Choosing to homeschool or not is very often difficult for many. It is very personal choice and individual decision that only you can only make. To help you make the right choice, you may want to go through these top ten things to see if that right for you and your family.
Is Homeschooling Right choice for you and your child?
- Make sure you know the Time Commitment: Homeschooling sure takes up lot of time, it is not simple as sending off kids to school. Kids will need to do reading, science projects, field trips, lessons you need to prepare while doing house related tasks. While there are no typical school day schedule for many homeschooler, day can be filled with many things to do. So, make sure you have right set of mind when you get in to it.
- Planning is required: As homeschooling parents and kids will be spending lot of time together, doing many school and house related work, planning is required. Without plan and organization, life can be chaos and lot of things will be left undone and it will create resentment for homeschooling.
- One Income household: Homeschooling can be expensive or relatively inexpensive, however, usually one of the parent usually need to stay home to teach kids, so there is a loss of income. It could be tough on some families to move from two income household to one income household.
- Socialization with Other Kids : Many of us think that homeschooling means no socialization time with other kids, it is not so true. Kids can participate in homeschool field trip, sport outing, girls scout and boys scout activities and much more. The beauty of homeschooling is being able to have more control of the social contacts your child makes. Homeschool Coop classes are can be good for socialization for kids and parents alike.
- Household Planning: Housework, cooking and laundry still have to be done, but it probably won't get done first thing in the morning or it needs to be planned and organized in order for it to be done. If a stickler for a spotless house, you might be in for a surprise or shock. Sometimes housework can be part of daily chores between learning.
- Both parents Says Yes : It is important that both parents agree to try homeschooling otherwise it can be complicated further with daily issues and resentments. It is very difficult to homeschool if one parent is against it. If your spouse is against it at this time, try doing more research and talking to more people until both of you come to an agreement.
- Your Child's Readiness: A willing student to homeschool idea is always helpful. Ultimately, the decision is the parents to make, but if your child is dead against it, you might have a hard time of it, unless you both come to a compromise to try it for a short time to see if there might be doable.
- One Step at Time: If you think once you made a decision, it isn't a lifetime commitment - most families take one year at a time. Take one day at the time to see how it works for you and your child and tweak and modify as you go along to fit your learning and life style.
- No need for Intimidatation: Homeschooling teaching is not hard, if you can read and write, you should be able to teach your children. The curriculum and teacher materials will help through the planning and teaching. Get help from others if you get stuck or hire tutors for the difficult subjects. In most private schools, teacher follow teacher guideline to teach and you can do the same.
- Why Do You want to Homeschool?: Many people homeschool or use private schooling based on their instict or personal choice. You may also want to think about why you thought about homeschooling in first place. It might be helpful to hear why other families chose homeschooling. It may give you reinforcement needed to get started or choose another path.
Homeschooling is legal in USA and in many other countries. Find out your local legal laws, join homeschooling group, talk to others who might be homeschooling to gather an idea before you start. Even if your child is going to regular or private school, extra teaching and learning from parents always helps child excel more.
You can check out homeschooling tips and
how to start homeschooling and
homeschooling curriculum ideas.
Homeschool Resource Books to Help:
