MorningStar’s Home Education News

By Mimi Rothschild

The teaching profession is one that carries much responsibility. Conversely, homeschooling children has myriad rewards for parents who choose to teach their children. In public schools, teachers are expected to balance preparing children for college and the work force and ensuring that parents are not burdened by having to teach their children. Furthermore, when children fail, all of the blame is placed upon the teacher not the parent, or the system. Alternatively, parents should feel responsible for their children’s education and make every effort to assist their children. Homeschooling children is one way that parents can ensure that their children will get the education they deserve.

Children in the U.S. are not challenged to achieve their full potential and those Americans homeschooling their children will find that their child will excel in concepts that many students attending public schools may not. In public schools, teachers are afraid of being scolded for setting high expectations for their students. There is no other profession where an employer would be looked down for raising the standards for their subordinates. Conversely, parents naturally have high expectations of their children and they can easily employ such expectations into a homeschooling curriculum.

The American education system only begins to set higher standards when they feel threatened by another nation’s accomplishments. Why should parents wait for their children to be exposed to an excellent education? Homeschooling children will ensure that children receive a quality education. In public schools, programs are implemented to help American’s achieve or supercede the same accomplishment, only when competition is felt. For example, head start and Dr. Seuss were implemented after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into orbit. Americans wanted to know why they had not achieved the same success. The system has already failed the children. By homeschooling your children you will guarantee the success of your children and your children will not experience the failures that the rest of the nation experiences time and time again.

Parents should not be afraid to challenge their children who are homeschooled. They shoud not hinder their children because of fear of becoming overburdened with more responsibility in helping their children. Parents can raise the standards that they set for their children. Then, their children will be able to compete not just on a national level, but on a global one. Students should be expected to know not only how to read and write, but also how to improve and create new technology that will advance society. Finally, parents should not be afraid to implement physics and calculus into the homeschool curriculum. By creating an intense homeschooling curriculum, parents will help their children fulfill their potential.

by Mimi Rothschild

Home schooling, as the name suggests, is the concept of bringing school learning to the home. It is gaining popularity at a very rapid pace and attracting parents from all around the world. In order to start home schooling, books are required both for the parents as well as the child. Books filled with encouraging material, information, psychology and initiative serve a purpose in starting education at home. There are quite a few conventional methods for successful home schooling that have proven to be quite successful.

The following are some of the highly recommended and accepted books by educational experts, psychologists and experienced home schoolers. They provide basic guidelines to follow for successful home schooling as well as the study material at various levels of understanding. Home schoolers are strongly suggested to include these books in their curriculum:

1. The Home Schooling Mother: A Mom Just Like You: This book is written with the view that it is mostly the mother’s responsibility to provide encouragement and guidance to her home schooled child. In 1997, the writer, Vickie Farris, received the National Homemaker of the Year award from Eagle Forum. Through this book, light has been shed on the innovative and successful measures mothers can take to achieve the objectives of home schooling. This book helps the reader lead her child toward a successful career and helps in removing the obstacles and loopholes often found in home schooling.

2. “Home Schooling, the Right Choice” This is one of the best sellers throughout the world. This book draws inferences from a Senior Counsel of the Home School Legal Defense Association. Through this book, an attempt has been made to deliver the practical measures of improved home schooling, important concepts that need to be considered by various home schoolers at every age. This is a book that has largely influenced the congress in legalizing Home schooling in America.

3. “Survivor’s Guide to Home Schooling” This book is written in a very humorous way but it is able to send the right message to home schooling parents as well as students about the concept of imparting education at home. It provides the requisite encouragement and maintains an interest in the mind of reader. It provides innovative examples of home schooling, and ways to cater to the needs of children who are home schooled .

4. “Home to School”- This book reveals the growth of the concept of home schooling and cites the advantages of Home schooling over traditional ways of schooling. This book also makes a comparative analysis of the two approaches of studies and identifies the basic requirements for shifting toward home schooling.

These books, out of many, are preferred by many home schoolers throughout the world and answer most of the queries in the mind of a beginner. They can be a first step toward successful home learning.

By Mimi Rothschild

Part of the home-school lesson plan is to ensure that what you teach will provide meaningful instruction to your students. By taking a step back and establishing what you are going to teach, you can decide in advance what is important, and how to teach it.

An excellent way to do this is to create an outline of the instructions you plan to provide for the following year. The outline should provide an overview of what you plan to teach, allowing you to make sure that you have all the required materials (such as appropriate lab materials for a science class). It does not need to be overly detailed, but should be detailed enough that you can use it to develop lesson plans from it (anywhere from a few words to a paragraph is best). For example, “science” is too broad, but a “three-week section on evergreens” would be about right.

Scope of the subject should also be considered. As the student gets older, the scope should become tighter and tighter. For example, you should go from a world history section, to a specific nation, then to a particular state, with sections on specific groups. The idea is to provide a general background on the subject, and then a tighter focus that allows the student a more exacting background in following sections. Consider how you would teach a child about American oak trees: You would need to provide in general botany, and then deciduous trees, and then oak trees, and finally American oak trees, with each lesson thus building upon the former lessons.

Also consider the sequence in which you will teach the students. In this case, look at what you want to teach during the year, and when you want to teach it. Remember, relevancy should guide your hand. For example, a section on growing things is best taught in the spring, when things begin growing for the year. Conversely, a section on baseball is probably best not taught in the winter, when baseball games will not be held.

By considering scope and sequence, you can create lesson plans that are age appropriate as well. Also, you help to ensure that you can prepare ahead of time any materials necessary to teach the class; and that they are available (especially valuable when the materials are seasonal, such as fall leaves or certain kinds of fish- it’s difficult to give a lesson on salmon when none are running!). Planning ahead will definitely make teaching easier!

by Mimi Rothschild

Under United States law, home schooling is legal in every state and regulated individually depending on the state in which you reside. The home school environment in the broadest sense is defined as teaching within a home by a parent. However, with the growing popularity of home schooling, there are many variations on this definition such as learning co-operatives between parents, privately established home schools, and the Internet home school.

In some states, home schooled children are also allowed to participate in extracurricular activities and clubs established by the school district. These children are still considered home schooled, as the greatest percentage of their instruction is done outside of the government run classroom.

The Internet has made the lives of everyone much easier by providing a wealth of information. As a result of this, a new concept has arisen in the area of home schooling involving the use of an online or Internet home school. The Internet home school can provide teaching to children using a distance education format similar to an adult distance education program. There are two types of Internet home schools.

The first type of Internet home school consists of an independent private virtual school that provides all the lessons and materials necessary for your child to learn. They are not affiliated with any government agency and receive no funding from the government. The second type of Internet home school is basically a public school distance education program. They are not independent, but are instead affiliated with the local school board and receive funding from the government. While each type is called an Internet home school, there are different rules and regulations governing how they are conducted.

It is important to be aware of the type of Internet home school your child can attend since the laws and regulations governing each type will be different. In a private Internet home school, as long as you feel comfortable with the curriculum being taught and the progress your child is making, there should not be any problems. However in a publicly funded Internet home school, the government by law can determine what and how your child will be taught even if it is in your home. It is necessary to know the difference in the type of Internet home school you choose for your child in order to preserve the rights and freedoms of your children when it comes to home schooling.

For example, if your child attended an Internet home school funded by the public school board, there might be a difference of opinion between the parents and the school board if the children are being taught in an environment that is against the rules and regulations of the school board. If the parents have different morals, convictions, or philosophies on life than the school board, this could cause problems. Therefore, it is important to know what you and your children’s rights and freedoms are concerning home schooling so that they can be preserved for everyone to enjoy.

by Mimi Rothschild

Whether you have been homeschooling your children from the very beginning, or started after your children had been in public school for awhile, you will probably find that homeschooling teens adds a whole new perspective, and challenge, to the process. Statistics show that homeschooled children tend to score higher academically than their public-schooled peers, and this does give your homeschooled children an advantage as they enter their teen years; but there are other areas of their schooling that may need more attention.

Though the process of homeschooling has given your children a good perspective on learning, the teen years are a time when children really start to question themselves and the world around them. This is a normal maturing process, but it can be stressful for both teenagers and their families. The children that were once happy with how things were going along in their schooling and accepted their curriculums with little complaint may now begin to want to assert more of their own opinions and may suddenly be interested in changing many things about the process – even if you have been using the more regimented online homeschooling all along. This may cause some confusion and conflict where previously there was none. It is not the time, however, to panic. If you can see this as an opportunity to learn and grow along with your teenagers, and make sure they know that you acknowledge their budding maturity and that you respect their new ideas, the process can go much more smoothly than you think. The occasional “butting of heads” is bound to occur - and once again this is normal – but open and honest communication can go far in resolving any conflicts.

Sit down with your teenagers and ask them what they think should be added to their homeschooling that will reflect the fact that they are now much closer to becoming adults. Perhaps they would like to add more adult-oriented field trips, such as detailed tours through businesses or art museums. Your teenagers may have already decided which direction they want to take in life and what type of career they want to pursue, and their curriculum may need to change to focus more on their choices. And remember, college is just around the corner now, so your teenager may want to start adding a college course or two to their lesson plans just to test the waters. This can be a little intimidating for teenagers even if it is their idea, so be sure to offer a lot of encouragement.

The teen years can be an exciting yet trying time for homeschooling, and letting your teenagers know that you are willing to work with them to keep the process positive will help everyone stay happy and focused.

by Mimi Rothschild

All right, you’ve heard about homeschooling and are open to the idea. So, what comes next? How do you translate willing potential into successful action? As with most everything, information is power and the more you know about the aspects of homeschooling the better equipped you’ll be to accomplish your goal. Factors to be considered involve the external environment into which you would like to introduce homeschooling, as well the methods and practices of homeschooling itself.

Begin by being realistic about the time factor; homeschooling is not just about doing schoolwork for a few hours each day. You will also have to prepare lessons, grade assignments and exams, do “administrative work”, go outdoors for fieldtrips, physical activity, etc. There will be certain projects and tasks that don’t require your constant supervision, but others that will definitely need your undivided attention. You are the teacher… and teachers do more than teach!

Although research shows that homeschooled students can have the same social skills as their traditionally educated counterparts, homeschooling does require a more conscious effort to provide outside interaction. This should not be a problem, however, for families who are willing to join homeschooling groups, to be actively involved in the church or community, to organize play dates or to make outings with family and friends. A definite advantage when homeschooling is that you are more aware of whom your child is friends with.

Next, discuss with your spouse the financial ramifications. Homeschooling can be far less expensive than conventional schooling, but it does necessitate one of you being at home. For a family that is accustomed to a dual-income lifestyle, some re-prioritizing of expenses may be required.

Also, realize that the home of the homeschooled is not always spic and span. It might not be as easy to maintain a picture-perfect house when you’ve got a child in residence 24-hours a day. There will have less time available for doing chores, and the nature of homeschooling will add its own clutter. Accept this and go with the flow!

Another recommendation would be to get your entire family on board. It is much easier to adapt to homeschooling if both you and your spouse agree to give it an honest try. Make sure you spend some time explaining homeschooling to your child as well. It will be a long and winding road if your pupil is sullen and uncooperative.

Also, remember that endeavoring to homeschool doesn’t mean you can never again put your child back into a traditional school setting. Nothing is written in stone. Take it one year at a time so it’s not overwhelming and be aware that reassessment is always an option.

Apart from external considerations, you should also spend some time researching the various homeschooling approaches. Methods of homeschooling are as varied as the methods used to teach in conventional schools. Familiarizing yourself with the educational philosophies espoused by each approach will ensure you choose the right one for your child’s best interests.

The School-at-Home Method most closely resembles conventional public school methodology. It has a complete curriculum, traditional grading system and record keeping. The Waldorf Education Method places a strong emphasis on spiritual values, freethinking and creativity by balancing artistic, academic and practical activities. The “Unschooling” or Child-led Method is interest-initiated, with the help of parental encouragement and resources. The Montessori Method believes that restrictions should not be placed on a child because learning is a natural process that follows its own inherent laws.

These are but some of the methodologies available to homeschooling parents. Programs can be accelerated or accommodating, unit-based or community-based, structured or an eclectic mix of all the above. The most essential thing to remember is that the program is yours to design. Unlike with traditional schooling, homeschooling provides fantastic flexibility. You don’t need to wait for anyone else to chart a path for your child. It’s a family-fueled effort based on commitment, communication and love. And what better qualities can a parent impart?