Advice for Homeschoolers: 10 Things Parents Should Know Before Home-school
There is a saying that goes, “hindsight is 20/20.” There is a reason for that. As families embark on home-school, there are definitely things they will wish they had known before they started. Here are the top 10 things that all parents should know embarking on the wonderful world of home-school.
Think outside the box. Home-school does not lend itself to tight scheduling and organization. If that was working for your children, you should have left them in the mainstream school they were attending.
Enjoy spending time with your children as people who are learning and growing. Home-school allows parents to spend quality time with their children during the formative years and to see first-hand how they are growing up and learning every day.
Get your hands dirty right away. Jump in and get started. There is no perfect way to home-school, just the way that is best for you and your children. It is better to learn from mistakes made than to never have started at all.
Home-school will change you and your children. It will affect your family dynamic in many ways. It can be as positive or as negative as you allow it.
Don't compare yourself to other families who home-school. There is no perfect way to home-school; there is just your way and the way that is best for you and your children.
Make home-school fun: teach your child with the spirit of who you both are as people. Enjoy each other as you learn and teach each other new concepts.
Home-school is just like being a parent. It is far less like being a teacher than most people think. Children change daily, and you have to be willing to be flexible in the way you home-school them. What worked this week may not work next week.
Start with a bang. Plan a thousand interesting things to do. Don't worry if some are started and never finished. Some never get started because your child thought it was a dumb idea or if you just plain run out of time.
Do not let other people's perceptions ruin the home-school you have going. Home-school is best for your children. Explain your choices to those people who are important. You do not need to defend your choices—you are doing what is best for your child.
Get new ideas from as many sources as possible. Seek out help from those who offer it and find new and interesting ways to home-school your child.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, author, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of almost 3 decades reside with their 8 children in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. because "our current system of education has broken its promise..." Learning By Grace, Inc. delivers Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children in the United States and throughout the world.
Rothschild has authored a number of books about education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Daily Education News Blog contains feature stories on alternatives in education.