Teach Your Child to Argue

I haven’t tried this and I don’t know if I will. But it sounds logical, interesting and I thought might interest Homeschoolbuzz readers.

Why would any sane parent teach his kids to talk back? Because, this father found, it actually increased family harmony.
(First published in Disney’s Wondertime Magazine. The article was nominated for a 2007 National Magazine Award.) Read more…

Teach Your Child to Argue

I haven’t tried this and I don’t know if I will. But it sounds logical, interesting and I thought might interest Homeschoolbuzz readers.

Why would any sane parent teach his kids to talk back? Because, this father found, it actually increased family harmony.
(First published in Disney’s Wondertime Magazine. The article was nominated for a 2007 National Magazine Award.) Read more…

Shift in kind of families who are home schooling

From USATODAY.com. They interview Henry Cate of Why Homeschool in the article.

Parents who home-school children increasingly are white, wealthy and well-educated — and their numbers have nearly doubled in a decade, a new federal government report says.

What else has nearly doubled? The percentage of girls who are home-schooled. They now outnumber home-schooled girls by a wide margin.

As of spring 2007, an estimated 1.5 million, or 2.9% of all school-age children in the USA, were home-schooled, up from 1.7% in 1999. Read more…

Shift in kind of families who are home schooling

From USATODAY.com. They interview Henry Cate of Why Homeschool in the article.

Parents who home-school children increasingly are white, wealthy and well-educated — and their numbers have nearly doubled in a decade, a new federal government report says.

What else has nearly doubled? The percentage of girls who are home-schooled. They now outnumber home-schooled girls by a wide margin.

As of spring 2007, an estimated 1.5 million, or 2.9% of all school-age children in the USA, were home-schooled, up from 1.7% in 1999. Read more…

Shift in kind of families who are home schooling

From USATODAY.com

Parents who home-school children increasingly are white, wealthy and well-educated — and their numbers have nearly doubled in a decade, a new federal government report says.

What else has nearly doubled? The percentage of girls who are home-schooled. They now outnumber home-schooled girls by a wide margin.

As of spring 2007, an estimated 1.5 million, or 2.9% of all school-age children in the USA, were home-schooled, up from 1.7% in 1999. Read more…

Shift in kind of families who are home schooling

From USATODAY.com

Parents who home-school children increasingly are white, wealthy and well-educated — and their numbers have nearly doubled in a decade, a new federal government report says.

What else has nearly doubled? The percentage of girls who are home-schooled. They now outnumber home-schooled girls by a wide margin.

As of spring 2007, an estimated 1.5 million, or 2.9% of all school-age children in the USA, were home-schooled, up from 1.7% in 1999. Read more…

Homeschooling Carnival

Hosted this week by Headmistress at The Common Room.

Thanks for joining us for this carnival of homeschooling! Read more…

Kris Koonar asked:


Homeschooling is akin to home education or home learning. It is a process to educate a child within the comfort of a home. Parents have an important role to educate the child at home. Many feel that homeschooling is much more beneficial than enrolling a child in a public or private school. Homeschooling is a major decision of parents, which entails responsibilities to teach the child at home. So, they need to seek help from homeschooling guides or books or surf the Internet to plan and set goals to benefit and succeed in their endeavors.

So how will you begin homeschooling your child? Below are few important points to help you to start your homeschooling in a better way.

Requirements: Every state in US has their own laws to setup homeschooling. So, abide by the laws, where you need to qualify to conduct a homeschooling in your area. Most of the homeschooling requirements are quite simple and it is not a big problem.

Support groups: Though it is not a compulsion to join a homeschooling support group, still it would help you, if you associate with such a group in your neighborhood. You would be in touch with the parents, who are into homeschooling. You can take advice and suggestions from them, especially when you have plans to start homeschooling. The support groups organize educational trips, such as visit to museums, zoos and libraries. You could even participate in discussions and forums, which are conducted to assist parents involved in homeschooling. You would widen the scope to exercise the process of homeschooling.

Create an environment at home: You may need to make rearrangements at home and allot a specify area and adjust a time frame for homeschooling. If you have a separate place for homeschooling, this would develop an interest in the child for studies and would have less chance for distraction, in spite of the home activities. As far as possible, allot a fixed time to teach and help the child to learn. This would help your child to be organized and disciplined.

Design a plan with easy schedules: You have to design various study schedules for everyday lessons, games etc. You can also prepare a book with a plan to be systematic and to track each day’s tasks to be completed by your child. In some of the states this is an official requirement. It will also help you to understand the areas, where your child needs improvement. Develop a goal oriented study method. Try to make the study quite effective that is to start the day with a tough subject as the child will be in a fresh mood and end his academic tour of the day with an easy subject to rest his brain.

Curriculum for homeschooling: Select a method for homeschooling, which would be based on the child’s learning aptitude and his learning ability. Some of the methods are Montessori classic and Charlotte Mason homeschooling. Don’t purchase curriculum from one place, instead you can pick and choose from different resources.

Try to teach your child by imparting philosophy of life. You can teach more effectively, if you can cite examples from study books to illustrate your philosophy.

Initially, when you start your homeschooling, you may find your child unable to concentrate on studies or simply would not do his studies. Don’t get tensed, instead relax and invite kids from neighborhood for few hours for the child to get associated with them and to feel comfortable in their company. The child would change his moods and simply would concentrate on his studies. You will soon come to the conclusion that your decision to opt for homeschooling your child was a wise decision.

So, stay focused on your reasons to opt for homeschooling. At times you may feel that you are unable to play the role of a teacher and may rethink to put your kids back into public school. Take a deep breathe and think of some perspectives. One of the biggest advantages of homeschooling is, to provide flexibility, when needed and you can cater to your children’s education with a distinct method and style to begin homeschooling.



Posted by Nikhil Gupta

Homeschooling: Socializing, friends, and support

Now that you’ve made the leap into homeschooling, you may start getting questions about “socialization”. Well-meaning friends and family outside the homeschooling community may think that your educational choice will limit you and your children’s opportunity for friendships and “socializing”. They fail to realize that homeschooling doesn’t mean you are going to isolate yourself from the world you live in. You and your children will still have the same opportunites to create friendships with those around you through community activities, church, sports, and even everyday activities such as going to the grocery store and bank. In fact, as homeschoolers, your children have the potential to experience a vast array of social interactions with people of all ages. Interactions that aren’t normally experienced by children who attend a traditional public school because they are limited to interacting within their own age group during school hours. Read more…

Homeschooling on a budget

While summertime is vacation time for most of us, homeschooling families often use this time to chart out and prepare for the fall school year or if you’re like our family, to finish up all those projects we began this year! While I do believe it’s possible to homeschool inexpensively and not spend hundreds of dollars for homeschool materials, it is fact that there is “stuff” we need. And for families struggling with current economic troubles, the expense of homeschooling may be the deal breaker that prevents them from even trying. But it is possible to homeschool cheaply! It really is. All you need is a plan. Read more…