BEST YEAR, FOR HOME SCHOOLING [ BY BALWANTSINGH BISHT]

RIGHT AGE TO START SCHOOLING

Introduction: Nowadays parents are in hurry to send their children to school at an early age to enroll in Nursery or Kindergarten classes. In India, the parents book the seat in advance to secure admission in metropolitan cities. They take it as a social reputation to get admission in a reputed school in their city. But it is found that the early age of the child is for learning and knowing about her surroundings. The child is comfortable with her parent. She wants to play with them. So a new concept for HOMESCHOOLING is preferred these days.

 The Year I Homeschooled My Child!

Parents are very excited when their children are old enough to get started in the learning stage level one. They are just too excited to play dough alphabet and clay with their 3-4 aged kids, flashcards with colorful drawings, number blocks, dress up in costumes, and plant trees in the backyard with kids and other activities.

Best Age for Homeschooling

 Homeschool helps parents to spend time with their kids in the early stages of learning. But one thing they always forget because of too much excitement is the planning of the homeschool year for their kids. This is important to track their progress and assess their performance in the long run.

 

A HOME SCHOOL CALENDAR

BEST YEAR, FOR HOMESCHOOLING

ulesA homeschool calendar is a good tool to keep you on track and on schedule. You can easily make your lesson plan coinciding with the schedule you mapped out. One benefit of homeschooling your child is you can identify easily and mix in the calendar family sched. 

The schedules are not followed strictly like an eight-hour job. It depends on the activities and availability of each family member who may be assigned to do the teaching in certain subjects. The homeschool year can be memorable depending on the activities you set for your kids. Learning time is also your bonding time with the kids, that's why you opted for a homeschool approach for your child in the first place.

 Another benefit in the schedule you are mapping out for the year is the flexibility of it that you can incorporate out of town activities or even educational trips in different places or even countries. And you decide when is the best time. Here are the other benefits you will enjoy while your child is homeschooled.

MERITS OF HOMESCHOOLING

HOMESCHOOLING/GAMIFICATION

1- Homeschooling can alleviate the problem of peer pressure and bullying because your child is safe but at the same time learning at his own pace and learning capability.

2-  Homeschooling is not only for those kids who were labeled with learning difficulties. Some children just need a different approach best suited for them.

3-  As others would have said otherwise, research shows that kids who are homeschooled have better social skills.

4- The best is: your child and you interacting. Your child gets your sole attention to himself. 

5- You are the mother or the father, so who has the best way of educating your child, YOU! You know what is best and his learning styles. You are the best teacher and you can tailor-fit your lesson according to his uniqueness. If you think that the best place to learn the essentials in your home, then homeschooling is for you.

Homeschool And Grade Your Child

How great must a parent feel spending time with her child at home, see her grow, discover and explore the world! Be all the way with her during her learning and explorations. In America, homeschooling has been gaining popularity due to several reasons given by parents or they have seen the applicability to their child's unique situation. But, laws pertaining to this new alternative approach to education vary from state to state and there are different interpretations to it by school districts. 

Homeschooling does not mean bringing school to home because it will defeat the purpose of homeschooling which is to enjoy learning and have more time to socialize outside rather than spend the day at school and at night they bury themselves in their homework. 

Often, this choice of educational approach is decided by the family due to certain unique situations like special children in the family. Others just simply want to be hands-on parents to his or her kids' learning and explorations.

 In engaging in homeschooling, there are certain things you need to sacrifice like your time and finances. It will be taxing and would take too much of your time as a mother. No more pilates or yoga classes for the moms or even offices outside the home. For the breadwinners, it will be financially constraining because homeschooling is very expensive. 

BENEFITS FROM THE DIS ADVANTAGE OF HOMESCHOOLING

But try to weigh the benefits from the disadvantage of homeschooling your child:

1-  The curriculum programs offered most often are very open and flexible. 

2- The best teacher you can give your children: you. 

3- Parents are active partners in the children's learning activities. 

4- Parents as role models being reinforced as they work closely together with their kids. 

5- How learning can be fun! If you as a family are really decided on homeschooling your child, you have to go through the process of reviewing the options available for you considering you have a special case, check out your child's learning styles so you have to spend time with him and be flexible.

HOW ABOUT GRADES?

 Grading your child's performance is very important especially if the state inspects you. Grades of your homeschooled child should be filed neatly and be well-organized. Grades should be your concrete measure of your child's performance. It will tell you much about what your child or how much he has mastered though this might be overwhelming work especially paperwork to be checked. Also, you cannot give scores to an effort like grades do. They put numbers to almost anything. If your family is ready, has studied all other options and all are positive, then you can experience that learning is fun!

Putting Reading First

It's well documented that when children develop good reading skills early on, they are much more likely to be better learners and better educated. Reading is the foundation for success for all other subject matter and the level of success throughout life for the child. Learning to read isn't an easy task for a child. This is why it is so very important that you as the parent are a model for reading and work with and encourage your child to read each and every day. As a parent or homeschooling parent, you should help ensure that your child develops essential skills associated with reading such as

 1- Use of language and vocabulary. 

2- Having your child respond after listening to stories, read short paragraphs and have your child tell you about what they just heard.

3-  Lean and recognize the alphabet and letters and use everyday items around your house to use as examples. For example, cut out big letters and have your child find items around the house that begin with that letter and stick the letter to them.

4-  Work with your child to connect the sound the letters make to the spoken language. 

5- Read and read often to your child so they know that reading is a daily activity.

6-  Work daily with your child to add a new word to their vocabulary.

7-  Discuss with your child what was just read. This helps you monitor their level of comprehension.

 These skills are vitally important for the pre-first grade level reader. Once your child gets to the first-grade level the focus becomes building upon these skills that will set the stage for the child essentially for the rest of their lives. As a parent it's not enough to merely incorporate these skills into your child's daily activities, you keep your fingers on the pulse of your child's progress and understanding. At this early age, it is critical to get the reading journey off on the right foot. At its simplest form, reading is a skill. Just like any other skill, it takes practice to become proficient at it. In fact, reading is such an important skill as it takes more practice than a child will receive if they attend a traditional school.

 As a parent, you need to augment the school's reading program with daily reading time at home. If you are homeschooling, make reading a daily top priority type of activity. Introduce your child to your local library as soon as you can. Get them signed up for summer reading programs. Set aside an area in your home where your child can have and develop a library all their own. Put their favorite chair in their library or where they like to read and have you read to them. Reading truly is fundamental to education and success. Without good reading skills, much of life will always be a struggle. Build a sound and solid foundation for your child by ensuring early on that you help establish a love for reading in your child and success will follow.