According to statistics, homeschooling has grown in popularity with at least 5 million children being homeschooled in the United States alone. Many families choose to pursue homeschooling because it allows more academic flexibility, can be totally tailored to your child's unique needs, and helps your child avoid bullying and other pitfalls of traditional schooling. Here are three homeschooling tips to help parents make the most of homeschooling their children:
Sign Up for Homeschooling Services
While self-directed homeschooling can be a good fit for experienced teachers and school administrators, homeschooling services are often a better option for most families. When you sign up for homeschooling services, you receive resources like access to online homeschool teachers and established curriculums and lesson plans.
Instead of feeling like you have to figure everything out on your own, you can follow a proven plan to help your child learn effectively at home.
Seek Variety in Your Homeschooling Curriculum
One of the best things about homeschooling your children is that you can incorporate a lot of variety to prevent your children from getting bored or complacent. For example, your homeschooling curriculum might include traditional textbook learning and essays and exams some weeks, but on other weeks you may choose to take your child out of the home classroom.
You can incorporate visits to museums, volunteer work, outdoor activities, or shared classes with other homeschooled children. These activities can all be designed to complement the lessons your child is learning in their textbooks. The result is that your child will have a more nuanced understanding of what they're studying and will likely also be more engaged and interested.
Find Ways For Your Child to Socialize
One aspect of homeschooling that requires forethought is the socialization aspect since homeschooling doesn't include built-in opportunities to socialize like a traditional school does. Luckily, there are many ways to ensure your child makes friends and builds social skills.
The flexibility of a homeschool schedule leaves a lot of time for sports, hobbies like art or music, social or volunteer clubs, and playgroups. In addition, many homeschooling services provide opportunities for homeschooled kids to meet regularly for shared classes or after-school activities. Homeschooling can also help your child avoid some of the negative aspects of school socialization, like peer pressure.
If homeschooling seems like a good fit for you and your children, start by signing up for homeschooling services. This will help guide your family's homeschooling journey and ensure it's an easy adjustment.
