Do You Have What It Takes To Homeschool Your Child?
You may be asking the same question that thousands of other parents are also asking - Do I have what it takes to homeschool my child? Perhaps you've been sending your child to a traditional school, or it is time to begin school soon and you're trying to decide the best route for your child's education. If you've been feeling a little scared about trying home education, you're not alone.
Many parents report feelings of anxiety, worry and fear when considering homeschooling for the first time. A common feeling of being unqualified to teach their child, or anxious that they might miss something in their child's education, or overwhelmed by the curriculum choices out there. So what does it take to homeschool your child?
If you want to know if you have what it takes to home school your child just ask yourself these four simple questions:
1). Do I have the discipline to learn and grow with my child? Time has proven that parents who are successful in educating their children at home are those parents who are willing to provide an interactive learning experience for their child consistently. This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to spend hours planning lessons every day. What it does mean, is that you're willing to embrace the excitement of discovering again for the first time. Laugh with your child and show enthusiasm. If you can remember and recreate the excitement of discovery, and are willing to convey that feeling to your child even when you don't feel like it, then, you're well on your way to homeschooling success.
You will find innovative ways to create enthusiasm in even the most bored children in an upcoming post entitled "Is Your Child Bored To Tears?”
2). Am I able to read and write well? This may seem like a no-brainer, however, many surveys have shown that it is possible tograduate from some traditional high schools with a high school diploma and still not be able to read the Sunday paper or write well enough to communicateeffectively. Or perhaps English is not your native language and you find yourself struggling to understand certain phrases or words at times. To homeschool their children successfully, especially young children who haven't yet learned to read, most parents do need to be able to read and write English well.
Becoming literate is possible at any age. Parents who are not sufficiently literate in English can go on and successfully homeschool their children after using a good phonics program. Most adults are able to learn to read well if they apply themselves with a good phonics program for 3-4 months. Finding the right phonics program, such as those offered by ABBA Homeschool Academy, is important. ABBA Homeschool Academy has several excellent phonics programs that work equally well for children and adults.
You may be saying, "of course I can read and write, but I don't have a college degree or any teaching credentials, so how will I know how to teach my child?" While a high percentage of home school parents do have a college degree, that doesn’t mean that if you don't have a college degree or teaching credentials, you can't successfully homeschool. Studies show that having a high school diploma and college degree will not necessarily make you a better teacher of your child anymore than it will make you a better parent. These same studies have shown that homeschooled children, who have parents without a college degree, perform just as well on standardized tests as those homeschooled children who have parents with college degrees.
What is important to your homeschooling success, however, is finding the right curriculum and having educational support and guidance. Many parents find that enrolling with the right homeschool academy, especially a full-service academy like ABBA, can provide the support and guidance needed. Not only does ABBA provide the full academic services you would find at a brick and mortar school, but they also provide added services and a unique style of curriculum not typically found at other academies.
Find further information about ABBA's academic services and unique interactive curriculum in an upcoming post entitled "How To Find The Right Homeschool Curriculum For Your Child".
3). Do I have the right curriculum for my child's learning style? Without the right curriculum for your child's particular learning style, you will find your child becoming more and more frustrated as the school year progresses. Parents who try to force the wrong type curriculum on their children, have children who lose their love of learning. Having the right curriculum for your child may make the difference between academic success or failure. Misunderstanding a childs learning style often gets many students the label "Learning Disabled" by the traditional school system.
It is important that you find the curriculum that will complement your child's learning style. Finding your child's learning style is not as difficult as you might think with the help of informative charts such as those found on ABBA's Learning Styles page. There are also questions you can ask in discovering your child's learning style: Is your child always moving or fidgeting? Most likely he is a tactile/kinesthetic learner. Is your child always talking? Maybe your child is an auditory learner. Does your child often ask to see the pictures or videos of the lesson? This may be a clue that your child is a visual learner. Accommodate these different approaches to learning with the curriculum at ABBA Homeschool Academy.
You will find further help in discovering your child's learning styles in an upcoming post entitled "How to Find Your Child's Learning Style and Teach Effectively".
4). Do I have the necessary academic support and guidance I need? If you're like many other parents, you've sometimes found yourself wondering what you need to do next with your child or what project or activity might help your child fully understand a new concept. Questions like these are easy to answer if you have the proper academic support and guidance of a full-service homeschool academy, such as ABBA.
It is sometimes frightening and overwhelming to find yourself accountable for your child's education. Parents enrolled in a homeschool academy report feeling much more confident and sure of their child's academic success when they know they have a knowledgeable educational staff supporting them.It is important to enroll in an academy that not only has staff with teaching experience, but with staff who also have personal experience homeschooling their own children. There's just no substitute for being able to talk with a homeschool academy staff member who understands where you're coming from because they've been there themselves. The reassurance that someone understands your problems, and has helped you come to a workable solution, can promote confidence in your ability to homeschool, and that, in turn will inspire confidence in your child.
Studies have shown that children who feel confident score much higher on academic tests and most go on to lead productive lives as adults. At ABBA Homeschool Academy, we not only have experienced teachers on staff, but more importantly, most of our staff has active homeschooling experience. We understand your unique problems, we've faced them ourselves and we're there to give you the support you need.
Without a doubt, children learn best and to their fullest potential when taught by someone who loves them and takes a personal interest in their every need. A love of learning, a love for your child, and the right curriculum and homeschool support is more important than having credentials or degrees.
John Gatto said, of teaching children, in an article for the March 2002 Life Learning Magazine, "You can be trained from outside, but only educated from within; one is a habit of memory and reaction, the other a matter of seizing the initiative".
Copyright © 2005 by Connie Wollenhaupt, ABBA Homeschool Academy
You may be asking the same question that thousands of other parents are also asking - Do I have what it takes to homeschool my child? Perhaps you've been sending your child to a traditional school, or it is time to begin school soon and you're trying to decide the best route for your child's education. If you've been feeling a little scared about trying home education, you're not alone.
Many parents report feelings of anxiety, worry and fear when considering homeschooling for the first time. A common feeling of being unqualified to teach their child, or anxious that they might miss something in their child's education, or overwhelmed by the curriculum choices out there. So what does it take to homeschool your child?
If you want to know if you have what it takes to home school your child just ask yourself these four simple questions:
1). Do I have the discipline to learn and grow with my child? Time has proven that parents who are successful in educating their children at home are those parents who are willing to provide an interactive learning experience for their child consistently. This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to spend hours planning lessons every day. What it does mean, is that you're willing to embrace the excitement of discovering again for the first time. Laugh with your child and show enthusiasm. If you can remember and recreate the excitement of discovery, and are willing to convey that feeling to your child even when you don't feel like it, then, you're well on your way to homeschooling success.
You will find innovative ways to create enthusiasm in even the most bored children in an upcoming post entitled "Is Your Child Bored To Tears?”
2). Am I able to read and write well? This may seem like a no-brainer, however, many surveys have shown that it is possible tograduate from some traditional high schools with a high school diploma and still not be able to read the Sunday paper or write well enough to communicateeffectively. Or perhaps English is not your native language and you find yourself struggling to understand certain phrases or words at times. To homeschool their children successfully, especially young children who haven't yet learned to read, most parents do need to be able to read and write English well.
Becoming literate is possible at any age. Parents who are not sufficiently literate in English can go on and successfully homeschool their children after using a good phonics program. Most adults are able to learn to read well if they apply themselves with a good phonics program for 3-4 months. Finding the right phonics program, such as those offered by ABBA Homeschool Academy, is important. ABBA Homeschool Academy has several excellent phonics programs that work equally well for children and adults.
You may be saying, "of course I can read and write, but I don't have a college degree or any teaching credentials, so how will I know how to teach my child?" While a high percentage of home school parents do have a college degree, that doesn’t mean that if you don't have a college degree or teaching credentials, you can't successfully homeschool. Studies show that having a high school diploma and college degree will not necessarily make you a better teacher of your child anymore than it will make you a better parent. These same studies have shown that homeschooled children, who have parents without a college degree, perform just as well on standardized tests as those homeschooled children who have parents with college degrees.
What is important to your homeschooling success, however, is finding the right curriculum and having educational support and guidance. Many parents find that enrolling with the right homeschool academy, especially a full-service academy like ABBA, can provide the support and guidance needed. Not only does ABBA provide the full academic services you would find at a brick and mortar school, but they also provide added services and a unique style of curriculum not typically found at other academies.
Find further information about ABBA's academic services and unique interactive curriculum in an upcoming post entitled "How To Find The Right Homeschool Curriculum For Your Child".
3). Do I have the right curriculum for my child's learning style? Without the right curriculum for your child's particular learning style, you will find your child becoming more and more frustrated as the school year progresses. Parents who try to force the wrong type curriculum on their children, have children who lose their love of learning. Having the right curriculum for your child may make the difference between academic success or failure. Misunderstanding a childs learning style often gets many students the label "Learning Disabled" by the traditional school system.
It is important that you find the curriculum that will complement your child's learning style. Finding your child's learning style is not as difficult as you might think with the help of informative charts such as those found on ABBA's Learning Styles page. There are also questions you can ask in discovering your child's learning style: Is your child always moving or fidgeting? Most likely he is a tactile/kinesthetic learner. Is your child always talking? Maybe your child is an auditory learner. Does your child often ask to see the pictures or videos of the lesson? This may be a clue that your child is a visual learner. Accommodate these different approaches to learning with the curriculum at ABBA Homeschool Academy.
You will find further help in discovering your child's learning styles in an upcoming post entitled "How to Find Your Child's Learning Style and Teach Effectively".
4). Do I have the necessary academic support and guidance I need? If you're like many other parents, you've sometimes found yourself wondering what you need to do next with your child or what project or activity might help your child fully understand a new concept. Questions like these are easy to answer if you have the proper academic support and guidance of a full-service homeschool academy, such as ABBA.
It is sometimes frightening and overwhelming to find yourself accountable for your child's education. Parents enrolled in a homeschool academy report feeling much more confident and sure of their child's academic success when they know they have a knowledgeable educational staff supporting them.It is important to enroll in an academy that not only has staff with teaching experience, but with staff who also have personal experience homeschooling their own children. There's just no substitute for being able to talk with a homeschool academy staff member who understands where you're coming from because they've been there themselves. The reassurance that someone understands your problems, and has helped you come to a workable solution, can promote confidence in your ability to homeschool, and that, in turn will inspire confidence in your child.
Studies have shown that children who feel confident score much higher on academic tests and most go on to lead productive lives as adults. At ABBA Homeschool Academy, we not only have experienced teachers on staff, but more importantly, most of our staff has active homeschooling experience. We understand your unique problems, we've faced them ourselves and we're there to give you the support you need.
Without a doubt, children learn best and to their fullest potential when taught by someone who loves them and takes a personal interest in their every need. A love of learning, a love for your child, and the right curriculum and homeschool support is more important than having credentials or degrees.
John Gatto said, of teaching children, in an article for the March 2002 Life Learning Magazine, "You can be trained from outside, but only educated from within; one is a habit of memory and reaction, the other a matter of seizing the initiative".
Copyright © 2005 by Connie Wollenhaupt, ABBA Homeschool Academy
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