Home Schooling

Homeschooling is an alternative to traditional formal school formats. Homeschool students learn inside their homes most often led by their parents. There are a variety of motivations and goals in mind when parents consider homeschooling their children. These can include concerns for education quality, the social environment within public schools, an inability of schools to serve the special needs of individual children, a desire to control how children are taught and an intentional focus on one-to-one learning and teaching.

Homeschooling is permitted in most states and jurisdictions if parents are uncomfortable enrolling their children in public schools. Many parents favor homeschooling their children since they have control of the rigor of the curriculum, can be assured their children are in a safe environment during the day, and can provide moral and religious instruction not permitted within the public school system. Many parents living in remote or rural regions, or in foreign countries, opt to homeschool their children.

The primary reasons parents give for homeschooling their children are dissatisfaction with the quality of education provided in local schools and a desire to be more involved in their childrens' education and development. Homeschooling parents are not only dissatisfied with the quality of education provided by local schools, they are concerned about bullying, school environment and schools' inability to cater to the special needs and individual aptitudes of their children.

Home Schooling Your Special Needs Child

Many special needs children are homeschooled. There are many advantages to this approach: it offers you a lot of flexibility in setting up a learning environment conducive to your child's style, and it allows you the freedom to adapt lessons and curriculum to fit your child's specific needs. However, there are certainly a number of challenges as well. Here are a few considerations to take into account when homeschooling your special needs child:

Make Sure You Stay Informed

There is absolutely no need for you to figure it all out yourself. There are a wealth of resources online to help you learn everything you need to know for a successful school year.

One thing to find out is whether your child needs assistive technology. The answer to this question will vary greatly depending on the nature of your child's disability. For some students, prepackaged curriculum may work perfectly for their learning style, while others may need to have the lessons adapted, or have a device to help translate the information presented. Many students use computerized talkers to help them communicate, others need special software to help them write correctly, still others need very personalized interventions designed specifically for them. Talk to your child's physician and therapists to see what they recommend, and see what state-sponsored services are available to you. Also, don't be shy about taking advantage of free-trial periods on assistive technology, to make sure you find the right match for your child.

Many parents are anxious because they don't know how to start, what they need to prepare, and how to go about teaching certain subjects in a way which their child will be receptive to. If you are feeling this way, remember: there have been many others before you who have already gone through this, and many of them have written helpful books, articles, and guides to help you. Make sure you do plenty of research ahead of time. Read scholarly articles and blog posts about homeschooling as it relates to your child's specific disability. Talk to your child's educational therapists, speech pathologists, and anyone else who might be working with your child. Before you know it, you'll have a mountain of information and resources, and you'll be able to choose what works best for you and your family.

What is Needed to Homeschool Successfully?

Parents deciding to homeschool their children are making a significant commitment. Homeschooling parents should expect to spend as much time teaching their children as they would working full-time. The following are traits and requirements usually necessary for successful homeschooling:

• Willingness/eagerness to learn. Teachers often learn more when preparing a lesson than their students learn in the classroom. This is especially true for homeschooling parents. Since most homeschooling parents are not professional teachers, they also learn a lot about teaching methodology. Parents teaching their children also learn new things they never knew about them. Effective teachers must enjoy and work hard to learn.
• Effort (aka Hard Work). It requires hard work to develop skills and achieve goals. In many cases, the level of success usually correlates with the effort involved. Homeschooling is not different than any other venture requiring effort to succeed. However, the effort involved in homeschooling is well worth it since you are preparing your children for their future.
• Discipline. Homeschooling parents must be disciplined since they are responsible for determining the amount of time they spend instructing their children. They must also discipline themselves to put considerable effort into their daily instruction. Likewise, homeschooling parents are responsible to ensure their children exercise self-discipline since they do not experience the same pressures within a public school classroom to work hard and participate.
• Time. Homeschooling is a major time commitment. It will require a good portion of your day to effectively teach children, especially if you are teaching multiple kids. Therefore, you must set time aside every day and not permit yourself to get distracted if you plan to homeschool. Because of the time commitment, it's not a good idea for parents desiring to homeschool to have full-time jobs. Parents attempting to do this would not have the time required to provide effective instruction, and they would be under considerable stress.
• Flexibility. Flexibility is one of the advantages of homeschooling, but it is also a requirement for homeschooling parents. Since homeschooling is usually not structured as public school instruction, parents must be flexible. This is because each one of your children is unique and learns differently.
• Patience. Although patience is a difficult virtue to develop, homeschooling parents must be patient as they teach their children. All teachers must be patient when working with children. Since homeschooling parents are exclusively responsible for their kids' education, they must exercise a considerable amount of patience.
• Dedication. Homeschooling parents must be unwavering in their commitment to successfully educate their children. Everyone has difficult and semi-productive days, but you will have to be committed to excellence if you homeschool. Likewise, you will have to make teaching one of the most important focuses of your life.
• An adventurous spirit. Homeschooling can be a very exciting adventure since most homeschooling parents will work harder than they ever had before, experience immeasurable rewards, and encounter very difficult challenges. Parents opting to homeschool will begin an adventure, no matter their circumstances.

With an understanding of the unique challenges and requirements of homeschooling, review the following information to learn about some of the misconceptions about the perceived qualifications of effective homeschoolers:

• A college education. Effective homeschoolers do not have to be college educated. However, it's always beneficial to graduate from college. The ability to learn is a more important qualification.
• All the answers. Even though you will be your kids' main educator, you are not required to be all knowing about every subject. It's perfectly fine to utilize reference books and other people when looking for an answer to a question. Similarly, the most effective homeschoolers rely on input from experts and expose children to other instructors. Parents must understand how to use resource materials and involve other people in their children's education.
• Perfection. Since nobody is perfect, why would homeschooling parents expected to be perfect? Homeschooling parents can still make mistakes and be good teachers. Committed, hard-working parents utilizing effective teaching methods can make their homeschooling venture a valuable and enlightening experience for their children.