Thinking about homeschooling? Want to avoid the homeschooling mistakes most people make? Below you’ll find what we’ve discovered from homeschooling our 5 children from birth to college.

In 1987 homeschooling was just as newborn as our first child. We looked at homeschooling for a number of reasons which were mostly related to our academic goals. And yet, our first child’s Cerebral Palsy tipped the scales. The simple nature of having a young and impressionable soul around active and undiscerning ‘friends’ made it clear that we should homeschool.. We really didn’t want our son settling into confusion about what he was capable of doing. So, we decided to give it a try until he was old enough to physically function well around others who were his age, but weren’t his friends. We thought it would be through third grade—it lasted until he went to the University of Texas in Austin.

Now, these 23 plus years later, we know seven things that we make sure all of our homeschool coaching students start to understand–inside and out. If you want a successful homeschool embrace these seven (or violate any of these at your own risk)!

Define Homeschool Success for Yourself
Use a Curriculum that Matches Your Definition
Don’t Compete with Public or Private Schools
Find a Support Group(s) or Network
Learn to Use Systems for Success
Make Discipline a Nice Word
Find a Coach

Here’s a quick summary to get you started:

Define Homeschool Success for Yourself

Definitions determine everything. If your definition of “learning math” is to ‘get through the book’—then things will turn out very different from the family whose definition is to “learn how to do math.” The definition for homeschooling success that we use is our basic understanding of education. Education is learning how to learn. We want our students to develop skills for learning so they are prepared for anything. How sad when people think knowing information means education…especially when information changes and your are obsolete because you didn’t keep learning.

Use a Curriculum that Matches Your Definition

There are as many curricula as there are people (so it seems). Every curriculum is build on some set of assumptions or educational philosophy. Some writing curricula believe (falsely) that we learn to write by studying grammar, while others show the students the power of learning to write by actively writing (for example see http://www.advanced-writing-resources.com). Whatever the curriculum for whatever subject-make sure it matches your own definition so you aren’t caught wanting one result while using a process that takes you in the opposite direction.

Don’t Compete with Public or Private Schools

One of the great mistakes is to compete with schools. A homeschool does not have large buildings, massive funding, and a variety of specialized teachers. So, trying to produce the results they aim for will simply exhaust you. Homeschool can actually produce greater skill and knowledge, but trying to match all the subjects a school offers is chasing the wind. By the way, the students aren’t always leaving a school system as educated as you think!

Find a Support Group(s) or Network

It is the height of arrogance and the height of inefficiency to go it alone. Why not benefit from the wisdom and knowledge of others? Why not let others benefit from the insights you’ve gained along the way? There are groups online, groups in your part of the world, or groups just waiting to be started by you and a few like-minded families. You’ll never be like the people you don’t hang around…so get busy and connect for your own good.

Learn to Use Systems for Success

One of the great insights in life is how things operate by cause-and-effect. Good cooks can reproduce the same quality meal over-and-over because they follow some type of system (recipe). The practical results you see in life are largely the result of the systems we use. Homeschooling itself is a ‘different system’ of education which is aimed at a bit different result (included the character, sense of family, etc., it often affords). If you don’t have an overall sequence of steps you are moving toward following, then you can rest assured your results will be as shoddy as your system.

Make Discipline a Nice Word

One of my favorite mentors, Robert Fritz, offers a helpful definition of discipline: “Discipline is when you itch, but don’t scratch.” The truth is that some amount of discipline is necessary for learning. Very few children naturally gravitate to wanting to learn in all the areas important to education. It turns out then, that we must help them do what they don’t “feel” like doing, so they can ultimately benefit. External discipline tends to lead to life-long internal discipline. We all need help doing what needs to be done. Homeschool (or any school) simply won’t work without making discipline a nice word which is practiced often.

Find a Coach / Mentor

In many ways it is the ultimate hypocrisy to ‘tutor’ our own children without having a ‘tutor’ for ourselves. There is something powerful when we discuss, interact with, and learn from someone who is ahead of us in any field. Sports training knows the value of coaches because the competition and economics involved are so great. Without a coach you can’t compete. If you find a voice or two you trust, a person or two whose results you want to see in your life— find them, pay them, beg them to coach you. Nothing will save you more time and heartache than to learn from someone with wisdom.

Dr. Lybrand is an author and educator who is responsible for changing the lives of students all over the world through his innovative approach to applying systems thinking to practical learning. Go to http://www.homeandschoolsuccess.com for a free learning gift.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fred_Lybrand

No one can deny that children come in all shapes, sizes, and levels of learning ability. This being the case, it is possible that your child might have some special challenges when it comes to learning. Home schooling can be difficult enough for students without any special issues to address. It takes it to a whole new level for children that need additional resources. The question then is asked:

Can a special needs child be home schooled?

Even though there are parents who would respond with a big “yes”, one difficulty children with special needs will face is the necessary time and attention needed to make homeschooling possible. Each state offers resources for parents when educating their special needs children in the public school system. This may or not be the case when desiring to teach your special needs child at home. In the end, it is up to parents to see that their children get what they need to succeed educationally.

There is no argument that every child is entitled to an excellent education. For too long, parents and children have settled for a cookie cutter education, because that was what the public school system offered. Home schooling has changed that perception with the desire to reinstate the individual attention each student needs to succeed. The evidence of the success of home schooling of special needs children is still being revealed.

To begin with, let’s look at attention deficit disorder. It is considered by the school system to be a special need. Children have a hard time concentrating and keeping still. School work that is not challenging enough just increases their level of anxiety. Instead of resorting to medicating the student, this situation can be resolved through home study.

Even though being home schooled doesn’t provide an instant fix for educational problems of the special needs student, it does allow a child with special needs to learn in a more relaxed environment, and at a pace that suits them. If reaching them requires three hours one day and four the next, a home school curriculum can work well with the child. As a result, their grades won’t suffer simply because they can’t keep up in a more traditional classroom setting.

Parents know their children better than anyone. No one else will take the time that is warranted to keep him or her on track with their education. For example, your child may be a visual learner or more inclined to learn with a hands-on approach. In a classroom of thirty students, it is hard to create a lesson that will challenge both the visual learner with those who can read and comprehend more easily. Quite simply, there isn’t enough time to give to each child individually.

With the help of tutors (if needed) and counselors, students with special needs enjoy a fulfilling educational experience at home. No longer do they have to suffer through being picked on or frustration because they “just don’t get it.” The home school environment is conducive to helping them learn the way that feels comfortable to them. And that individual attention is what sets homeschooling apart from the more traditional classroom setting more than anything else.

If you can honestly answer that you have the time and energy to teach your special needs child at home, there is every reason to believe that your child will succeed!

Maintaining your family is an important fact of life and we want to give you the information you need to make wise decisions in all your parenting and family situations. We are always adding new pertinent parenting-related articles to our web site. Whether it has to do with teaching, raising or anything else having to do with your children’s well-being, we are your one-stop location to help you with all your parenting needs. For more parenting and family related solutions, simply go to http://moorehomeschool.com where you will find a wide variety of articles addressing all things relating to parenting, the family and the home.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=D._P._Brown

Home Schooling. Let’s start off by saying that home schooling is not just for the rich and powerful. Anyone can be home schooled. How do we know that? Because today in the United States there are over 1.2 million students being home schooled. It is doubtful that all of them are very rich.

Yes, home schooling does cost money but a child can be home schooled for as little as $1000 a year. Unless a family is truly poor this is not a large sum considering that comes out to about $3 a day. We spend more than that on our lunches at work.

So what about home schooling as far as it’s benefits? Is it worth it? Do kids learn better? Are they smarter when they finish? Is there anything about home schooling that is bad?

Statistics show that students who are home schooled have better grades and actually learn more than students who go to public or private schools. Of course many people argue these statistics saying they are skewed and inaccurate and some say they are outright lies.

Why the battle?

Because the one truth that can’t be argued is that home schooling is eating into public and private schools’ pocket books. The growth rate for home schooling has been rising about 15 to 25% per year of late. This is about 20% of the students outside the government school system when you look at the raw numbers mentioned above. Another 250,000 children are expected to enter home schooling in the coming year.

The number of home schooling students do present a threat to government schooling, as they are finding that you don’t have to hire super qualified teachers to get a good education for your child. And the truth is, an average family only spends about 10% of the per pupil cost that public schools spend on each child, which refutes the theory that you need to spend a lot of money to educate a child.

This does pose a significant economic threat to public schools since their school budgets depend on attendance. It is estimated that over $7 billion has been lost to public schools because of the number of children who are being home schooled.

Home schooling families are also a very powerful force in government. When a bill was introduced that all home school instructors be certified the home school community made such a loud noise that the bill was defeated by a vote of 424-1 when it came up in the house.

In an attempt to battle back, defenders of the public school system are fighting with every legal resource at their disposal. One of their tactics is the undermining and co-opting of the home schooling movement by establishing government home schooling programs which try to lure families by offering them free resources. Yes, the battle goes on and it won’t be ending any time soon.

In the next article we’ll go over exactly how home schooling works and how students earn their diplomas.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Home School
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell

Centuries ago, in many countries and cultures, homeschooling was the only option available. Children were educated in a specific skill which would have lead to an occupation later on. For girls it was mainly about cooking, handwork and house management while boys were trained in the skills of the military. This differed from country to country and culture to culture. It was mainly elite groups that had the assistance of outside trainers such as the governess in the Victorian times.

Alexander the Great was homeschooled by Aristotle 2500 year ago and some resources see that as the first example of homeschooling. It is, however, so that many children were homeschooled until the late 19th century when governments introduced legislation that forced parents to send children to public schools.

Homeschooling as we know it today is believed to have started around 1960. John Holt’s name appears as the person that initiated the road back to homeschooling. He was a teacher and Ivy League graduate, unhappy with the public school system. Reforming the public schools was an impossible and task he started looking at homeschooling. He believed learning should be initiated by a child’s natural curiosity and not by a structured system. He wrote and researched this extensively over a period of 20 years.

Raymond Moore was another believer in homeschooling. His arguments against public schooling came from his Christian point of view. He believes parents should be responsible for children’s education to ensure that the education is morally and spiritually accountable.

Around the early eighties state laws in America that prohibited homeschooling started to change and today homeschooling is an acceptable alternative for parents. Tax regulations changed for Christian schools in the 1980s which resulted in some of the smaller schools closing down. Most of the parents affected by this chose to rather homeschool their children than sending them to a public school.

The internet has become a major resource for homeschooling parents with many useful websites and online curriculum.  A large number of support groups as well as news letters and other resources make it easy for parents who choose homeschooling. Parents have various reasons for choosing homeschooling of which religion and the deterioration of discipline in public schools are some of the most offered. Research shows that by the end of 2009 up to 2 million learners in America will be in homeschooling.

Allan Tan is the co-founder of Foot-Care.org He provides more helpful information on Free Online Homeschooling, Negative Effects Of Homeschooling and Free Homeschooling Curriculum that you can read up in the comfort of your home on his website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Allan_Tan