Recently two moms asked me for some homeschooling tips. Though I haven’t homeschooled any of my own children for five years, I have taught homeschoolers for twenty-seven years. Below, then, are some general ideas and methods that worked for me during this time. Most of these came about through trial and error. And most veteran homeschoolers will recognize the validity of most, if not all, of these ideas. If you have tips of our own, please send comments!
So…let’s begin.
So…let’s begin.
Routine in schooling is vital. Routine does not mean boredom. Routine allows us to focus on tasks at hand—in this case, schooling. Children, teens, and adults generally like routine. In fact, excitement comes when routine is broken.
Buy some plastic bins for all school materials. At the end of each school day return all books, writing supplies, and so on to these bins. Otherwise, you will spend part of the school day constantly searching for your materials.
Establish one place in your house for your school. This may be a separate room or it may be the dining room table. If during school your eleven-year-old wants to go outside and read, fine. But having a single location for school helps set the routine.
Start school at the same time every day. I would suggest 8:30, but will leave that to you. Often your days will veer far from where you wanted them to go. Kids will have accidents, household appliances will break, someone will get sick. By starting at the same time every day, you will at least feel as if the day will go according to plan.
Start school with a prayer. There are two reasons for doing so. First, prayer is efficacious. Second, it tells your students that school has begun. In the classes I teach to homeschoolers, the students and I pray before each class. If you are not a believer, then begin with a moment of silence or a meditation. The idea is to encourage the students to focus and to signal a start to the school day.
Stress three subjects: reading, writing, and mathematics. These are the building blocks for all other subjects: physics, history, foreign languages, and so on. The student who masters these Big Three will command whatever other study undertaken.
Reading deserves a special note for those with more than two children. The sooner the older ones learn to read, the easier schooling becomes for the teacher.
Inspiration only goes so far when dealing with adolescents. With many, you must force them to do their schoolwork. It does little good to say to a ten-year-old: “You need math so you can go to college someday.” Develop a routine and this often overcomes resistance. The same is true of using interesting books and materials. If these fail, then you’ll need to make them “do school.” Use leg irons, if necessary. If you can’t do that, then you probably need to find an alternate means of education.
Twenty-seven years ago, I taught my daughter, my first-born, to read from Sam Blumenfeld’s How To Tutor. Later we used his Alpha-Phonics. We used Saxon Math, which some parents and students dislike for its repetitiveness, but which stood my own children in good stead, as evidenced by their high marks on the SATs and annual tests. Writing was more difficult. When I started teaching other homeschoolers courses in literature and history, my own children benefited immensely by participating in these classes.
But I am not recommending these curricula. A quarter of a century has brought astounding changes in the materials available to home-schooled students. All sorts of different print curricula plus the hundreds of options on the computer have made an education at home both easier and even more desirable. Explore those options. Look at them online, visit home school fairs, and talk to home-school parents. In a real sense, we are living right now in a golden age of homeschooling.
As children grow, they generally want more peer companionship. Seek out homeschool co-ops or create one of your own. Look in your community for homeschool groups and activities. Recreation league teams, Scouts, and church youth groups also offer opportunities for your children to make friends.
Though many families take the summer off from school, I would recommend lightly schooling throughout the summer. Some reading everyday, a little math, a journal: we found that by continuing school throughout the summer, even an hour a day, helped keep our kids in a routine, which in turn kept them happier.
Seek out non-academic learning opportunities. Sewing and cooking classes through 4-H or co-ops, apprenticeships in woodworking or automotive repair, participation in debate clubs or theater: these and more are available to homeschoolers, and their flexible schedules make them even more readily available.
Finally, remember that homeschooling can provide a wonderful education and can truly strengthen your family, but it is hard, get-down and get your hands dirty work. It is a thousand little details every day.
Buy some plastic bins for all school materials. At the end of each school day return all books, writing supplies, and so on to these bins. Otherwise, you will spend part of the school day constantly searching for your materials.
Establish one place in your house for your school. This may be a separate room or it may be the dining room table. If during school your eleven-year-old wants to go outside and read, fine. But having a single location for school helps set the routine.
Start school at the same time every day. I would suggest 8:30, but will leave that to you. Often your days will veer far from where you wanted them to go. Kids will have accidents, household appliances will break, someone will get sick. By starting at the same time every day, you will at least feel as if the day will go according to plan.
Start school with a prayer. There are two reasons for doing so. First, prayer is efficacious. Second, it tells your students that school has begun. In the classes I teach to homeschoolers, the students and I pray before each class. If you are not a believer, then begin with a moment of silence or a meditation. The idea is to encourage the students to focus and to signal a start to the school day.
Stress three subjects: reading, writing, and mathematics. These are the building blocks for all other subjects: physics, history, foreign languages, and so on. The student who masters these Big Three will command whatever other study undertaken.
Reading deserves a special note for those with more than two children. The sooner the older ones learn to read, the easier schooling becomes for the teacher.
Inspiration only goes so far when dealing with adolescents. With many, you must force them to do their schoolwork. It does little good to say to a ten-year-old: “You need math so you can go to college someday.” Develop a routine and this often overcomes resistance. The same is true of using interesting books and materials. If these fail, then you’ll need to make them “do school.” Use leg irons, if necessary. If you can’t do that, then you probably need to find an alternate means of education.
Twenty-seven years ago, I taught my daughter, my first-born, to read from Sam Blumenfeld’s How To Tutor. Later we used his Alpha-Phonics. We used Saxon Math, which some parents and students dislike for its repetitiveness, but which stood my own children in good stead, as evidenced by their high marks on the SATs and annual tests. Writing was more difficult. When I started teaching other homeschoolers courses in literature and history, my own children benefited immensely by participating in these classes.
But I am not recommending these curricula. A quarter of a century has brought astounding changes in the materials available to home-schooled students. All sorts of different print curricula plus the hundreds of options on the computer have made an education at home both easier and even more desirable. Explore those options. Look at them online, visit home school fairs, and talk to home-school parents. In a real sense, we are living right now in a golden age of homeschooling.
As children grow, they generally want more peer companionship. Seek out homeschool co-ops or create one of your own. Look in your community for homeschool groups and activities. Recreation league teams, Scouts, and church youth groups also offer opportunities for your children to make friends.
Though many families take the summer off from school, I would recommend lightly schooling throughout the summer. Some reading everyday, a little math, a journal: we found that by continuing school throughout the summer, even an hour a day, helped keep our kids in a routine, which in turn kept them happier.
Seek out non-academic learning opportunities. Sewing and cooking classes through 4-H or co-ops, apprenticeships in woodworking or automotive repair, participation in debate clubs or theater: these and more are available to homeschoolers, and their flexible schedules make them even more readily available.
Finally, remember that homeschooling can provide a wonderful education and can truly strengthen your family, but it is hard, get-down and get your hands dirty work. It is a thousand little details every day.