Happy Friday friends! My children are not home schooled, but I am aware that some of my followers do home school their children. When I first started working with youth from vulnerable communities in the Portland area, I witnessed first hand the frustrations of the curriculum taught in the public school setting. Having gone through that educational setting myself and knowing the academic struggles that I faced once I graduated high school and went on to higher education it made me fearful for my own children.
My oldest son is currently below the reading and math benchmark. I have implemented a plan to help him find academic success for the third grade over the course of summer and into the new school year. We will be playing catch-up but I feel like he will reach the third grade benchmark with schooling at home over the break.
For all my home school Mama's out there, I applaud you for your hard work and dedication to your children's learning! And for any parents who are thinking of homeschooling their kids in the future, I hope this article is helpful to you.
- - - - - -
If you homeschool your kids it may be because
you were frustrated by the curriculum taught at your local school. It may be
because you thought that there were too many corrupting influences to which you
didn’t want to expose your kids. Or maybe you simply wanted to be absolutely
sure that what they were learning would be relevant and applicable not just to
their ability to pass exams but to their life outside of education. Whatever
your reasons, there are many reasons why homeschooling can work
and not only produce well educated and adjusted children but a more happy,
cohesive and trusting family. Nonetheless, as homeschoolers operate outside of
the societal mainstream, they are often plagued by anxiety, fear and self
doubt. Here we’ll look at some of the most common anxieties experienced by
parents who homeschool their kids and some simple strategies to allay them…
It’s
right for me, but is it right for my kids?
There are many reasons why homeschooling suits
parents, especially stay at home parents. It spares them the anxiety of
worrying about what they’re learning at school, how well they’re getting on and
how they’re being treated by their peers. It allows you freedom and flexibility
to work around the rotas and shifts of your day job and forever frees you from
those chaotic school runs through the nightmare that
is rush hour traffic.
But make no mistakes, your kids also benefit
enormously from homeschooling too. When you think about it, the traditional
education system is terribly inefficient. Kids need individual attention from
teachers and it’s difficult for them to get that in a class with 30 of their
peers. Moreover, it affords you the opportunity to develop a curriculum that’s
tailored to their individual learning styles and needs. It bolsters your kids’
proficiencies while challenging them in areas where they need development.
What
will others think?
This is another common one. Because we
homeschool our kids we worry that our neighbors, family and friends will think
that we’re weird or that we don’t want our kids mixing with other kids in the
neighborhood because we consider ourselves above them. But homeschooling is not
something to be ashamed of. It’s something to be immense
Am I
missing something?
This is a very common anxiety. We worry that
mainstream schools have information to which we’re not privy, enabling them to
teach kids “properly” while we scramble around trying to piece together a
curriculum but inevitably miss out something important. Actually, this is far
from the truth. You are far less likely to miss anything important because you
have total control over all aspects of the curriculum. You can incorporate
extra curricular activities like music lessons- if you’re not sure where to
start check out these easy ukulele songs at easyukulelesongs.com.
You can incorporate elements that tie their education to their religious faith more comprehensively than most
mainstream schools will allow and cater more comprehensively to their
individual needs and interests.
Do my
kids have enough friends?
School may be the most common place for kids
to make friends, but when you engage your kids in the community and encourage
them to take place in a wide range of activities, they’ll never want for
friends, even if their home education doesn’t include them.
- - - - - -
Summer offically arrives for our family on Monday. My oldest son has one more "half day" of school. I think we might go berry picking on Sunday with the kids and make some homemade strawberry short chake to kick off the summer. What are your family plans for the weekend? Drop me a comment a below, I love reading them from you. Have a great weekend.
Post a Comment