Friday, August 17, 2012

Back to School

If you are a new homeschooler this year, welcome to the growing ranks of parents who have chosen, for whatever reason, to homeschool their children! If you are new, you might find the whole deal of home schooling a little bit intimidating. What if you get something wrong, what if you fail to teach something? How will you know if your child is learning?

I have a few pieces of advice that hopefully will make the beginning of this homeschool journey less stressful. First, find a good curriculum. When we began home schooling in I was afraid that I would mess my child up by skipping some vital piece of information. So, instead of making up my own curriculum, I turned to an online homeschool curriculum called Time4Learning. The beauty of that program is that the lessons are already planned for you, based on state and national standards. I also worried about keeping adequate records. Again, Time4Learning to the rescue. Reports on what my child completed, and grades were easy to compile and print.

Find a good support group. Local home schooling groups can be invaluable when it comes to peace of mind, support, and companionship, both for you and your child.

Welcome to a great adventure, relax, and have fun!

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Physical Education

If your child was in public school, there would be physical education courses available. As homeschool parents we can not neglect our child’s physical education. And that doesn’t just mean getting our kids out and moving.

Believe it or not, there are other things that are good that come out of PE classes. I realized that my child was missing a part of being American that had little to do with her physical fitness. There are a lot of games that your child learns the rules for during PE. Since my child has been home schooled most of her schooling career she had never been exposed to jumping rope, or Chinese jump rope, or even more common games such as baseball. We are not baseball or basketball fans at our home, and as such, she didn’t know the first thing about the rules when asked to join in a game at a homeschool picnic a couple of weeks ago.

Besides the rules our kids also need to stay physically fit, and that can mean joining soccer teams, or other ball teams. Maybe your child likes swimming, or gymnastics. My child has a black belt in TaeKwonDo, and has started with horseback riding lessons. The benefits to keeping her active are not just physical, because the concentration required for her two sports spills over into other aspects of her life. As a child with ADHD any concentration and focus she can gain is a great thing.