Education is one of should do list parent’s care for their children and homeschooling become one of your choice to give your children the best education. There are so many benefits you can offer your children through home schooling. And if you have made the decision to home school, you need to know how to get started.You need to do some research about all stuff that will be needed for homeschooling, the subject are:
Homeschooling teachers
The teacher is the key to the success of homeschooling. In most cases, the teacher is a parent or a close relative. In some cases, parents may divide the subjects between them. If you feel anxious about your skill or knowledge, relax. There are countless homeschooling resources that are aimed at helping you. Professional curriculum packages, support groups, online help desks, virtual schools and library resources are all available. When you start out, you may want to make use of the commercial curriculum packages. Readymade software also allows you to record and log important achievements.
But, if you want to take a professional educator for your child so do research to find any local or state based groups that deal with home schooling. These organizations should be able to offer you the best picture of home schooling in your state. You might also try to join some bulletin boards or list services that deal with home school parents. This will give you an outlet to ask any questions you might have of people who are in the same position you are.
Local support groups are an excellent source of help, ideas and material. This is where you get to meet experienced homeschoolers, who will be more than happy to offer their insight and advice.
Grading in homeschooling
Once you've done your research, you are ready to decide how you want to structure your child's program. You may want to go with a structured approach. This will work much like a traditional school Math will be completed at a certain hour of the day. English will always follow lunch, and so on. If that doesn't work well for you, perhaps you should try an interest approach. With this method, you would focus your efforts on what your child is currently interested in or surrounded by. For example, if the family is suffering from the flu, perhaps you would do some study related to that condition. If your child loves dinosaurs, you could focus your efforts on that. You could also base your approach around your child's learning style. Finally, you might consider basing your home school method around an educational philosophy that you appreciate. For example, you may want to take a Montessori approach.
Grading in homeschooling is done by the teacher-in-charge. In most of the cases, this means mom! In this situation, grading can get a bit tricky because it can be a little difficult to grade your own child. There is no benchmark against which you can evaluate your child's performance. In most cases, you also have no awareness of how well other children are doing. So, obviously the traditional method of grading is perhaps not the best method to follow.
Record keeping in Homeschooling
The importance of record keeping cannot be ignored. It is not only legally required in various States, but also provides important milestones in your child's learning experience. Record keeping is important not only for the sake of regulations. It is also an exciting way to record and document the learning process of the child. When most of the learning is done through play and there is no clear cut index of topics that have to be covered, it is necessary for the parent to keep some sort of a log which records the child's progress.
The records you keep can be as simple as a daily journal, or as elaborate as a software program. If you participate in a support group, you probably have set forms and requirements. But even so, keeping track of daily work makes reporting easy and efficient.
There are various record keeping methods used by various homeschools. Some of the more popular ones are:
- Journal: This can be maintained by the teacher or the student. This basically aims to keep a log of what was learned and what was done. Recording memorable events that happened in the course of the year is a great way to reminisce later on.
- Daily planner: Lay out the plans and the assignments for the week in a teacher's planning notebook. Check each item as it is covered. Maintain a separate area where any additional things can be recorded. This includes educational trips, visits and videos etc. Any extra topics that were covered are also recorded in this area. Make a summary every quarter.
- Portfolios:This consists of a collection of varied materials that show what the child has achieved and done during the course of study. Portfolio assessment is a very effective way to chart the child's progress. It gives structure to the otherwise loose and flexible form of schooling called homeschooling. A drawing portfolio will consist of some paintings or sketches that are considered the best in that quarter. A language portfolio may consist of essays, stories, reading-logs, spelling samples or letters. Progress in mathematics, fine arts, history, science and social studies can all be recorded this way. The biggest advantage is that portfolio assessment places control in the hands of the children. Having a tangible record of what they have established eggs them on to greater heights.
Financing homeschooling
When people talk about teaching their children from home in the absence of any definite or structured curriculum, it is perhaps natural to think that homeschooling is cheap. But this is far from the truth. Although homeschooling does not stick to any particular text, this is perhaps more of a bane than a boon, when it comes to finance.
When you need to make sure that your children receives state-of-the-art education so that they can compete with regular school goers, expenses will naturally mount. The actual cost of educating a child at home is surprisingly high. Up-to-date textbooks, course materials, a library, computing equipment, lighting, specially designed furniture all cost money. In this case, the cost may be slightly lesser when it comes to homeschooling the second child. Add to this any additional tuition cost for tutors who come to teach subjects that cannot be handled by parents, like higher-level math or science. The total cost can be a bit mind boggling.
You can add your others subject to be in research list to complete your preparations before start homeschooling. These research will clear your mind about how to start homeschooling and I wish the homeschooling become your perfect choice for your beloved child educations.
