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Homeschooling is something that many families tried for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic while schools were closed. For some parents and their kids, the home educating experience was stressful, but for others, the situation worked out well and was something they all enjoyed. If you loved educating your kids at home during quarantine, you might be considering making this a permanent arrangement.
Educating your child at home provides a unique opportunity to spend more time together and develop their learning away from a mainstream school setting. Homeschooling allows you to focus on your child’s strengths and give them a greater level of attention than they would receive learning in a class full of their peers. There are many benefits of homeschooling your child. Home education offers you increased flexibility in your family life, the opportunity to focus on areas of learning that interest your child the most, and the ability to work at their pace. But, before you take the leap and take your child out of school, there are a few things you will need to consider first. Thinking about how homeschooling will work on a practical level and how you will implement your child’s education should help make your first steps into home learning a positive experience:
Plan Your Schedule
Figuring out the logistics of homeschooling is essential to ensure you can commit to the time needed for your child’s education. If you work or have other commitments, you may need to juggle your time to make homeschooling work for you and your family.
Thinking about how you will plan lessons around your existing schedule should make it simpler for you to get into a home education routine. One of the benefits of homeschooling is that you don’t need to follow a strict timetable, but it is helpful to get into some kind of routine. Getting into a routine will ensure you get plenty of blocks of quality learning completed, and you can cover every subject without running out of time each week.
Do Plenty of Research
There are so many different methods to homeschool your child, so it is helpful to look into the different approaches you can take to see which will work well for you. Seeing how other people make home education work for their family and then using a little trial and error will enable you to tailor your efforts and create your own style of learning that matches your child.
Considering how your child learns best is crucial to ensure they benefit from the home education experience. Some children learn best visually, while others pick stuff up better from being hands-on and experiencing things first-hand. Every child is different, and the beauty of home learning is that it enables you to work with your child’s individual strengths to enhance their learning experience. Researching different learning approaches should deepen your understanding of what homeschooling will look like for your family.
Gather Your Resources
Before you begin homeschooling, you will need to gather together the resources you need to facilitate your child’s learning. You will need both physical equipment such as stationery and books, as well as learning resources to guide your teaching. Finding resources containing information on teaching tips for specific areas of learning will come in really helpful. For younger children, this could be looking for easy tips to teach letter sounds to help get their literacy off to a great start. This kind of guidance can be invaluable when you begin homeschooling and are still building up your confidence and getting used to your new role as your child’s educator.
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Consider Local Education Requirements
While homeschooling provides you with greater flexibility levels for your child’s education, you will still need to ensure they receive a balanced learning experience. Different states have different requirements for homeschooling families, so the criteria you need to meet will vary depending on your location.
Some US states only allow homeschooling if it meets one of the options they deem acceptable, so this is something to be aware of when planning your child’s learning. You may also need to have reached a certain standard of education before you are permitted to teach your child at home. Familiarizing yourself with all the state legal requirements for home education is a crucial first step and should help you deal with any issues before you get started.
Build a Support Network
Home educating your child can feel a little lonely at times, and you may have days where it feels challenging to be both your child’s parent and educator. On these days, it can be super helpful to have a network around you to offer guidance and support. Joining home ed groups online can help you feel part of a supportive community and is a perfect opportunity to connect with other like-minded parents. As a new homeschool family, it can be helpful to have others to bounce ideas off while you are finding your feet. Being able to ask for advice whenever you need it from people with similar experiences can help make homeschooling a whole lot easier.
Don’t Forget Social Interaction
One aspect of homeschooling many parents worry about their children’s socialization. Developing social skills and interacting with peers is a vital part of a child’s development. Missing out on interacting with other kids could impact your child’s wellbeing or make it harder for them to adjust to the work environment as an adult. Arranging meet-ups with other local families that home educate can provide your child with a valuable opportunity to make friends and interact in a social setting. You could organize educational visits together to places such as zoos or museums to further enrich your child’s learning while being around other kids.
As a parent, these meet-ups could be just as beneficial for you and provide some adult conversation and the chance to form new friendships. Home educating will be so much more productive if both you and your child are gaining positive benefits from the experience.
