Lessons

How To Plan A Homeschooling Curriculum

The best way I've found to plan a homeschooling curriculum is to break it down, then break it down again and again until you've got a manageable amount of information to work with. As always, I advocate as much planning as possible, a significant level of organization, plus a few other tricks to help you along the way!

Break It Down

It can be overwhelming to try to plan a whole homeschooling curriculum, that's why I strongly recommend you first break the curriculum down into subject areas. From there, you can decide on the topics you wish to cover over the period of a year, the sub-topics and finally the lesson plans themselves.

8 Simple Tips For Selecting The Best Homeschool Writing Curriculum

When I was an English teacher, curriculum planning was a breeze. The curriculum committee at the school district decided what learning materials were appropriate for the students in my classroom. At the beginning of the semester, everything I needed was delivered to me in a large, heavy box.

With the help of the dense-packed teacher's manual and numerous ancillary materials, I was able to create daily lesson plans with little difficulty. But for most homeschool parents, the curriculum planning process is seldom so straightforward.

Because writing is a foundational academic skill, many homeschool parents place special emphasis on selecting an appropriate homeschool writing curriculum for their children. But with so many options, finding the best homeschool writing curriculum can seem like a formidable task.

A Day of Homeschooling

What does a typical day look like for a homeschooling family? In many ways, it is the same as anybody else's day. Parents go to work, chores are done around the house (you hope), and kids do their homework, either with or without their parents' help. However, in many ways the day is very, very different for the homeschooling parent.

The Differences

The main difference is that the child (or children, but let's work with just one), does not need to get out of bed, rush to get dressed, bolt down a breakfast and then catch the bus. The parent is not left alone for hours, and the child is not attending a class somewhere else. The parent does not have to guess or even worry about what is going on with their child because the child is right there.

Top Ten List Of Unsolicited Tips And Encouragement For The New Homeschooler

What Advice Would I Give a New Homeschooler?

1. Pray. Every. Single. Day. Homeschooling is wonderful, but it can be completely overwhelming at times. I do not know about you, but I can barely complete my laundry without talking with the Lord.

2. Release Your Expectations. When we begin homeschooling, it is easy to paint a very romantic picture of our children quietly studying at the kitchen table, or reading contentedly on the living room floor...
Whatever your imagination cooks up, release it now.

Homeschool is a living thing. As you and your children learn and grow things will morph and change.

Homeschooling: How To Move From Newbie To Veteran

A Newbie Homeschooler is one who is still in that honeymoon phase of homeschooling. It lasts for about one to three years and can honestly hold you back from the best homeschooling has to offer.

So how does one move from the newbie side of the homeschool line to the coveted veteran side? It's different for everyone, but it all starts here: Do not quit.

Homeschooling is one of the more challenging endeavours that a parent can undertake. Imagine sitting in your home, surrounded by all of your children. You are the chief cook and bottle washer. You decide what they eat, what they wear, what they learn. Honestly, the task can be daunting.

Homeschooling: Do You Have Any Idea Where To Begin?

"So what's your homeschool philosophy?" Are you Charlotte Mason or Classical? Do you believe in unschooling?

Many new homeschoolers have found themselves staring blankly at the well meaning person who just asked them one of these questions. How bad is it to really have no idea what in the world they are talking about? Breathe easier. It is not bad at all.

Being new to homeschooling is like the new reality series One Car Too Far. Having a house full of boys dictates that we have watched this show a few times so far. The point is that a survival expert and an off road enthusiast are dropped in the middle of nowhere. They then have to locate their abandoned Jeep by GPS signal and figure out how to drive it back to civilization. It can be an amusing adventure, especially if one of the wheels falls off the vehicle or the temperature drops to below freezing.

Public School, Private School, Or Homeschool: That Is The Question

Public school, private school, or homeschool are the current options available for today's parents. With educational statistics proving to be scarier than the latest thriller movie, many parents find themselves losing sleep over choosing the best school option for their family.

There is no such thing as "one size fits all" when it comes to education. It would not be a surprise to learn that mainstream education is failing at equipping our children for life in the real world. Many kids are not only graduating with no idea of what they want to do as an adult, but have no idea how to chase after their dreams. Worse yet, some of these kids cannot read, write, or solve basic mathematical problems. So where should parents look for information to solve their own children's educational needs? In the mirror and around their own dinner table.

3 Accountability Rules Of Homeschooling

Often, when considering homeschooling, the focus gets put on the search for the best curriculum. While curriculum is important, an even more important factor needs to be considered before you decide to jump in with both feet.

Acountability

While homeschooling does offer the allure of flexibility of learning materials, delivery and time, these pluses can turn into negatives if it is assumed that no accountability is necessary at all.

3 Rules of Accountability

1. Parent to School Board/Government

We are particularly fortunate because we have multiple school boards that solely serve the homeschooling population in our province of Alberta. This is a tremendous help as we are assigned to a case worker who travels to our house twice a year to consult with us about our goals, curriculum, activities, expenses, etc.

Homeschooling Mentoring and Support

Mentoring and support groups are a great way to meet other homeschoolers in your area. They give parents an opportunity to ask questions and get answers from reliable sources. These groups have a variety of different children who are different ages. Therefore, the parents of such children are able to mentor new mothers or fathers in their next step if they need any help. Will and Sue enthusiastically recommended the mentors they and their children had had throughout their homeschooling journey:

The Challenges With Home Learning

When you decide to embark upon a home learning programme, it can be an exciting time! All of the potential of new knowledge headed in your direction from the comfort of your arm chair and yet as much as I would encourage the personal and professional development this will bring, there are definitely some factors that you should consider before jumping in.

Are you someone who finds it easy to motivate yourself?

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