Home schooling - When Kids Ask Questions
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.
 E-Mail to a Friend
|