Tips to Help Homeschooled Children Prepare for the Real World
by Homeschooling is a system whereby a parent teaches their child from the home. There are many variations of how this is done, as well as many reasons why parents select this form of educating their children. In this guide we see some tips so those children who are home schooled can easily adjust to living in a world where most kids went to school.
- Have a Routine. Get up at a specified time, start “school” at a specified time, take scheduled breaks, and try to finish at a planned time. This prepares children for a workforce that is scheduled.
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Plan times, or days, to allow your children to interact with other children. Children need to learn how to work well with others. If we keep them in the confines of our parenting, and they only interact with ourselves, and their siblings, they will not be able to cope with different types of personalities. Some homeschooling groups have get-togethers so that not only do the kids meet other kids, but parents meet other parents.
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Reassess regularly why you are homeschooling and if it is working for your child. Some parents homeschool because they live in a remote area, as such as if you are sailing round the world on a yacht. Sometimes parents start their kids in school but remove them due to problems in the school. These reasons are acceptable. The parent who needs to be cautious is the one who is homeschooling because of their own past experiences in school. Our children are not us, we need to let them decide how they want to learn. We cannot mend our wounds by sheltering our children. Another poor reason for homeschooling is so we can have total control in what they learn, and what they don’t learn. This is often a problem for those who homeschool to shelter their childs religious knowledge. If we truly believe our religion is correct, then what is the harm in exposing the child to other religious choices and knowledges? Sheltering them only increases ignorance and intolerance.
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Do not lie to your child. It is too easy for a parent to praise a child for their work, but when homeschooling it is important to act as though you are judging that childs work against the work of his or her peers, in much the same way a teacher in a regular school would. Some children will excel in some areas and struggle in others. In life we have to accept being told if our work is not up to par, children who have never heard a negative comment about themselves will have a hard time facing criticism in the work place.
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Get help if you need it. Not all of us are qualified to “Teach” every subject, especially once our children are teens. If you cannot properly communicate a subject to your child, get a tutor to help them.
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Post CommentDarla Cooke
On March 26, 2009 at 7:26 am
This is a great article! My sister home schools her two children, but she does it mainly because her husband doesn’t want them being influenced by kids in the public schools. The only friends they have are cousins and other kids from their Church.
Glynis Smy
On March 26, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Sensible guidelines! My friend turned her garage into a ‘classroom’, she and 2 other mothers share the working week and the 5 children interact.
Ruby Hawk
On March 28, 2009 at 9:41 pm
You have a good plan, I have known some kids who were home schooled and they didn’t seem to do as well in public as other children. Maybe the parent didn’t understand home schooling.