Homeschooling - You Can Do It

By Phyllis Wheeler

Is homeschooling something YOU could do?

Perhaps you are not happy with your other options, and you are starting to toy with this idea. But you can't imagine yourself doing it. After all, doesn't it take a superwoman to juggle lessons and all the other things Moms have to do?

Take it from a homeschooling veteran, you can do it IF you love your kids. That's the only qualification. As you move through the homeschooling journey, you will develop the skills you need, as you need them. That's how jugglers start--juggling just one thing. Then they add another, and after a while another. And here's another secret: homeschooling can actually be easier than the standard soccer mom routine. Soccer moms are everywhere but home, juggling same-age activities that are different for each kid (unless you have twins). In contrast, when you homeschool, you focus on what you can all do together.

Here's one option for larger families. Homeschoolers look for activities that their kids can share, working with the fact that their ages are different. You can all study one topic, peeling off different layers of it for kids of different ages. You can all study this topic and various aspects of it for a month or so, and then move on to another. This structure is called a unit study. You don't have to invent them, either--plenty of moms who have invented one have published it.

Other options include using workbooks and curriculum so that each child has something to work on that is appropriate for his age, such as at K12.com. These all come with an answer key--you don't need to be a college graduate to make sure your kid is getting the right answer. In fact, many homeschoolers do almost no direct teaching--their kids learn from the book or workbook. (This is a great study skill for college!) There are also correspondence schools that do all the teaching for you, if your child needs that. An example of that is LaurelSprings.com.

For Christians, there is plenty of available curriculum. Alpha Omega Publications produces a broad range of workbooks, and they include activities you can do together. Sonlight produces a curriculum that focuses on historical fiction. If you buy one module, you can use much of it for several children who are less than about four years apart in age. There are also curriculums that focus on high academic achievement, such as Covenant Home Curriculum. I used both Sonlight and Covenant Home and was pleased with them. I used plenty of curriculum from A Beka to fill gaps as well.

Here's an example of a unit study for Ancient Egypt. You head to the library and check out lots of books for the different ages of your kids, all about Egypt. You figure out math problems related to building pyramids--all about triangles, for instance, or calculating the barley harvest in 2000 BC. For art you can observe and copy Egyptian paintings, using high-quality markers and background grids to help you transfer the image (the Egyptians used grids too). You can study hieroglyphics and what sounds they stand for. You can read about Egypt together. For the older kids you can have them read a mystery about Ancient Egypt called Mara, Daughter of the Nile, and discuss whether you think the people in the book behave like modern Americans or like ancient Egyptians. If you are Christian or Jewish, you can work in Joseph and his story. You can give writing assignments on Egypt appropriate to the age of your kids, and go over lists of spelling words for them using the effective method outlined in a multi-age spelling book called Spelling Power.

If this sounds like more than you want to create on your own, just look around for a published unit study on it. Go to a search engine and type in "unit study Egypt homeschool," and you will see quite a few options for you.

Structuring your day is a question for you to ponder. Many homeschoolers get all their less-fun schoolwork done in the morning, leaving the afternoon for projects, goofing off, housework, or whatever. If you want to include your child in an organized activity, you can join regularly schooled children in their sports teams in the late afternoon. But there are daytime activities too. You can also ask around--some of these activities providers are creating daytime classes (in gymastics, for example) for homeschoolers. You do have to be careful to avoid burnout here, though. If you the parent are teaching in the morning, grading in the early afternoon (or near bedtime), and operating weekly field trips in the afternoon, you have to watch how much soccer-mom running around you do. You can't do it all.

But you do want your children to be "socialized." Here's a question homeschoolers get all the time: "Aren't you worried about socialization for your child?" Here's the answer: you have the ability to choose whom your child socializes with, unlike parents of schooled children. You do have to go out of your way to set it up. And you can count socialization with adults--that's the best kind, after all. Adults are generally well-mannered and kind. Unsupervised schoolkids often are not. Homeschooled kids are usually quite comfortable talking to adults! Don't you want your kids to be like that?

A homeschool co-op is one of the best solutions to the need for socialization. If you meet once a week with other homeschoolers for class or field trips, your child gets well-supervised social interaction, and can learn and grow socially in a way that a schooled child cannot. Bullying is simply not a problem for homeschoolers! So how do you find a co-op? You have to ask other homeschoolers. If your area has a homeschooling convention, by all means go to it, and go to workshops if they have any. You need to network with other homeschoolers until you find or can create a co-op.

Lastly, how will you find support? Homeschooling is not for the faint of heart, and it's not for the unsupported parent, either. You will need to find someone to share your challenges with. Many homeschooling parents support each other online. There are plenty of discussion forums attached to homeschooling Web sites. There are plenty of e-mail groups for homeschoolers also. Again, ask around until you find the right one for you.

Here's the answer to the homeschooling question: You can do it!

Phyllis Wheeler writes books for homeschoolers aged 8 and up, including fun computer science curriculums Take a look at a sampling of articles on homeschooling she has for you.

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