Useful Tips for Home Schooling Your Children
Are you considering home schooling your children, but do not know where to start? The following suggestions will help you provide answers to several of your questions.
Do your background work
You don’t need to read many “How to teach your child” books. You’ll wind up bewildered and convinced that you can’t do it. Instead, read a few “how-to” books and lots of books on a variety of subjects. If you don’t know where to begin, go to the library and look up all the kid’s books on the subject in which you are interested. The kid’s books will give you an overview, with easy-to-understand explanations that provide a base for more advanced learning.
Start slowly and simply
Get rid of the idea that having school means sitting at a desk in a stuffy room, taking notes for six to eight hours each day while Mom lectures endlessly about geography, science, algebra, and Latin. “School” is what you make it – a visit to the art gallery, investigating insects in the garden, or watching a documentary on the History Channel. Homeschooling does not have to be a dry classroom-style environment.
All kids are not identical
What kinds of activities does your child like most? Does she like to work with her hands or build things? Does he enjoy hearing stories or listening to recordings of books? Or is she happiest curled up with a great book and silence? You need to discover how your child learns and tailor your homeschool curriculum to the style that works best for them.
Using your child’s studying style is particularly helpful when you have to work through a few of those difficult math problems. For a visual learner, try solving the problem on paper. An oral learner may need only to have the problem read out loud. And a tactile learner may need concrete objects to stand in for the factors.
Establish your goals
You can’t pull off something unless you have an idea as to what it is you are trying to do.
Academic goals should focus on results. What do you wish your child to be able to do as a result of having been taught this material?
Here are a few recommended goals:
· Language arts: Be able to use the basic skills of communication —reading, writing, spelling, and grammar—in a way that will enable them to function in our society (letters, discussion, job applications, essays, etc.).
· Social studies: Recognize and be able to explain the major world systems (government, religious beliefs, culture) and how they developed.
· Religion: Have respect and understanding for human values and for the beliefs of others.
· Science: Understand and be able to describe the physical world as represented through basic knowledge of the sciences.
A thorough list of educational objectives also includes mathematical abilities, perseverance, intellectual curiosity, physical and mental health fitness, and more. Your list of goals should cover those areas which are important to you and family.
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