also tailor the curriculum to
suit the learning style of the child. Some children learn through
reading, while others need to write, and still, others need to see
objects in action.

Homeschooling allows parents to take control of the moral and
religious learning of the child. Parents have the flexibility to
incorporate their beliefs and ideologies into the child’s curriculum.
There is no confusion in the child’s mind either because there is
no variation between what is being taught and what is being practiced.

Lastly, more and more parents are getting disillusioned with the
public school system. They believe that their children are being
pushed too hard or too little. Other worrying issues about
discipline and ethics also make the school system less welcome. Many
repudiate the educational philosophy of grouping children solely on
the basis of their age. Some parents themselves have unhappy memories
of their own public school experience that motivates them to opt for
homeschooling when it comes to their own children.

Homeschooling is the best way to teach a child if you have the time,
the ability and the interest to follow through with his education. After
all, nobody can understand or appreciate your child more than yourself.

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