HOMESCHOOLING- to help in the decision to...

*lack of educational instutions in the area

*bullying

*religious reasons

*special needs of students

*the belief that education system is failing due to overcrouded classes and underpaid, overworked teachers.

*the flexibility factor

whichever reason has brought you to read this artical, homeschooling is a valid and ever growing alternative to the traditional classroom... and much easier to start than you might think...we teach our children from the time they are born, and the continuation into homeschool is just as natural. every parent knows their child better than any teacher or tutour ever could and can taylor the learning to suit. this is the keystone advantage to homeschooling. it allows each child to learn at their own pace, either faster, slower or even at the same rate as their peers in the classroom.

instilling a love of learning is definatly the key to an easier time in school for any student. starting when they are babies either reading books to them, singing to them, or  letting them explore under your guidence textures, colours and the world around them is a fantastic base for homeschool because they are already used to you teaching them. when i was researching homeschooling, i found lots of styles and useless words such as unschooling and doviwhatsits method and in the end i got so cofused that i decided to make up my own style of teaching and it's working for us. most homeschool families i have talked to have done the same thing so if you decide to homeschool don't be frazzled by all the terminology. just do what comes naturally.

as far as the reasons behind wanting to homeschool children they are as varied as the people who do it . firstly, the most seemingly obvious reason to homeschool is distance to an educational instituion. although there is the school of the air, there are more parents in this situation (particulary in rural areas) that decide to homeschool instead. i'm really not sure why that is but i would love to hear from any rural families that homeschool just for intrest sake.

one of the biggest differences between conventional schooling and home educating is that the amount of focus on academic studies and not socilisation... but i hear you say "that is such an important part of growing up" yes that is correct but it has no place in the academic education of our children. there is also a belief among many homeschool parents that school is such a false environment to teach it in (i'll get to that in a minute). as far as socialising our kids goes, there are many extra cricular activities which can offer all the social practice children need... in adition to this the combining of the two in a classroom can somtimes distract the most devoted students... homeschooling also takes out the middle man. with parent-teacher contact being at a minimum these days, knowing how your child is doing on a day to day basis is virtually impossible in a school environment regardless of how much either side contributes... there are just too many students to deal with for our poor teachers to be able to report to parents about an individual child when they ask.

going back to what i said before about the belief of school being a false environment. as adults we deal with many dirvirse groups and individual people in our day to day life, yet the varience among interactions of students who attend school of different ages and backgrounds is quite low in comparison to the same factor in homeschool students. thus, it could be said that socialisation in homeschool students is a more accurate representation of their personal interactions later in life and also a better environment to teach it in.

one of the most fantastic things about homeschool is it's flexability. if one parent or caregiver is mostly stayhome (can also be work from home) there is no reason why a successful homeschool cannot be set up. all that is really needed is some internet knowhow (basically searching around for material... which can be found for free if you look hard enough) and a printer... alternativly, school syllabi can usually be purchased from you local school for each grade for a small fee. then it's up to you and your children decide the hours and the days that will work for you. if you work part-time then do more schoolwork on the days you are home and only a little on the days you arn't. if your child has soccer practice on monday nights then you could start later on tuesday... whatever works. just make sure it stays to as much of a routine as possible because you still want them to gain good time management skills. this flexibility factor can also cater for the special needs of some students such as those who have to visit hospitals on a regular basis. school times can be worked around hospital visits with relative ease and there is no missed classes that need to be caught up on.

in addition to these reasons, the bullying of your child can be a factor in the decision to homeschool. i have heard first hand what the horrors of bullying can be like from my husband, it got so bad that his mother took him and his brother out of conventional school to homeschool them through highschool. the common arguement to this, is that we need to learn to deal with the good as well as the bad people of this world.  and i must admit i am yet to find a homeschool parent that is a bully...lol. i know it seems harsh but if you have more than one child, sibling rivalry would be the closest thing.

in conclusion, the only disadvantage to homeschooling that i have found is that at the end of the day, i have the sole responsibility of educating my child... and being someone who attended public schools from preschool to year 12, that is a trully daunting thought... however, i believe the best thing about it is that i get to see every achievement he makes and it makes me all the more proud of my son and his abilities as a student and a human being to make a difference in this world...

ps: the pics are of my son at his first day of homeschool... i put these in because even though he looks a bit down in them, he has improved so dramatically since we started just a note to let all of you out there know that some days were hard but it gets better everyday.