Tips on How to Distinguish a Good Home Schooling Curriculum

With the expensive features of typical schools today, most parents had favored a new kind of program that will educate their children with lesser expenses. This program is known as homeschooling.

Basically, homeschooling is a great alternative for parents who cannot financially meet the steep costs of sending their children to schools. Parents who opted for homeschooling had decided to educate their children in their own home, where they can supervise and control the expenses needed in their children’s education.

Actually, parents who opted for homeschooling are more morally and spiritually bothered. They believe that most schools today can no longer suffice the required proper education needed by their children. Most parents contend that it would be better to teach their children at home where they can supervise their children’s education.

In a typical school, there are many instances that the curriculum provided by the institution is, more often than not, a deviation from the ethical standards of the society.

However, it does not go to show that opting for homeschooling is a perfect option because not all of the curriculum fitted for homeschooling are created equal. Therefore, it is still important that parents should be able to distinguish a good homeschooling curriculum from those that will only waste your money.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Interaction and socialization aspects

A good homeschooling curriculum should put more emphasis on socialization and interaction. Since the children are mostly at home while learning their lessons, it is best if a homeschooling curriculum have schedules for interaction and socialization with other children.

2. Flexibility

It is important for a homeschool curriculum to be flexible. It should not constrain you to stick to their program even if you find out in the end that it will not work for you and your child.

A good homeschooling curriculum should let you change if there are things that need to be changed.

3. Comfortable and Corresponding

It is extremely important that the homeschooling curriculum that you will choose is appropriate for you and your child. You should both be comfortable with the curriculum.

Even if the program sounds too good to miss, as long as you and you child are not comfortable with it, then it will never work for both of you.

Therefore, if these three factors are present in the curriculum of the homeschooling program that you have chosen, the program will work for you. If not, then it was never good enough to foster your child’s education.

Tips on How to Lower Your Expenses in Home Schooling Your Kids

Every time parents visit a school, they always have a set of questions in mind: What are the values and principles being espoused by the school? Is academic excellence the sole priority or do they put equal weight in the talents and capabilities of each child? Will their children get lost in a sea of faces, or will they be given the proper attention?

Parents have tons of other questions in mind. But as always, the conversation goes back to how absolutely expensive the tuition fees are these days! It’s overwhelming how grade school tuition fees have grown to be much more expensive over the years.

Moreover, aside from the expenses, many parents are getting worried about the fact that most of the troubles that teenagers are hooked into are usually school-related or the event happened in school.

For this reason, many parents opted to homeschool. However, it does not necessarily mean that homeschooling is free. It can only lower your expenses but not totally erase the costs.

Hence, it is still important to lower your expenses in homeschooling your kids. Parents should also be meticulous when it comes to homeschooling methods because not all of these programs are beneficial or favorable.

Here’s a list of some tips in order to lower your expenses of homeschooling your kids:

1. Check the program if it has a flexible agreement.

In order to lower or lessen your expenses in case you want to homeschool your child, it is best that you verify if it's program is flexible. This means that it will allow you to make some changes in case you find some items that may not work for your children.

2. Do the math

Compute and compare prices of books and other materials needed in teaching your children. Indeed, getting the best materials for your children to ensure that your children can match the level of education that typical students acquire in school can be a good point. However, it does not mean that you have to go all the way in piling up your expenses just because you want the best for your child.

3. Focus on your children’s important needs

There are many things to consider, but to lower your expenses, it is best to focus more on your children’s needs. The accessories may be bought later.

Indeed, homeschool is a great alternative to expensive schools but it does not mean it is free. Hence, one should find ways to lower their expenses in order to have less financial problems with homeschooling.

Materials That You Will Need for Homeschooling

Homeschooling may be unstructured but the unstructuredness lies on the time schedule of the lessons. Unlike with the traditional school setting, students of the homeschooling program are allowed to work at their own pace and to learn what they can learn at a certain period of time.

They are not required to finish a coursework without totally mastering the lesson. Because they do not have to learn alongside other kids, they are given more freedom to fully understand the lessons. In fact, some parents even allow their kids to go back and review previous lessons that they have not yet mastered.

Some are also given the chance to concentrate on subjects that they have not yet mastered while putting off the lessons of subjects that they find easy. For instance, if a child is good in English but not in Math, they can actually forgo with the lesson in English for a day and concentrate on their Math lessons. With homeschooling everything is tailorfitted to suit the needs of the child.

Still, like the traditional school setting, there are materials that are needed to teach the subjects to the kids. For instance, a curriculum is needed to give structure to the lessons. This is important as a basic flow is needed to give direction to the lessons. This is especially true with parents who have no previous experience in handling children or in teaching lessons.

Another material that should be used in homeschooling program is the worksheets. Unlike with the ordinary classroom setting where there are exams administered, with homeschooling program there are no tests per se, but there are worksheets that students need to answer so that their parents can determine their progress and their understanding of the lesson. This is where parents will base their decision to continue with the lesson and review or to proceed with the next lesson in the curriculum.

Visual aids are also essential in teaching. This is especially needed with subjects that are hard to fathom without concrete materials such as Science and Math. It will also be easier and more interesting for students to have visual aids when they learn a particular subjects as most learners are visual oriented.

Activities are also essential in the homeschooling program as it puts the fun into the learning. This can be done inside the house with lessons of Math and Science incorporated in domestic tasks such as cooking and planting. Outside activities such as visits to the zoos, museum and garden parks will also help in making kids understand the practicality of what they are learning.

This content is provided by Low Jeremy and may be used only in its entirety with all links included. For more info on Home Schooling, please visit http://home-schooling.articlekeep.com

Benefits of Homeschooling

A wise man once said, "We can teach our children to have courage, faith, and endurance and show them how to learn, and they can teach us to laugh, to sing, and to love." In other words, each family member has valuable lessons to teach the family.

When a family homeschools, this reciprocal relationship is magnified. Homeschooling participants are affected by more than just the person who sit at the homeschool table. All generations create and reinforce the bond between family members. Home schooling families spend their time laughing, learning, playing and living with each other 24/7.

You can choose the best curriculum to promote an intrinsic love of lifelong learning. The homeschool curriculum is flexible. The parameters are determined by the best teachers available, the parents, who know and love their children.

Learning never stops in the homeschool environment. The parents are not just lecturers or observers. They are active participants who expand, explain and encourage their children to be inquisitive and explore the specific areas that interest them without the constraints of arbitrary rules set up by an outside source.

Another benefit to homeschooling is that the parents model and reinforce valuable behavior and deemphasize undesirable behavior in a natural manner.

Historically several generations lived in the same home. Everyone benefited from this multi-generational living arrangement, coming away with valuable lessons that cannot be taught in a book. Plus most of the time there was the added advantage of the multi-grade/level schoolhouse for the formal education.

Presently we often put the older generation in nursing homes when they get too bothersome (only to visit them on holidays), and we settle for a failing public school system that has been tasked with being everything to everyone but alienates most participants.

Homeschooling is the best of both worlds. It's good for both the family and for your children's education.

The benefits of home schooling are limitless. As a parent who homeschooled three children, I feel that homeschooling is the greatest gift a parent can give their child. Try it. You’ll like it!

Pam Connolly is a professional educator with the San Diego School District. She has been teaching kids how to type for over 11 years. To teach your child typing, visit http://www.1stoplearntotype.com

Developing Your Lesson Plans

As a homeschooling parent you are acutely aware of how important it is to have daily plans and be organized. Everyone has their own methods and tactics. And most of these plans certainly weren’t perfect right out of the gate and have evolved over time.

As homeschoolers one of the greatest benefits is that of having great flexibility with how you educate your child. But even with this great educational flexibility you shouldn’t really be sailing without a compass.

When it comes to educating, that compass is your lesson plan.

Although homeschooling generally doesn’t require exacting lesson plans to be turned in, however, not having one at all certainly isn’t a good approach to your child’s education.

Let’s take a look at some general concepts and commonalities about lesson plans that may assist you in developing yours.

First of all, you have to start your thinking with what it is you are going to teach. From there, you’ll need what your objectives for the lesson are. In other words, you’ll want to be able to observe specific behaviors your child is going to be able to do or perform as a result of your teaching. You want the outcomes of your teaching to be measurable and quantifiable; so the more specific the better it will be.

With this in mind you’ll want to be descriptive with your objectives. This not only provides feedback on how your child is progressing, but it also gives you as the educator great feedback on your effectiveness. You should also have some sort of description or statement of how you will determine whether your lesson plan objectives have been met.

Take some time to determine what your child already knows about the subject matter and what it is they need to know (prerequisites) in order to successfully complete the lessons.

As you are making your first pass at your lesson plan, be sure to include somewhere in it any materials you will need to accomplish the objectives that you have described. Materials not only necessary for the lessons themselves; but be sure to include any materials you may need for the evaluation process.

Of course your lesson plans will include much greater detail than is given here, but just to get you started here is a quick outline or review of the thought process that goes into putting a lesson plan together.

Determine what it is you are going to teach and what the priority outcomes of your teaching will be… what your child will be able to do as a result of completing the work and the activities contained in your lesson plan.

Determine what it is your child already knows about this subject matter or will need to know. Having a grasp on this will allow for a smooth transition into your current planning and into the next or related level of the subject.

Have a plan on how you are going to facilitate the learning of this subject matter. Be sure to think about any materials that you will need, such as manipulative objects for your child.

And finally, have a method of evaluation; both for the behavior of the child and the effectiveness of your lesson plan and your teaching techniques.

Once you make the loop a few times through the lesson planning process you’ll soon develop a template that works best for you. Using a detailed lesson plan will greatly increase the efficiency of your teaching as well as the quality of the child’s learning time.

Mary Joyce is a former educator & homeschooler who`s website homeschool-curriculum-4u.com offers resources and articles on homeschool curriculum, & more.

Tips on How You Can Get Started with Home Schooling Your Child

Education is a very important aspect in a human being’s existence. He needs education to nurture his craft, hone his talents, and provide him with all the possible answers to all of the wonders in this world.

Parents know this fact, that’s why they would always want the best for their children. In this manner, when the concept of home schooling was introduced into the society, they have been astonished with the fact that there are still other ways in educating their children.

At first, opting for home schooling is such an overwhelming matter. Most parents thought that it is impossible to teach a child through home schooling method.

On its basic concept, home schooling refers to the alternative way of educating children. It differs from the usual type of schooling because the learning process is done at home and the teachers are usually the parents themselves. They only use a particular type of teaching method that can be obtained in different institutions that provide home schooling programs.

Home schooling had provided many advantages and benefits to both parents and children. That’s why many parents have opted for home schooling in providing their child the indispensable education that their children need.

However, some parents find home schooling a daunting task. So, for parents who find home schooling a bit of an overwhelming task, here is a list of some tips on how to get you started in home schooling your child:

1. Arrive at a decision

The problem that most parents encounter when opting for home schooling is the fact that they find it hard to finally decide whether to home school their child or not. This is because deciding on this kind of thing is relatively important especially because the future of the child is dependent on it.

However, the choice should be based on the capacity of the parents to conform to the requirements in home schooling their child. They should be able to wholly participate with whatever items that were entailed in the program in order to provide the best education for their children.

2. Keep in mind that home schooling is a process

Since home schooling is a process, parents who want to home school their children should take things one at a time. For instance, if they have a pre-school child, they should focus more on what pre-school students should learn. They should not delve more on how to teach higher levels of education that are fit for students in higher levels.

3. Know your state laws regarding home schooling

In the United States, each state has its own laws regarding home schooling. Hence, it is best to know what your state asserts about home schooling so that you can provide the best education for your children in conformity with the law.

4. Look for a “support group”

Home schooling should not be the sole responsibility of the parents. That is why it is important for the parents to find a local “support group” wherein they can mingle with other homeschoolers who can provide them with additional pointers regarding the process.

Each member in the “support group” can help each other regarding the best technique in teaching their children.

5. Do your homework

Nothing can get you started on the right track than doing your homework first. In this way, you will be able to know the important details you need to be familiar with in order to provide the best education for your children.

Knowing what you have to do will give you the best guidance in home schooling.

6. Identify your child’s learning manner

It is best to assess your child’s learning manner first before you choose on a particular home schooling method. Conforming to your child’s learning manner will provide the best way on how to home school your child.

There are many choices available when teaching your child through a home school program. Though it is still best to always pattern the program that you will choose on your child’s learning style.

7. Organize the things needed in home schooling

Just like a typical school, home schooling your children would also need different materials and a proper place where they can easily and comfortable learn new things each day.

Hence, it’s best to organize the place first by providing them with an adequate space for their learning. Most children would respond to the process easily if they were comfortable with the place where their classes are held.

8. Have a budget for home schooling

Some parents tend to over indulge with the materials needed in home schooling. It does not necessarily mean that because you have lowered your expenses because you have opted to home school, as compared to sending your children into a typical public or private school, you can spend more.

It is still a must that you have to set a budget for home schooling. There are many books and other materials that can be found on the Internet which are definitely priced cheaper.

Indeed, home schooling is not just a process but also a lifestyle. It’s something that parents should be best acquainted with in order to give their children with the best education they need.