The growth of home schooling in the U.S. has exploded in recent years. The reasons for this are many, but is home schooling for everyone? The short answer is no. Home schooling is not for all parents and children. While it is a blessing to some families, it may not work for others. Home schooling requires a commitment from both parents and children. There are many questions to answer before beginning any home school program for your child. Here are 10 things to look for in making the decision as to whether it’s the right choice for you or not.
1. Understand what the home school laws are in your state. Can you follow these requirements? Be sure you can before moving on further.
2. Do you and your child have a close personal relationship? This may sound a bit odd, but if you have a hard time being around your child for any length of time, then you may have a tough go at home schooling. You’ll be spending a great deal of time with them and if there are emotional problems between you two, then you might want to keep this in mind before going through with home schooling.
3. As a parent, how are your educational skills? Are you proficient in math, reading and writing? How about history and geography? You will need to have some good basic skills.
4. Are you good at communicating with others? This is important because you will be the teacher. You may need to work on this area before beginning to home school.
5. Have you made a full commitment to home schooling your child? You can expect to hear some negative comments from family and friends in regards to home school. It may become discouraging at times and make you question your commitment. You’ll need to be strong and remain positive. For many people, they wrongly believe our public school system is the only place to get an education.
6. You will need to have a good deal of patience in home schooling. Things will not always go as planned. Your child may have trouble grasping some subjects. You’ll need to be patient with them and work through it.
7. Are you good with observing your child and knowing if they truly understand something? You’ll need to observe them and know if they are grasping a subject, or if they need additional help.
8. One of the more important skills you need to posses is organization. You’ll need to be organized and have a daily schedule of class work and activities. You will need to juggle teaching school, making lunch, cleaning the house and dealing with any other issues that come up during the day. By being organized, this will be much easier to accomplish.
9. Are you good a laughing at yourself? Do you like to have fun with your children? This is important because you have to keep things fun for them and you at times. Perhaps you’ll need to work on your sense of humor.
10. Both you and your child will need to be on the same page with home schooling. If one of you is not wanting home schooling to work out then there will be nothing but problems between the two of you. Be sure you’re both committed to making this work.
