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Homeschooling
Good morning, everyone. Today we are going to talk about a very special education method—homeschooling. At some point or another, many parents of gifted children contemplate homeschooling their children. It may be when the children are still young and haven’t yet started school or it may be after the children have started school and the parents realize that the needs of the children are not being met. However, homeschooling is not easy and parents should consider several issues before making the decision to homeschool. Today, I am going to introduce ten issues we need to think about before we decide to homeschool our kids.
[1]Perhaps the first consideration is temperament, of both parents and children.[2]It takes patience to homeschool children. Keeping up with housework in addition to teaching the children can be stressful and stress can lead to a bad temper. In addition, gifted children tend to be intense but some are more intense than others. Parents who get easily upset may find it difficult to homeschool, particularly if their child is one who gets easily frustrated.
The next issue to consider is the amount of time a parent has to homeschool.[3]One parent, if not both, must be committed to homeschooling and make sure that lessons are done. Homeschooling parents need to find the necessary materials and provide guidance for their children. Gifted children tend to be uneven in their development so they may need one level of instruction for math and another for reading. Children can’t simply be given materials and left alone, at least not every day! Remember Homeschooling tends to take up a lot of time in your day. It is more than just sitting down with books for a couple of hours. There are experiments and projects to be done, lessons to prepare, papers to grade, field trips, park days, music lessons, and the list goes on. That’s why homeschooling requires personal sacrifice. The homeschool parent has little personal time or time alone. If care is not taken to set aside time for yourself, it is easy to never have time alone. Parent and child are basically together 24/7.
Thirdly, flexible scheduling. Although children need to learn subjects they don’t like as well as those they do like, lessons can be flexible.[4]Children do not need to spend time each day on each subject, nor do all lessons have to take place in the day time. For example, children can spend an entire afternoon on math or geography or the subject of their choice.[5]Flexible scheduling can be ideal for gifted children since they often love to immerse themselves in a topic before moving on to the next.
Fourthly, academic interests. Although the flexibility of homeschooling makes it easy for parents to nurture the strengths of their child,[6]they must also be sure to help a child strengthen a child’s weaker areas as well.[7]Homeschooled children can spend more time learning about their favourite topics in great depth and those topics can be connected to other subject lessons. Children who love dinosaurs, for example, can work out math problems involving dinosaurs and then write stories about them.
Fifthly, about the issue of socialization. Parents often worry whether a homeschooled child will learn socialization skills. While this is a legitimate concern, all socialization need not take place in school.[8]Children can be enrolled in community programs—choirs, theatre, sports—all of which will allow them to spend time with other children.[9]Schools should also allow homeschooled children to participate in extracurricular activities. Another choice is the homeschooling co-ops, which provide opportunities to socialize. No matter what choice you make, more attention will need to be given to getting your children together with others. The beauty of homeschooling is being able to have more control of the social contacts your child makes.
[10]Next, legal issues. Different states have different laws regulating homeschooling. Parents should learn about these laws before committing to homeschooling since some require quite a bit of time. For example, in some states, parents need to submit their curriculum and in some cases some lesson plans for approval.[11]Other states, however, require only that parents declare that they will be homeschooling their children. Still other states require something in between these two. The seventh issue is resources. Parents of gifted children may feel overwhelmed by the possibility of homeschooling. What kind of curriculum should be used? Finding a local homeschooling group can be helpful.[12]Parents can also contact high schools and colleges to look for tutors. A gifted high-schooler can provide help with subjects a parent doesn’t feel confident teaching their primary age children. Universities may have graduate and undergraduate students who may be interested in tutoring as well.
Next, about finances. Parents need to consider whether they can afford to homeschool. Homeschooling can be accomplished very inexpensively; however, it usually requires that the teaching parent will not be working out of the home. If both parents work, it can be a hardship to lose one income in order to stay home and homeschool. However, some parents are able to work at least part time if they participate in a co-op.[13]Some co-ops are made up of parents who share teaching responsibilities. Not only does that allow parents to teach their strong subjects but it also allows them time to work or fulfill other obligations.
Ninthly, household organization.[14]Housework and laundry still have to be done, but it probably won’t get done first thing in the morning. If a stickler for a spotless house, you might be in for a surprise.[15]Not only does housework need to be let go at times, but homeschooling creates messes and clutter in itself.
Finally, both parents in agreement. It is important that both parents agree to try homeschooling. It is very difficult to homeschool if one parent is against it. If your spouse is a-gainst it at this time, try doing more research and talking to more people.
OK I have talked about ten aspects of homeschooling and I am sure we all understand what to consider when we decide whether or not to homeschool our kids.