Preparing Your Children for Homeschooling
When you commit to educating your children at home, you are embarking on a journey together. Life is about to change drastically for all of you, and the odds are favorable that the benefits will far outweigh any drawbacks. Your children may be excited about the change, or they might be feeling anxious. Here are a few tips to prepare your kids for homeschooling, even if your insides are turning somersaults
Talk about Expectations and Fears:
Whether your kids are just starting school or have already attended public or private school for a number of years, each one will have a picture in his head of what home school will be like. Their ideas might be pure fantasy (I can play video games all day!), but hear them out. Generate as much conversation as you can, and allow them to talk about their hopes and fears. Are they afraid they won’t have any friends? Would they love to sleep in every day? Do they fear becoming social outcasts?
You can put to rest many of their fears- and fantasies -during these conversations. “Yes, you can sleep later than you used to for public school. No, you can’t sleep until 10 a.m.” Simply talking it out helps most kids, but a few might benefit from meeting other homeschool families, attending a homeschool co-op, or joining an online community where they can email other homeschoolers In most cases, even teens just want to see that others who homeschool are “normal” and enjoying life.
Listen to their ideas, but make decisions on how you will conduct school at home based on everyone’s best interest. Tell your children what you can about your expectations and how you plan to manage their education. No matter what your teaching style, your children will adjust more quickly if they know what to expect.
Generate Excitement:
Home schooling has many advantages, but the student does not necessarily want to hear about how she will excel in her studies. Nor does she always have the ability to see or appreciate how lucky she is that her parent is making the sacrifice. So don’t talk about how much she will gain from one-on-one tutelage, or how home school students routinely win the national spelling bee. Talk about the benefits in a way a kid can appreciate them:
• School at home can take less time
• Extra time means more play, or
• Extra time means more opportunities to learn fun things via lessons, activities or field trips
• If the family was previously spending money on private school tuition, home school might allow more room in the family budget for_(you fill in the blank)
• The student has time to explore his particular interests, either by dabbling or focused study (guitar, Tae Kwon Do, horseback riding), as the family is able
• Home school students can enjoy a rich social life through home school groups, clubs, co-ops, and volunteering.
• Does the curriculum you have chosen have some cool aspect?
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