MorningStar’s Home Education News

by Mimi Rothschild

Not everyone chooses home school of their own accord. That is to say, that the state of public education or problems that have evolved from public school experiences like truancy or attitude issues have forced some parents to take their children out of the public school system. For them, private school is not an option for financial or personal reasons, but they are suddenly home-schooled without ever having planned to become so.

What does this have to do with the home-schooled families who not only chose but did so happily? Unfortunately, the rest of the world knows so little about home schooling that one home schooled family represents us all. Just check out the news on the internet about home-schools and you’ll see. Anything written on us from the public educational system’s perspective generally seems to be referring to those reluctant home-school families.

There are families who claim to be home-schooling as a way to cover up for truancy. This has nothing to do with those of us who chose home-schooling and take the education of our children and compliance with state and federal regulations concerning that education seriously. But try to take that negative impression from the consciousness of the general public; easier said than done, right? Instead of accepting these negative ideas about home schooling, do your part to be visible in your community. Only an abundance of positive experiences with home-schoolers will serve to erase the image of those who claim to home-school to avoid getting an education.

The responsibility for these families does not belong to the home school community but to the state education board which regulates home school and public school. However, should any of these reluctant home-schoolers come to a home-schooling organization to look for help; we are certainly here to assist them. It’s less about responsibility than it is about community. Those who are thrust out of public schools are not necessarily home-schoolers. Those who choose to find out more about home-schooling get the same advice, encouragement, and regulations as the rest of us. At that point, they become home-schoolers, reluctant or not.

Should one of these families - parents or teenagers - approach you with questions, tell them what you know. Your experience is invaluable. There are a variety of great sites on the Internet that are available by those who love to share about home-school. If they are looking for alternatives to traditional home-school ideas, direct them to the Alternative Schools Department; un-schooling, correspondence courses, and Montessori theories; or books by Grace Llewellyn like The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How To Quit School and Get a Real Life or Education or Real Lives: The Story of Eleven Teenagers Who Don’t Go To School.

Whether or not these reluctant families made the positive choice to home-school or not, they can make the choice to be positive. Coming across a reluctant home-schooler doesn’t mean that you have to proselytize or preach the glories of home schooling. Be honest. There is a wide spectrum of home-school families out there in the world, with as many reasons as there are kids for home-schooling. It’s a personal decision and a personal journey, but it’s not one they have to take alone.

by Mimi Rothschild

Whether your teen has been home-schooled for the entirety of his or her academic career, or has just been introduced to home-schooling, you’ll want to continue to find ways to make learning interesting, fun and effective for your teenage son or daughter. This can be a bit of a challenge as your child gets older, but it’s completely possible with a few lesson plan adjustments and lots of creativity.

One of the most effective ways to keep your teen motivated to learn is to customize his or her lesson plan. One of the greatest benefits of home-schooling is the teacher’s ability to create a lesson plan that is specifically for the student, and not a general template of a lesson plan for a classroom. Pay special attention to the subject your teen excels in, and which areas he or she may be having trouble in. For instance, if your child is an avid reader, he or she may be able to understand math better if the assignments are in the form of word problems. This will help your teen to see their academic capabilities, and will motivate them to continue learning each day—even in subjects they could use additional assistance in.

Be sure to take as much time as you need to when you’re home-schooling to make sure that your teen is absorbing the academic material presented each day. When you’re home-schooling your child, you have the advantage of making sure that your child is learning effectively. If you need to spend extra time on a certain subject or come up with new ways to explain a certain concept to your child, don’t panic. When your son or daughter sees that you are just as willing to teach as you want them to be willing to learn, your teen may be much more cooperative, and will get the most out of every lesson plan.

Even though your son or daughter may be a teenager, that doesn’t mean that he or she is too old to take field trips. Getting out of the house every once in a while provides a good change of environment, and will help your teen to remember lessons for years to come. Going to the local museum to learn about art or history will make much more of an impact that reading about events in the history book. Ask your child where they would like to go for their field trip; and keep their suggestions in mind when you’re planning to teach outside of the classroom for a day. You may be surprised at the responses you get, but a field trip with your teen could make more of a difference in their academic—and personal lives—than you may think. As a parent and a teacher, you’ll want to make sure that your teen continues to be motivated to learn, but you want to make sure you’re doing your best as a teacher, in order to maintain a great parent/child relationship.

by Mimi Rothschild

If you are thinking of home schooling your child, you and your family should consider this undertaking with a great deal of care. After all, this will be a major factor in defining the path where your child will journey through life. It is imperative that both parents are in agreement regarding virtual home school. It can be very difficult for one parent alone to administer virtual home school to the child. Both parents should believe in the many advantages of virtual home schooling. Most important of all is the willingness of the child to try virtual home school. Making them see how fun it can be will pique their interest more than telling them how much more convenient and effective virtual home schooling will be for them.

You should know precisely why you want to get your child into a virtual home school. Whether it is for safety, academic, philosophical, or religious reasons, having a clear guide will help you determine the design of your virtual home school program. You can also get help from other virtual home school parents by discussing particular virtual home schooling approaches. If you find somebody that matches your style, you can organize field trips, science projects, advice, and support for you and your children and other home schoolers.

Devising a plan is key to a successful virtual home schooling program. Find out if a strict curriculum will produce better results for your child, or if an easier program will help him/her get used to the program. Maintaining a plan will provide both you and your child a sense of direction. Almost all home schooling parents fear that their child might be missing their opportunity to mingle with other kids, but this is pure fallacy as they can find friends in the neighborhood or Sunday school.

You should know that educating your child through a virtual home school means a time commitment on your part. A home schooling parent is knowledgeable of and learns to adjust to certain sacrifices. A couple of hours with books is not enough because there is a need for the child to be exposed to other facets of learning; done through experiments, music lessons, and projects. You also need to prepare and grade papers, and take children on field trips. The list of everyday “to-dos” is longer than that of a corporate parent. Virtual home schooling their children will also teach parents to live with the financial strain brought about by the need for one parent to stay at home to do the teaching, possibly lessening their income in comparison with both parents working.

By means of virtual home schooling, you will be able to monitor the social contacts your child has in his/her early years –a very vulnerable stage in his/her life. And since virtual home school is not a lifetime commitment, you can take it one year at a time. If you’re having doubts as to your capability to teach your child, you can download curriculum and teacher materials readily available online, or hire a tutor for more difficult subjects.

by Mimi Rothschild

So you’ve finally decided to home school your child. As with so many other things, starting can be the hardest part of the process. But the fact that you have decided to take on the task of educating your child at home means that you believe that your time, character, funds, and fervor are sufficient enough to make it work. Being fully equipped is one thing, but making the actual home schooling program work is another. If you develop a plan months before you and your child start home schooling, you will see just how much home schooling can be fun and effective for you and your child.

A timeline, dating three months before you start, is sufficient to plan the course of your child’s home schooling program’s initial year. You should know that home schooling your child will require a lot of research right from the beginning. Subscribe to home schooling magazines, visit the library, read books, and connect with other people that home school by joining a local organization. Be aware that not all of the techniques that you will learn, hear or read about will apply to you and your child. Home schooling is something that you need to experience for yourself before you can define how it really works for you. Within this initial starting period, you should already know the home schooling rules and regulations in your state. There are different sets of rules in every state, and you don’t want to waste any time and effort by adapting a home schooling program that wouldn’t be recognized by your state.

Two months before you start home schooling, you might want to consider joining a Local Home schooling group. Meeting other home schoolers in your area will allow you to gather pertinent information about effective home teaching habits such as age-appropriate activities your home schooled child can do to make your activities together not just educational but entertaining as well. This is also a venue for acquiring cheaper second-hand materials from other home schooling parents. By the time you begin, you should have decided what curriculum you will use. Curricula are readily available through mail order catalogues or at online stores. You can also attend state conventions and curriculum fairs to see more home schooling publications and products. The option of creating your own curricula is more often preferred by new home schooling parents. Personalizing the curricula might produce better results, and if that is the case you can opt to carry on with devising your own lessons without using any commercial curriculum.

One month before you start, you should determine the spot in the house where you will conduct classes. Purchase filing cabinets for storing books and manuals. Virtual home schooling requires a computer connected to the Internet, so you need to make sure your classroom area has that. By this time you should also have in mind a specific goal to accomplish in the first year to avoid having backlog lessons that will delay your pace. Include in your plan physical activities for your child, socialization with other kids, and other extra-curricular endeavors.

Three weeks prior, you should devise a strategy to accomplish the goals you have set the week before. Start with the first lesson plan, and decide how you’re going to break it up and assign it to your child’s academic schedule. Always remember that despite all of your plans, flexibility is what sets home schooling apart from conventional education. Feel free to make necessary changes as you see fit.

On the last week before you embark on a home schooling program, be careful not to fall into common first-time jitters. On the top of the list is the feeling of isolation. You can remedy this by joining a support group, not just for your kids but also for home schooling parents like you. Another potential problem is buying a lot of expensive packaged curriculums without first determining the needs of your child. You can save a lot of money by knowing exactly what materials you need to buy.

Finally, take it a day at a time. Experience is what will mold your expertise in home schooling, and your ability to adapt and adjust to certain scenarios will be the foundation of a successful home schooling program.

by Mimi Rothschild

Adding another child to your home-school can throw a wrench into the established routine you have worked hard to put together. Whether you have opted to share homeschooling responsibilities with another parent; or one of your own children has either decided to leave public school or is now of age to begin in earnest, it can be a rough road at first. The original home-schooled child may feel that she isn’t getting as much attention as before, as you strive to make the new child feel comfortable. To smooth the transition as much as possible, there are a few things you can do.

Prepare

This isn’t something you want to spring on your home-schooled child. Mention it as soon as it is brought up as a possibility. It is her school and her home and she must feel that she has some control over her surroundings. Naturally resistant to change, the older a child is, the more she may be against the idea. Giving her as much time as possible to consider the idea and assess the implications, she may come around of her own accord. And if it doesn’t happen this time, then perhaps, should another opportunity arise to add a child to her personal home-school, she may be more amenable to the idea.

A Helping Hand

Even great teachers have assistants. Impress upon your child the importance of her presence and help when the new child is added. She will be a mentor and show the new kid the ropes. She can help with his work when he has a hard time. She can also show him around her area and his when he first arrives. She can show him how to do some of her favorite projects that she did when she first began school. Let her know that her expertise will be needed and wanted.

A Course of Her Own

Naturally, the new child will be on a different course of study in some progression courses. If you are in the middle of reading a novel with your original homeschooler, the new child would be lost if you were to have jump right in. By giving him his own book to read, as well as some different courses or projects or tutorials, you will be giving her space to herself so that she won’t feel impinged upon; and he will have a place of his own in which to adapt at his own pace.

Together As a Family

Just as everyone in the family gathers for meals, so too are all the home-schooled kids coming together everyday to share their learning experiences. Whether it’s an outside gymnastics class or piano lesson, a group cooking or gardening project, or watching a documentary together, everyday should have a couple of overlap activities to emphasize your home-school family. The camaraderie they develop together will serve them well when they join other home-schooled families, and give them a sense of belonging and togetherness that can only come from participating in a tight knit home-school family.

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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 online learning published by McGraw Hill and others. Her daily RSS Education News Feed contains feature stories on alternatives in education.

Some of the online academies managed by Learning By Grace, Inc. include:
www.TheJubileeAcademy.org – The Premier Online PreK-12 Christian
Homeschooling Academy
www.TheMorningStarAcademy.org – K-12 Accredited Private Christian
Diploma Granting Online Academy
www.TheGraceAcademy.org – The Most Trusted Source of K-12 Online
Homeschooling Information, Tools and Support

©1999-2006. Reproduction other than via RSS feed is prohibited without expressed written consent. All Rights Reserved.

by Mimi Rothschild

Though home schooling is for the benefit of the children being taught, there is little information on how these children feel about being home schooled. A great deal of time has been spent researching how home schooled kids compare academically to public school kids, but little research has been done concerning the feelings of home schooled children. It is inevitable that your child will have questions about the home school choice whether or not they have ever attended public school. Encourage those questions and answer them honestly. In the meantime, a little preparation for some possible questions couldn’t hurt.

Why Do The Other Kids Ride The Bus?

Also known as “Why don’t I go to regular school?”, “Why do other kids only get to play in the afternoons?” Or “Why am I different from everyone else?” You can answer these questions in a variety of ways, but it’s important to focus on the positive. Public school kids are not lesser than and neither is your child. Explain your reasons for wanting to educate your child at home, focusing on keeping it to a depth that your child can handle. No need to get into politics and educational theory with a 5 year old. Explaining the positive nature of choice and opinions and freedom will help your child understand that he or she is exercising his or her rights and is very lucky and special. In fact, this question could be a great lead in to an American history lesson.

Will I Get To Do Whatever I Want?

You may be surprised that ‘no’ is not necessarily the answer to this one. Perhaps the best thing is to answer the question with another question: ‘What is it that you want to do?’ It could be that your child wants time to read quietly every day or to go outside and play or to have breakfast cereal for lunch. Go through each of the things that your kid lists as what he or she wants and address it. Alter them as you see fit to help them puzzle-piece these things into your home school curriculum. Turn the breakfast for lunch request into a lesson on nutritional information. Playing outside could mean an educational trip to the botanical gardens or an excursion in the woods to discover local flora and fauna.

Things like sleeping late and taking long breaks are negotiable. Some home schooled kids do better with their studies if they sleep until 9 or 10 in the morning with a 2-3 hour break at noon, followed by more school work. Others prefer to get everything done as early as possible. It’s about compromising and finding something that works for everyone involved, so consider the wants of your child as you make the decisions about what he or she needs.

What About My Friends?

If your child has had a few years of public schooling before you withdrew him or her for home schooling, there will naturally be a concern about friends left behind. Even if your child is beginning home school at the same time that other kids are going off to kindergarten, the same concerns may apply to neighborhood friendships. When this comes up, reassure your child. Old friends will still be invited over for sleepovers and afternoon play time. Make a concerted effort to keep in touch with old friends as your child moves into their new world but remind him or her that a great many new friends will be made as well.
No matter what questions your kids have for you about home schooling, answer them honestly and fully. It is their education after all.

by Mimi Rothschild

Despite the fact that The National Parent Teacher Association opposes home schooling, as do the National Education Association and the National Association of Elementary School Principals, state legislators have made sure to provide for parental rights concerning their choice to home-educate their children. Congress has come a long way in its support of home schooling and with President George W. Bush in the White House; changes to protect and assist home schooled students have been coming thick and fast. But even before President Bush came along, there was federal support of home schooling.

In 1972, for example, the Supreme Court ruled against compulsory school requirements. The case was Wisconsin v. Yoder and though this was not a ruling on home schooling per se, it protects the rights of parents to educate their children at home. Additionally, the US Supreme Court has also repeatedly upheld rulings that allow parents to direct their children’s education (subject to reasonable state standards).

Though most regulations and requirements for home schooled students and their parents are decided by the state government, there are a few federal laws that Congress has enacted to protect home schooler’s rights. They regularly update policy makers in state legislatures on new researched information on home schooling. Congress also supports continued research into various issues which affect teaching and learning and therefore affect the home schooled.

Financial support programs for home schooled students by Congress are generally limited to children with special needs. This includes slower learning children, those with ESL difficulties, and those with disabilities, both physical and learning. Congress usually arms local governments with the option of providing services for children with any of these problems through one of these programs. But Congress has a great deal of legislation on the table that supports home schooling. Here are just a few of them:

* S. 1562 - Home School Non-Discrimination Act of 2003 (HONDA) – This bill would amend certain specified statutes in Federal law that directly affect students who are privately educated in their home under state law.
* H.R. 1350 - Improving Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act of 2003 (IDEA) - This bill would clarify IDEA law in regard to home schools. Under this new language public schools would no longer be required to evaluate a home schooled student if the parents disagreed with requirements. Changes in the law would address problems which the home schooled have experienced in the past. President Bush signed this into law on December 3, 2004. It became Public Law No: 108-446.
* H.R. 516 — General Education Provisions Act (aka: the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: FERPA) – This bill would provide for the protection of privacy for the records of home schooled students just as the records of public school students are protected.

Another change regarding home schooled student’s rights as afforded by Congress concerns home school graduates. Until recently, it was necessary for home schooled students to pass the GED before applying to college. Also, home school graduates may apply for Federal financial aid and be considered without prejudice, just like public school students.

Every state allows home schooling, but each state regulates standards and requirements differently. Some of them are based on Federal mandates. It’s imperative that parents take a close look at local laws and statutes as well as consulting with other local home schoolers through the Internet or local support groups. If your state is enforcing an unfair law that has been overturned by Congress, make them aware of the fact.

In the meantime, keep up with new developments in home schooling law by checking the Home School Legal Defense Association’s (HSLDA) legal page at www.hslda.org.

by Mimi Rothschild

If you are considering homeschooling, you should know that is a viable option to sending your children to a private or public school. There has been a major increase in the amount of parents who consider ‘bringing home their children’ out of the school system, and placing them in the homeschool environment. The parents and children can have many reasons for wanting to home-school. Some of these reasons might be, wanting to spend more time with each other, wanting to preserve morals and family values that are taught at home, or homeschooling so that each child learns at its own speed. Whatever your reasons for deciding on homeschooling, this article will guide you through helping you and your child adjust to the home-school environment.

If this is your first time homeschooling your child or children, it is important to know what your state laws are regarding this. This can be done by sending a letter to the your state’s Department of Education, or by contacting the local school district.

When starting out in a homeschool environment for the first time, it is important to have much needed support. It is suggested you join local and or national groups of parents that have decided to home-school and ‘bring their children home’ as well. If you are just starting out, they can provide a wealth of information on homeschooling. However any information received should only be used as a guide because everyone’s situation will be different.

After you have contacted the Department of Education and have researched the information on homeschooling, it is important to have a curriculum in place. The home-school group that you belong to might be able to help you with this and give suggestions. Some parents can give you advice on where to get a curriculum or on how to make a curriculum for yourself if you prefer. Some parents use the local school district’s curriculum if they are required or if they are not required, and can obtain a copy. Other parents might opt to research online for a suitable curriculum for their home-schooled child. However, whatever you decide to use does not have to be followed “to the letter” as some flexibility must be adopted to suit each child’s needs.

Beyond all of this, as you start homeschooling your child, it is important to reinforce how fun learning is and how fun learning can be.

by Mimi Rothschild

Homeschooling was once the primary method of inculcating knowledge and values in the youth of a society. Homeschooling rested the onus of a child’s education and development firmly on the shoulders of informal, subjective training at the hands of parents, mentors or tutors. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Jane Austen – names that echo in the halls of celebrated intelligence and integrity – were all products of homeschooling. Then, in 1837, the first public school in the United States of America opened its doors to the children of its community. This marked the beginning of the decline of homeschooling, the oldest system of education in the world.

Fast forward to the 21st century. Many parents feel trapped between the rock of unmanageable private school tuitions and the hard place of unacceptable public school systems. But, as more and more families are coming to understand, there is another viable option. Homeschooling is slowly gaining ground once again. In fact, the US Wade Statistics in 2000 state that around two million children in the United States are being homeschooled and that the number increases by around ten percent each year.

Although homeschooling can be a topic of lively debate, it has many benefits that are uncontested. Homeschooling strengthens the bond between parent and child though extensive and consistent periods of time together. Homeschooling lessens exposure to negative outside influences such as drugs and alcohol that are often sold near school premises. Homeschooling allows parents to monitor the content of what is taught and allows religious beliefs to be interrelated freely. Homeschooling lessens the risk of bullying, severe peer pressure and early sexuality. Homeschooling individualizes the speed and difficulty of lesson plans to suit the abilities and interests of the child, especially those with learning disabilities. Homeschooling can include many subjects that public schools no longer have the budgets to sustain such as music, languages and arts.

Some detractors of homeschooling say that the abovementioned arguments are insufficient to make a case for pulling children out of the traditional school system. Many assume that the decision to homeschool adversely affects the student’s social skills as well as academic competitiveness when compared to peers with otherwise similar backgrounds. The truth is quite the contrary.

In articles regarding homeschooling published by the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) of the US government, it was stated that homeschooled and traditionally schooled students had similar rates of skills, knowledge and attitude needed to function in society. What’s more, there was no difference in the self-concept of children in the two groups.

With regards to the academic readiness homeschooling provides in order to venture on to the next level, it has already been proven that homeschooled students generally do very well on standardized tests and have better grades, averaging 89-90%. Furthermore, a growing number of colleges are recruiting homeschooled students because of a perceived greater degree of self-sufficiency and diversity. These colleges accept GEDs, parent statements and samples of students’ portfolios as part of the criteria for application acceptance.

Perhaps it’s time to ask yourself the question: Is homeschooling right for my family?

by Mimi Rothschild

It was Aristotle who described education as “an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity”. While discussing education in general and home-schooling in particular, one has to consider two aspects related to it - The purpose of education and the means to attain a good education.

A constant factor in human life is that there is a unique goal set for each individual. The realization of one’s goal is sometimes inspired by others, and in most cases it is taught through the events in one’s life. Education continues to be the tool that will help an individual realize and attain his or her goal in life. It is pertinent to note that the goals need not necessarily be one of materialistic nature and education is not necessarily tangible with a degree. Education should not strive to deliver extrinsic goals that are tied to the society through social behavior, political ideologies, monetary heights or any form of global awakening. Education should serve a more introspective purpose and should be intrinsic to the individual.

It is prudent to trace back the original purpose of education rather than the contrived notion of it. The times are changing and the concept of education has been influenced by the changes. Today, more than ever, the process of education requires a ‘guide by the side’ rather than a ‘sage on stage’. Home education nurtures the nascent need for education rather than the contrived income-oriented purpose that is attached to it these days.

As is evident in the notes of the website for home-schooling, Classical Home-Schooling: “Educators are returning to classical education as modern educational methods continue to produce high school graduates who are not only functionally illiterate and lacking in critical thinking skills, but morally bankrupt as well.”

The purpose of education is to create a spiritual liberation of the minds. The aim is to discover His image in the awakening of this knowledge. It is the path to discover oneself. History teaches us that those who discover themselves have had a great impact on humanity. Some of the inspirational people in history including George Washington, Florence Nightingale, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , authors Mark Twain and Charles Dickens, scientists Thomas Edison and Benjamin Franklin and numerous others have helped shape the better features of our society. In addition, they were all home-schooled.

The purpose of education is to renew minds and to discover Him who created them.