Home Schooling Mindset for Parents
Home Schooling is a very beneficial way to educate your children, not only because of the fact that their education is tailored to them, but also because of the fact that it builds a very strong bond between parents and children. But there’s a lot more to it than just teaching your children at home. Here’s how get the Home Schooling Mindset for Parents.
Think “Home Schooling” Not “School-At-Home”
One of the greatest things about home schooling is that you are not in any way limited like you are in a standard academic environment. There is no need for your children need to sit, back-straight, at a table for a strict hour long lesson. Try and think of what you’re doing not as “school at home” but “home schooling.” There is an important difference between these two ideas, one of philosophies: home schooling is much more than conducting standard lessons and schoolwork at home – the “home” becomes part of the schooling itself.
Using Real Life Examples
So let’s say you’re teaching science, and Galileo’s theory that when objects fall they increase their velocity at a standard rate, regardless of mass. That sort of thing might not resonate too well with a child when taught in a classroom, explained on a blackboard while sitting a desk. If you go outside and drop a tennis ball and a rock off the roof, however, your child will no-doubt be astounded when the objects fall at the same speed, and the lesson will stick. In a similar way if you’re teaching biology don’t hesitate to take the children outside to examine an ant colony or some plants.
Expanding the Educational Experience
By home schooling you open yourself to a world of teaching opportunities that simply aren’t practical in a public or private classroom. You can take advantage of the fact that children often learn better in a more comfortable and flexible setting: if your child wants to listen to his math lesson while sitting on the couch, let him. While you want to be careful, of course, to avoid encouraging a lack of discipline in teaching, you want to use “home schooling” to expand the educational experience. Proper home schooling means that the entire home, and all the time spent there, can be incorporated into the educational process, allowing for a more hands on, and in many ways more effective, education.
Home Schooling vs. School At Home
Home schooling has become a viable option for many parents seeking to expand and improve their child’s educational experience. The public and private school systems are limited. For practical reasons they can only go so far to meet a particular child’s educational needs. With home schooling, on the other hand, the entire process is geared towards your child in a one-on-one manner. You can create a particular curriculum suited to your child. Then you can teach in a way works best for him or her. It is for these reasons that many parents choose to homeschool their children. Not to mention the economic benefits when you consider the costs associated with private schools.
When you decide to homeschool your children, you’re going to have to come up with a plan for how the subject matter is going to be taught, and a system to execute that plan.
Home Schooling Benefits
An important distinction that you should make yourself aware of is a philosophical one of “home schooling” vs. “school at home.” The latter method is overly simplistic. It doesn’t take advantage of the benefits that home schooling can truly offer. It is fair to be justifiably concerned about creating a disciplined academic environment. However, if you simply “teach at home” both you and your child will be missing out.
Real Experiences of What They’re Learning
As a teaching philosophy, it’s important to think of the process as “home schooling”. This means that “home” and “school” become one. It’s not simply a case of school being conducted in a home environment. So instead of creating regimented lessons at set times, learning happens all of the time. Instead of your children sitting stiffly at a table while you give them lessons, they are relaxed. Be always ready to use the flexibility of home schooling to your advantage. If your child has a question about a particular subject in biology, take him outside and show him nature at work. If he’s interested in a certain aspect of history, take him to the museum.
Continuous Learning
One of the greatest things about home schooling is that it doesn’t have to be a regimented system. Normally a school day would end at 3 or 4 pm, Monday to Friday. When home schooling is properly implemented, your child is always learning. Let’s use a unit on Shakespeare for example. Maybe you’ll decide to take him to a performance of the play on the weekend. If he’s interested in computers, allow him to use his computer for a research project.
A Certain Amount of Regimen
In some ways you do need a certain regimen when home schooling. However, your child’s education doesn’t have to end when you are finished for the day. Incorporating other educational activities into your daily home life will both expand your child’s education and make it more engaging.
Most children learn better in settings that they are comfortable in, and what setting is more comfortable than the home? So if your child wants to hear his math lesson while sitting on the couch, let him. If he wants to watch a movie in the evening, direct him to an educational one.
The line between “home” and “schooling” often becomes blurred when home schooling your children. Yet it’s a much more valuable educational experience for your children. Far more than what could be offered from the public or private school systems.
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