Nice Article On Homeschooling/Unschooling as Lifestyle Choice
By Lisa - Homeschooling Mom
I love that the article sees homeschooling as a lifestyle and not just a way to “educate” you children.
Home education is a lifestyle choice
By INGRID LOCHAMIRE (Created: Monday, April 30, 2007 1:37 PM EDT)
Choosing to educate your children at home is more than an exercise in educational freedom. It’s a lifestyle choice that involves many options and decisions.
The primary consideration is whether one parent has time to devote to teaching the child. In the early years, actual “teaching” time is only 1-2 hours per day. Those hours are spent in the basics – learning to read, write and manipulate numbers. All other learning in the early years should be experiential, rather than formal. Such activities as reading aloud, drawing, looking at maps and picture books, creating crafts or conducting simple science experiments can easily fill up the rest of the day. Household chores, play time and field trips also provide plenty of opportunities for learning to take place.
Studies have shown parents with higher educational degrees or economic status are no more successful at teaching their children than those with a high school education and a moderate income. So, if you’re a parent (or grandparent) and you’re willing, you have the qualifications to teach your child at home.
As children progress into middle and upper elementary levels, more time is spent helping the child move toward self-directed learning. Once you have helped your child master the “mechanics” of gathering, processing and communicating information, they have an open window to the world. Your job is simply to keep the books and opportunities flowing.
By high school, parents of students who expect to attend a college or university need to be sure they are covering the state requirements for graduation, and providing documentation. Many useful tools are available to help homeschoolers record high school subjects and award credits earned by the student.
At the same time an older homeschooler will have developed definite interests which will guide you as you tailor their education. One of the beauties of homeschooling is that the older student (and younger students, too) can follow their passions – whether that be music, science, history, auto mechanics or art. Most homeschoolers find they have more time to devote to developing their hobbies and interests.
For entire article:
http://www.kpcnews.com/articles/2007/04/30/family/front/family04300703.txt
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