The ELT Times The only online TEFL newspaper

By Heidi Johnson

The availability of home school curriculum can be a blessing and a curse. There are many books and programs to choose from, but trying to choose can be quite overwhelming. There are a few basic thoughts you need to look into to try to help keep you from getting too frustrated in trying to choose what you will use.

1. Consider learning style - Look at how you and your child learn best. Do they like workbooks, creating notebooks, acting out a story. Knowing yours and your child’s learning style can help reduce the amount of “wrong” curriculum that you purchase. If you have a clear picture of how everyone in your home learns best, then you can choose books or curriculum accordingly. This can save money and frustration in the long run.

2. Look at many types of curriculum - This can be overwhelming too, but if you go into it just browsing you can gain a lot of knowledge about what is available to you. You can go to home school conventions, used curriculum fairs or have the curriculum sent to you by using “Curriculum Fair in a Box.” A variety of sample curriculum is sent to you and you can browse over it in the comfort of your own home in your own time.

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3. Plan Ahead - Think about what you want your child to learn or know at the beginning of a school year. Or better yet, if pray and ask God to guide you in what He thinks your child should learn this year. You can take a sheet of paper and list subjects across the top and the names of your children along the side. As you are looking at or thinking about what your child needs, you can jot that down in the proper column for each child. You might have many items under each subject for each child. Once you have written down all your options, then you can circle those that you feel are most important. Then when you go to look at books or resources to use, you will have narrowed down what you need to look for.

Choosing books, curriculum, and resources to use in a school year doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task. If you know how your child learns best, know what is available, and focus on what you want to accomplish for that year you can save yourself quite a bit of frustration.

About The Author

For more tips on homeschooling, grab your free report “How to Homeschool using the Best Resources” at http://www.hjresources.com/freehs. Heidi Johnson specializes in helping families find resources to simplify and improve their lives.

By Heidi Johnson

Homeschool curriculum and books are plentiful. Choosing from the huge selection can be overwhelming. Do you really need to purchase a home school curriculum or can you save some money and home school with books alone? Here are some thoughts that can help you make your decision:

1. You need a core plan - Whether you purchase a home school curriculum or develop your own, you need to know what you want to accomplish. What do you think your child should be doing each day? What do you want them to know and understand by the time the school year is over?

2. Focus on reading, writing and arithmetic - Any good home school program focuses on the basics. Make sure you address the core subjects and know what you want to accomplish there before you add any other subjects to your list.

3. Know how you and your child learn best - Learning style plays a key role in how you and your children will learn. In public school teachers can’t really teach based on learning style because of the volume of students they have to work with. But a home school parent can certainly know their child’s learning style and use resources to support that. If you don’t know yours or your child’s learning style you can take an assessment online and find out. http://www.hjresources.com/hsrecommend Then when you decide to choose curriculum or books you will know what types of resources you need. You might even save yourself a lot of frustration in the long run.

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4. Use your resources - In the early days of home schooling there wasn’t much available to parents. That is definitely not the case now. There is almost too much information available now. You have the internet, library and a host of used curriculum sites where you can get books and resources at a fraction of the cost.

5. Do you use a curriculum to learn something yourself? Think about what you do when you want to learn about something. Do you buy a curriculum to learn or do you read books, listen to audio and watch videos? Your children need to see you have a love for learning. You can learn about how to cook, sew, garden, remodel your house, improve your skills at a job, etc.

Even though purchasing a curriculum can give you a feeling of security knowing that everything your child needs to know will be covered, be careful that you don’t take on too much and get burned out. If you focus on the basics and know what you want to accomplish, then you can make an informed decision as to whether you will need to purchase a curriculum or whether you can just use books and resources to accomplish the same goals.

About The Author

For more tips on homeschooling, grab your free report “How to Homeschool using the Best Resources” at http://www.hjresources.com/freehs Heidi Johnson specializes in helping families find resources to simplify and improve their lives.

By Heidi Johnson

As with any project you take on, there is always the chance for burnout. Here are some simple steps you can take to help avoid burning out on home schooling.

1. Don’t try to do more than you or your child are capable of doing.

Most students are average. Don’t expect your 3 year old to read novels or your teenager be able to ace the SAT test and get a full ride into college. These things happen, but they are not the norm.

2. Set a routine and skip the strict schedules.

Do your children know what is expected of them each day? They need to get up, eat breakfast, do some chores, read, write, do arithmetic and a few other things that you set for them to do. They should not be playing on the computer or playing outside until their normal routine is finished. Some days are easier to accomplish than others. On the low motivation days, you can always throw in some fun or an occasional incentive.

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3. Enjoy your children and develop your relationship with them.

If you have a habit of relating with your child, with mutual listening, then you can work through any curriculum struggle or lack of motivation. You and your child should enjoy learning together and separately. If you are interested in a certain topic like cooking or gardening then your children should see you pursuing that knowledge. We all learn better when we are motivated to learn something ourselves.

4. When you home school you don’t have to mimic what the schools do.

They have to structure their days a certain way because of the volume of students they have and the tests they have to pass. Homeschoolers can learn in many different ways using unusual methods like hopping up and down a step when you answer a flashcard or problem correctly. Use the flexibility of home schooling to avoid burnout by changing the atmosphere a little bit. Play music one day. Light some candles another day. Declare a “game day”.

If you keep your life and day in proper perspective, you can easily avoid burning out on home schooling. Your children probably won’t remember the lesson of the day although they will build on their knowledge and grow in their intelligence, just as they won’t remember the meal they eat, but it will help them grow physically. Your children will mostly remember the atmosphere of your home and how you treated them.

About The Author

For more tips on how to homeschool, grab your free report “How to Homeschool using the Best Resources” at http://www.hjresources.com/freehs. Heidi Johnson specializes in helping families find resources to simplify and improve their lives.