As you and your child take steps forward in homeschooling, it is always a good idea to stay aware of your child’s interests. In most public school systems, career planning and counseling usually don’t become important issues until high school. Homeschooling has an advantage in that you and your child can focus on his or her unique interests much earlier. This gives you the time to research possible career options in unique and positive ways. The homeschool environment is flexible, and as your child enters the middle school years, or even before that, you and he or she can adapt part of your homeschooling curriculum to include career counseling and investigation.
One of the ways that you and your child can start integrating career planning into your homeschooling curriculum is to set aside one day per week as “career day”. On this day, you can use career counseling software to help your child match her interests with different career options, as well as use the Internet to do research on different careers. You can also take part of the day to visit professionals who work in fields that your child is interested. Or, you could visit companies that specialize in areas that interest your child. Most companies are happy to help homeschooling parents in this way, as long as they receive sufficient notice. The flexibility of homeschooling helps encourage your child to engage in careful planning to find the career that will fit him or her best. As your child enters high school age, your homeschooling curriculum can begin to include college planning, and you can incorporate homeschooling courses that are geared specifically toward your child’s career interests.
Homeschooling provides an optimum environment for developing your child’s interests, and for helping him or her gain the confidence to attain his or her life goals.
A GED has long been an acceptable replacement for a high school diploma, but now those who are homeschooled no longer have to make a choice between the two.
The Morningstar Academy in Florida has the ability to graduate homeschooled students with a traditional high school diploma. How? Simply have your homeschooled student demonstrate that he or she has completed at least 18 credits (1 credit per class) worth of studies at home through The MorningStar Academy. It is recommended that homeschooled students complete at least 22 credits if they will be attending college. No matter what age your homeschool child is, if she has done the work, the diploma is his or hers. Courses done through homeschooling are more than enough to fulfill these requirements. A combination of public or private high school credits and courses taken through the Morningstar Academy will work as well.
A credit is earned when a student spends 180 days studying a particular subject. Often half credits are granted for 90 days of work or more in one subject of study.
Documenting credits is as simple as printing out the MorningStar transcript. Volunteer work, internships, and apprenticeships all count toward study time in a particular subject. This includes classes taken in organized sports, art, through homeschool co-ops, foreign languages, and AP credited courses (after the requisite AP exam has been taken).
It isn’t necessary for a homeschooled student to have a high school diploma in order to get into college or to get a job, but in many situations, it can make it a great deal easier. The Morningstar Academy is one way to make that happen for your homeschooled student.
Imagine working out a complicated science experiment with your child on your dining room table, or going for a field trip in the family car. Parents who homeschool their children end up creating these activities for their children. The decision to homeschool is not for everyone, but for those parents who are capable of the self-sacrifice needed for homeschooling, the investment of time is well-worth it.
The number of children learning at home is rapidly growing, and one of the reasons for this is that more parents are realizing that homeschooling for their children is a viable option. Homeschooling is a good choice for parents who want to make sure that their children are learning at their own pace, according to their particular learning style, and in an environment that reinforces their values. Many parents decide to homeschool because they do not want their children to be affected by peer pressure and negative influences in school that often conflict with religious and moral teachings. Instead of sending their children to a distant and expensive private school, they opt for homeschooling.
Parents who homeschool their children need not worry about whether or not their children can get into the college of their choice. Students who have been educated at home have been accepted at such prestigious universities as Yale, Rice, Stanford, Dartmouth and many others. College admissions departments know that homeschooling produces students who are well-organized, self-motivated and who can use their time well.
Many people advocate homeschooling for a variety of reasons. One thing that many people never think about is why some public school administrators are so opposed to homeschooling. While some may honestly believe that they can do a better job educating your children, some are not so honest. Do you ever get the feeling that your local school district is using you and your children? That may be exactly what is happening.
Schools are funded based on how many students they have enrolled in their schools. The more students they have, the more money that particular school receives to operate. Teachers and parents have been complaining for years that classrooms are overcrowded and ineffectual, but the fact remains that it is in the school’s best financial interest to get as many kids in that school as the fire chief will allow. Homeschooling removes your child from this environment and places him or her in one that doesn’t look at her like a dollar sign, but as a special and unique human being that is thirsting to learn.
By homeschooling your child, you are removing him or her from this destructive environment. Homeschooling allows your child to receive the special attention that he or she deserves. Your child is not a dollar sign and they are not worth X amount of dollars per year when they are at homeschool. The school cannot misuse money associated with your child’s enrollment if he or she is not enrolled in the school and is instead at homeschool. Furthermore, even though your child is a participant in homeschooling, he or she may have access to some of the good things about public schools. Children in homeschool can play sports or participate in the bands and choirs at some local schools. They can sometimes be involved in clubs and some districts allow children in homeschool to attend foreign language classes.
Preparing for college requires the same curriculum for homeschooling students as for children who are educated in public or private schools. Colleges and Universities recommend that students take four years of English, including grammar literature and composition. They recommend four years of math, up to trigonometry or calculus. They recommend four years of history and four years of science. Homeschooling students, like other students, should also learn a foreign language, and computer science. Extracurricular activities, such as sports, music or drama, are also important on a college application. Homeschooling students, fortunately, are often allowed to participate in these activities at their public school. Parents who homeschool their children should also encourage volunteer work and/or summer work.
Some parents who homeschool their children are concerned that they do not have the expertise to teach certain subjects, such as higher level math. They may feel that, in a homeschooling setting, they do not have access to the same materials. For this reason, many homeschooling parents register with an accredited distance education provider. You can find online lectures ideal for homeschooling, as well as lessons given by certified teachers. Make sure that these distance learning providers are accredited and have certified teachers.
Homeschooling is not a disadvantage on a college application. On the contrary, many admissions departments are aware that homeschooling students are more organized and self-motivated than ordinary students. Students who were homeschooled have gone on to attend such prestigious universities as Dartmouth, Rice, Stanford and many others. Students who were homeschooled are able to deal with the independent study required of college students.
When homeschooling your child in the early years, focus was mainly geared toward basic educational goals such as learning reading, writing, math, and science. As your child enters the middle school and high school years, however, your homeschooling may begin to focus on specific interests that may influence the path of your child’s future career. Homeschooling your adolescent child gives him or her the advantage of being involved enough in his education to be able to gear more of his studies toward his burgeoning interests and possible career choices. The Internet can be a valuable resource for homeschooling during this time, and you and your child should take the time to do the necessary online research, while homeschooling, to find the best resources to help him or her with his or her career counseling.
There are excellent web sites available for career counseling for adolescents. The best career counseling web sites will help you and your adolescent child focus a good part of your homeschool routine toward developing the necessary curriculum that will help him achieve his career goals. If your child is unsure of which career path he would like to take, a good career counseling web site can help him to match the best careers with his main interests. The homeschooling environment allows a child to help mold his curriculum, and this in turn is an excellent way for him to find out what interests him the most. With the homeschooling advantage already on your side, parents and students can use the Internet to find out where interests will lead an individual in life. Also, you will discover how to gear the homeschool environment toward deciding on and pursuing a chosen career.
For some children, refusing to go to school is a plain and simple misbehavior. For many other children however, refusing to attend school is a symptom of a more serious problem. It may not simply be a matter of not wanting to go to school for these children. There are very real fears involving panic and dread associated with going to
school. Refusing school attendance is a problem for about 5% of school aged children. For many of these children, homeschooling may be the best option.
Academic underperformance is one of the problems associated with school refusal. Homeschooling aids greatly with this effect of school refusal. Homeschooling solves this difficulty by removing the stress of actually having to physically go to school. At liberty from the panic and fear associated with school, homeschooling allows these children to reach their full academic potential. At homeschool they can focus on their studies instead of on their fears.
The constant stress associated with school attendance can cause school refusal as well as difficulties in relationships with children and families. The children are constantly stressed out as a result of the panic and fear they associate with school. Homeschooling can help repair these relationships. When children are homeschooled, the major source of stress in their lives has been removed. Consequently, children begin to relate to their peers and families more appropriately once they start homeschooling.
Homeschooling may not be a cure-all for a child with school refusal. The child may suffer from an anxiety disorder or another social disorder that needs to be treated by medical professionals. However, homeschooling can alleviate some of the problems associated with school refusal and can allow your child and the rest of your family to feel normal again. For many parents of children with school refusal, homeschooling is a key part of the solution to the problem.
Do you remember the days before you had children? Do you remember the days before homeschooling? Think hard. The memory may be hazy now but there was a time when you had time to listen to music that wasn’t sung by ex-Mouseketeers and did not include the ABC song. You had clothing that wasn’t stained with spit-up or jelly – or “borrowed” occasionally for use as someone else’s nose tissue. You even had time to take baths, not showers, with those little oil beads and the occasional candle – none of which spent their down time locked in a child-proofed cabinet.
Those were the days when you thought that there would magically come a day that you would be “ready” for parenthood and were already quite sure what the word meant. Your children would be well-behaved, honest, polite, and intelligent due to your devoted homeschooling efforts. In a word, perfect.
Now that you have children, you know the truth. And the truth is; you know nothing about children or being a parent. You know less especially about being the parent of a homeschooled child. None of what you read in those parenting books turned out to be applicable to life as a homeschooling parent.
So, how do you go about surviving something that has been happening since the beginning of time (pregnancy, childbirth, motherhood and then the insanity of repeating the process) and has yet to be understood well enough to be described in the countless books on the subject? Homeschooling books alone don’t cover parenting and parenting books rarely, if ever, touch on homeschooling.
You can ask someone who has been through it all. Ask someone who is in the same community or homeschooling group as you and your children are. Ask someone who has raised their children with the same beliefs, homeschooled their children as diligently as you do, and someone who was as frustrated as you are when their kids were the same age as your own. Books are written without regard to culture.
It is impossible to parent and homeschool without the influence of your own culture. Finding someone who lives and homeschools exactly as you do, under the same auspices, is almost impossible. It is unions of advice that will help you navigate the waters of homeschooling and motherhood and survive. Ask those you respect when you have questions and one day, when a young mother in your homeschool group asks you, you may know the answer.
Many parents that choose to homeschool their children often wonder if they should readily prepare their children for college. Is preparing your child for college while homeschooling really worth it? The rising costs of tuition to afford the required college curriculum may make parents reconsider their child’s future in terms of education. This needn’t be the case. Despite the rising tuition costs, recent studies have concluded that all students benefit by earning a college degree. They end up with increased earnings and additional career opportunities.
The earning potential of a homeschooled child that later attends college far outweighs the earning potential of those students that participate in homeschooling and then immediately enter into fulltime employment. In fact, in terms of lifetime earnings, the homeschooled student that attends college can earn a million or more dollars than a homeschooled student that does not. Therefore, despite the high costs of tuition, it is far better to prepare your child for college when homeschooling them.
Additionally, there are countless advantages to having a college degree. There are advantages that far outweigh the monetary earning potential of such degrees. For instance, after homeschooling, a child who attends college for 2 to 4 years has the doors open for a better lifestyle in the future. Individuals that possess a college degree are offered better job opportunities. With such opportunities, the student can then better provide for themselves and their families. Moreover, the homeschooled student learns more about the world when attending college, and they also gain excellent socialization skills. Clearly, parents that are homeschooling their children should consider college as an important educational step in their child’s future.
Psychologists have consistently shown that people are happiest with jobs that suit their personalities. A person can earn a six-figure salary, be effective in his or her profession, and still despise his or her job because it does not suit his or her core personality. The advantage of homeschooling is that it teaches children to think for themselves and not give in to peer pressure. Homeschooled students have a keen awareness of themselves and homeschooling provides them with the tools to make independent decisions.
Since homeschooling does not impose a restrictive schedule on students, a child is allowed to focus more time on developing his or her abilities. This could make a home schooling student more advanced in his or her chosen area than a conventionally educated child. Homeschooling can help a student uncover his or her abilities and prepare for a vocation, or calling, rather than for just a job. One advantage of homeschooling is that parents, who are directly involved in their child’s education, also witness evidence of his or her strengths.
A poll by the Wall Street Journal has shown that 50% of Americans would change jobs if given the choice. Perhaps many of these people impulsively got into a particular field because of pressure or prestige. A homeschooled student is not faced with these kinds of pressures and is encouraged to get to know him or herself from a young age. Homeschooling gives a child a supportive environment in which to make decisions, and homeschooling provides a student with the confidence to make the right career goals.
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