Posts tagged k12

Home schooling or homeschooling, if you like (in fact, you even see it hyphenated, as in home-schooling) has been about for about 30 years now, although, of course it was all people had before state intervention in education. Out of the way rural places in huge countries like the USA, Canada and Australia still have to rely on home schooling to a great degree, although it is less difficult now with the wide-spread use of radio, television and the Internet. Video cassettes also have an important role, as do books still.

However, home schooling has become really popular in the cities as an alternative to inner city public schools, which are frequently seen as hotbeds of upheaval, anger and drugs, especially by the middle classes and not without some due cause, to be fair. However, there are also other just reasons for deciding on home schooling, which we will go into later.

First, it should be stated that the decision to go for home schooling has to be a family one. This is because it will turn “normal family life” on its head and place an added monetary burden on the household budget. For example, one parent will need to cease work. This cannot be permitted to be a cause of resentment, or both parents could take part-time employment and share the children’s educational load. Whichever way you decide, you will not have two full-time salaries any longer. Working at home on the Internet could be a partial solution here.

Home schooling will also upset everyone’s social life. So, the parents’ social life is restricted by not seeing work mates every day, but so is little Johnny’s, especially if he has already spent some time in a normal classroom. He won’t see his friends from class as often and they may drift away from him or even be angry with him.

On the positive side is that the family will become much more solid as a unit by studying together at home schooling. Both parents will have a complete knowledge of what their child is learning and will be learning. While following a broad-spectrum education, you could however decide to focus on aspects of, say, history or science, that particularly interest your child. It allows you the freedom to tailor your child’s education to his or her particular interests, something that state education cannot do well with large classes. Your child will also come less under the influence of the rowdier elements in school and be able to concentrate more on studying.

A note of caution may be useful at this point. Do not be tempted to compel your child to learn too rapidly. It is tempting for a non-professional teacher-cum-proud parent in home schooling to push the child much harder than he can go. Remember that most people are only average. You must be on look out for signs of burn-out and bad feeling at all times.

Once you decide to opt for home schooling, you will need to pick a basic programme, go through it yourself to familiarize yourself with it, buy or find in the library any supplementary books, videos and software, make a load of notes and stock up on pens and paper, folders, binders and filing cabinets and you’ll be ready for your first term at home schooling.