What are homeschool co-ops?
Homeschool co-ops are a parent run course where they share the responsibility of teaching the group of children that have signed up for the class. They meet weekly or monthly depending on the curriculum. Most subjects can be taught through this venue and it is very productive for the parent who may only have to teach once every couple of months or longer depending upon how many participate in the co-op and productive for the child who likes to be in a classroom setting.
What is a Unit Study?
A Unit Study is a themed curriculum in which all subjects may be covered under one theme. For example – Valentine’s Day you can study the heart for Science, look up St. Valentine and who he was for History, learn how to write letters (grammar/punctuation) for Language, make a colorful (red/white/pink) Math graph, read a book about God’s love - Literature, make candy or cakes for Cooking Basics, etc… Unit Study Curriculums are much more detailed to what was shared above and they cover periods of time in history to individualized topics like dogs.
What about play groups?
Playgroups are a much needed time for kids and parents to have playtime and fellowship among other homeschoolers. It is also a time to compare and learn from each other as well as support for each other. Sometimes kids feel overwhelmed with school work and look forward to that special time with friends who have the same school background, meaning being homeschooled.
How is record keeping done for homeschooling?
Record keeping for homeschoolers varies depending upon the state, age/grades of children, and amount of children. Many record keeping books are now available through many homeschool resources, including computerized record keeping. Some parents do daily entries and others do weekly entries into their books. If a parent knows exactly what they will be doing for the school year, they often will write it all out for the year so that they are on top of what to do the next day as well as the following week or how long they will be teaching on those subjects. Most moms make their entries in pencil in case any changes need to be edited. Although, there is no restrictive record keeping in the state of
What is Un-Schooling?
Most homeschoolers who use the un-schooling method give different definitions for this word. In a nutshell, the un-schoolers do not use a classroom setting, meaning desks/chairs/books. They use experiences instead to guide them through their everyday living such as field trips, grocery shopping, cooking, travel, reading, banking, working at a job, volunteering in community services, etc…
Should I test my child?
Testing is a personal question that each parent must answer for themselves in what is best for their children. In the State of
What if my child wants to learn something that I can’t teach?
Kids are so smart nowadays and can usually pick up things that may be so hard for us to understand, such as computers. However, there may be subjects that we have forgotten through time, never learned or are totally lost in how to teach it. The great news is that there are so many avenues to gain the knowledge that is needed to get us through the school year. There are classes specifically for homeschool kids who are taught by professionals in the education field who volunteer their time or take a fee to help your child learn a particular topic. There are also courses offered via on-line through colleges and companies. Other sources of information is your local library, videos, community, correspondence and support groups; and even friends, acquaintances and business people in your local area that you can draw from.
Is Homeschooling expensive?
This has many answers. It depends on how many children you have, and whether or not you are living on one income, and what curriculums you’ll be using. Parents can easily spend a lot of money on materials and resources, but you can also find many educational things for free or at a minimal cost. Some parents buy separate curriculums for each child which may cost a lot of money, while others may buy one curriculum such as a unit study and teach at various grade levels the same topic but individualizing it for each child. Nowadays, homeschool conventions are expanding their used curriculum tables to compensate for those who don’t want to spend a lot of money on things that may only be used once. They are able to re-sell it or purchase items on their wish list for up to 75% off the original price. You may be talking about spending a couple hundred dollars for a whole school years worth. Some families are now into bartering materials or skills to help in their homeschooling. Some parents will share in the cost of a curriculum or resource and pass it on to the next person who helped purchase it. Many libraries are carrying resources for free that would otherwise cost you money in a store or on the internet. The first year for homeschoolers is sometimes the most expensive because they are afraid of gaps in their homeschooling and can be overwhelmed by all that is available to them and so buy away like crazy. The best thing to do is write a wish list up, compare costs with different vendors, ask to see the curriculums from your friend’s library so you know what you’d be purchasing; and get opinions from those who are using the curriculum that you are looking at. Also, know what kind of learner your child is. A visual learner will not learn the same as a hands-on learner. Some curriculums are made specifically for certain types of learners. You know your child best and how they learn.
How can I find out what the laws are for homeschooling in
Go to the Home School Legal Defense Association’s website and you will be able to read the law and print it out to know your rights. They also give you guidance and answer a lot of your questions. www.hslda.org
Are homeschool conventions beneficial?
Without a doubt, yes! Although it can be overwhelming as a first timer to these conventions, you will come out more educated then when you first arrived. There are two close by (within 2 hours) in NJ and PA. Registration sign-up begin in early spring and you can go for the day or have a stay over at an inn where you can share in the cost with other homeschoolers in your support group. Plan to wear very comfortable shoes and take a backpack to carry your newly purchased items. Take pen and paper for the workshops that are available so that you can enjoy listening to educated and informative speakers that are there to help you. If you don’t have time to do this, they usually have a sign-up form for audio tapes of the workshops. Take a list of the things you absolutely must purchase and a wish list of things that you would like to see and purchase if you have enough funds left. Write down the things that you saw and would like to get as a future purchase. Collect the vendor’s free brochures of their resources. You will usually be given a free bag of resources when you walk through the door. And take a bagged lunch if you want to save on money. Although they have food there at these conventions, they can be expensive. And you may not want to leave the area for a local restaurant. There are MANY options, only you can decide.
How should I schedule my homeschool day?
SOME TIPS FOR THE HOMESCHOOL PARENT!
What Style Learner Is Your Child?
One of the biggest questions that new homeschoolers deal with is what kind of curriculum should I use for my child? To answer this best, you need to ask yourself another question. In what ways does my child respond to the most when learning something new? The second question when answered will ultimately answer the first question for you. To find out what kind of learner your child is, take a look below and see if your child fits into any of the categories. If one stands out more than the other, you have a basic idea of what type of curriculum is going to benefit them the most.
But before we get into the learning modalities, let’s first learn a little about the learning styles of your child. You will recognize that between the ages of 8-10, your child will have certain strong attributes that stand out in their way of learning and grasping things. To try to figure things out before this age might give you some hints in guiding you to what helps and what doesn’t work with your child. Let’s look at the 4 learning styles below.
Thinker – They are the black and white, absolute, scheduled, routine is best, give the facts ma’am personality. They are usually clean and organized and enjoy seeing and understanding the cause and effect of things that happen in life. They love a schedules and textbooks work well for them in schooling. They do very well with informational facts and critical thinking.
Feeler – A people person, they are helpful and passionate and concerned about the issues that affect others. Pro’s and Con’s go out the window. They often ask how each situation will affect themselves. They also believe strongly that you understand everything that is going on in their lives and they also believe that they understand you. Everything is by subjective evaluation. When there is a problem, feelers often get distracted. They ask in school, how does this study have personal meaning to me? They love anything that draws them in such as biographies of people in history, missionaries, famous science people, etc… When giving them schoolwork, and there are a lot of facts, charts, etc…, that can be too much information that doesn’t mean much to them. But by giving them a real person that connects to the problem such as a story about someone (biography), include that information with it and it will draw them into the subject, therefore, grasping the material much better. This can cover many subjects using this procedure.
Sensor – A very hands-on kind of learner, they like to get it done. See the hill take the hill kind of personality. They are very energetic and do not like the textbook set-up learning style. They like to be effective, messy, active, busy, involved physically and getting it out. They are meticulous in their projects (gotta have the tools) and need to make sure they have every tool (scissors, glue, etc…) that will make it better. HOW TO books that are interesting is great like Backyard Science (get dirty kind of schooling) or in Missions – Voice of Martyrs (magazine that tells about the people AND more importantly how to help them). They are concerned that their project needs to be completed immediately and how it is done.
Intuitor – This is the idea person, a daydreamer, sees what could be, looks at the possibilities that are out there. They are not lazy in their mind. They are just busy thinking. They are usually big talkers and they feel that they know how to do things better. That means even correcting their elders. It is not meant to be rude, just that they think that their way is better than yours. They are like a fox, generating ideas and thoughts, analyzing and then putting it together. They collect constantly and get excited about something new that will bring them new ideas. Games such as chess where there is critical thinking is best. In reading they are drawn to mysteries or any current interest. Getting folders for them to store their ideas or projects is ideal since they don’t like to throw anything out.
Learning (Perceptual) Modalities:
Visual – this type of student receives information best through their eyes by reading and seeing. Many students can teach themselves to read. They love color illustrations and resources that show diagrams, demonstrations, charts, graphs, and photos. Films and videos are well received too. They like to soak up information of every sort.
Auditory – this type of student does best by hearing things. You can use audio or be involved in a discussion group. They also love to sing and learn through singing too. They love sounds and verbal instructions.
Kinesthetic – this type of student is always in motion due to their energy level. They are very hands-on and need to make physical contact with things in order to process what they are learning.
Now that you have an idea of what style of learning your child falls under, the next step is figuring out what type of curriculum. There are 3 main kinds of homeschoolers;
Textbook - Those who follow a very structured curriculum that centers on organization and schedule with a check-off structure. There is not much in flexibility here because of its sometimes rigid system. You can take liberty in how much information you want to use in the curriculum, but you have to be careful not miss any information that it followed up in the next unit. For the children to thrive, you need to make things flexible and spontaneous because this is a traditional approach in homeschooling. Many visual learners like this type of learning and thrive off of it. This is definitely not the curriculum you want to use for the hands-on learner with lots of energy. Abeka, Bob Jones, Christian Liberty Press curriculums are samples of textbook learning.
Unit Studies – Taking one theme and covering every subject with that theme is good for most learners. Example: Valentine’s Day (history – when, how, why) (Science – study of the heart), Math (making graphs using heart candy or using various forms of math in the study of Valentine’s Day growth throughout history), (Literature – learn how to write letters, cards, practicing vocabulary, grammar). Although this is another excellent form of learning, the only drawback is planning your schedule and dedicating a lot of time into what will be learned throughout the school year. But it does have many good rewards.
Unschooling Method – The Unschooling method seems to be more prevalent in the East Coast then in other states. Not sure of the reasons, but what it means is that you use daily life experiences as teachable moments. Creating a stimulating atmosphere is a must. You need to keep them active to keep their minds busy such as visiting museums, businesses, grocery shopping, traveling on the road to see sights and learn as you go. When they ask about certain topics, go and research until you find your answer. I personally have not met too many that do the unschool approach and do not necessarily recommend it, but in certain cases, it can be beneficial to the family.