homeschooling

You have made the decision to home school your children.  But how do you do that?  What do you do first?  What are the rules and requirements of homeschooling?  You have gone to the library, searched online, but you are even more confused than ever before.  That is because no two experts can agree on the correct way to homeschool your children.  The beauty of homeschooling is that you can modify what you teach to meet your own child’s needs and interests.

 

Do not stress over the experts singing praises about how your childrens can grow up to be Nobel Prize winners. It's possible (anything is possible) but most likely not probable. What you can hope to gain from this is happy educated children who enjoy learning.  Like any other teacher in any kind of educational setting, you will have doubts and frustrations, plenty of them! Can I really educate my child?  Those are valid concerns, but consider this, you taught them to walk and talk, dress and feed themselves, as well as understand right from wrong.  You did not need another teacher for that.  So, how much more difficult can ABC and 123 be? Look back, you have already done the tough stuff, and without a curriculum!  Home different can homeschooling be?

 

Homeschooling statistics are very promising, which is probably why you are considering this.  Recent studies demonstrate that 98% of homeschooled children are involved in two or more after school activities each week, including 4-H, Bible Clubs, Scouts, Ballet Classes, Music Lessons, Sports, Field Trips and Sunday School. Homeschooled children are often involved in sports and music with the high school in their school zone or assigned district.  Therefore they are interacting with these students regularly.  The Galloway-Sutton Study, which examines five success indicators, demonstrated home schooled children (with the exception of the psychomotor) excelling above other students in the academic, cognitive, spiritual and affective-social categories.  Richard G. Medlin, Ph. D. , of the National Home Education Research Institute, claims that children who are homeschooled "... may be more socially mature and have better leadership skills than other children".  

 

Homeschooling statistics also demonstrate homeschooling not only helps students with social maturation but also academic advancement.  In 2003 and 2002 the average ACT score for home schooled children was 22.5 where as the national average was 20.8.  In that same year the national average for SAT scores was 1020 and homeschooled students received on average 1092 (note this is when the highest SAT score possible was 1600). On average, homeschooled students in primary grades perform one grade level above their public and private school counterparts. The achievement gap increases at 8th grade where the average home school student performs four grades higher than the national average. 

 

So all this sounds good to you, but you still do not know how to put it all into place.  Fortunately, there is a vast wealth of information available for you right at your finger tips.  There are many sources of homeschooling programs with detailed information about the requirements rules for homeschooling your children.