Thinking of homeschooling? Start this summer

 

I’ve talked to many people who tell me that they would like to homeschool their children but feel that they might not be up to the task. One of the best ways to find out if you and your children might enjoy homeschooling is to start during the summer. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. As a matter of fact, there are tons of learning opportunities that are free. (And free lesson plans!)

Homeschooling can be done in many different ways.

I think that every homeschooling family educates in a different fashion. The fact is that when you school your own child, you are dealing with that person, their interests, their abilities, their misunderstandings, and their relationship with you and the environment in which they live.

There are endless opportunities to explore, discover and expand ones understandings. That is what education is all about.

In the summer, there are free or low cost fairs, shows, classes, and concerts. There is time to go to the beach, take a walk in the forest, or just spend time watching the bugs in the cracks of your front sidewalk.

You don’t need fancy curriculum or a special certification to set the example to your child that learning is fun. However, YOU need to be involved in the learning.

I remember an example of a spontaneous learning experience that happened when my son was around 3 years old. We were taking a walk down the block. There was a crew of men cutting down a very big tree. It was so big that they had to climb the tree and cut the smaller branches off first and then cut down sections of the tree. It took them a long time. We sat out of harms way and watched them for hours. It was interesting. Later we got out books about trees. We talked about trees. We noticed trees. The world of trees opened to us. That is because we took the time to really “look.”

Of course, the above example won’t work with an older child – like a teen. For them, you have to find things that they are interested in. Maybe they have a favorite musical group. Well, research that group with them. Where did they come from? What is their musical background? Would they like to make a music video to one of their songs?

I know this sounds simplistic, but actual learning is something that occurs when a person has a purpose to learn something. So, you have to find out what your child WANTS to learn about and then YOU learn it too. You’d be surprised how much homeschooling parents learn.

There are lots of free educational sites to get you started. Here is a small sampling:

• Spanish for Kids
• Cartoons that teach really cool things
• A visual dictionary
• Trending: Free tuition college classes

If you are still not sure where to start, watch this animated viral video of Sir Ken Robinson’s famous talk on Changing Education Paradigms (models).

I hope that these give you some suggestions. Have you thought about homeschooling your kids?

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