Collaborative Post
Home education over the past few months has been so different to normal. Many parents across the country are getting their first glimpse into home education and with work to do at the same time, as well as not being able to go far from home or out on trips to explore, it hasn’t really shown a real side to homeschooling. Days out, home education groups, and exploring are what the majority of home eduacting families will do each week, as well as more formal lessons or teaching. But if you like the idea of it, and are considering the possibility of home educating longer-term, then here ways to make sure that you are set up for success.
Research Your Home Education Options
At the moment, for many, there haven’t been many other options. But no matter what age your child is, and if they have been to a normal school for a number of years, they can still be home educated. Some parents might find at the end of a school year will be a good time to look into it all, and start afresh in the next academic year. There are a lot of websites to help you, and magazines that you can subscribe to. You could even speak to your child’s school if they are currently at one (and you’ll definitely have to deregister them from the school system). Look into the different kinds of routes that you can take, as even in the home educating world, there are some that do formal ‘sit down’ lessons, whereas others take more of an unschooling approach.
Decide if you want to follow a Curriculum
There is no getting away from the fact that you may wish to plan out what you are going to do. Although you don’t have to follow the standard curriculum that schools do, you need to have a bit of an idea around what you are going to teach and when. You can suit it to your children, of course. Then you can look into relevant textbooks and so on. There are apps that you can use too, to help you get things like 11 plus papers for your children to try, and so on. So think clearly about each child, and the kind of approach that you want to have with them.
Create Your Home Education Space
Do you have a space in the home that will be where you home educate? Will you be using the dining room table, or is there a playroom or space room that can become a classroom? Do you want to use things like whiteboards or a blackboard to demonstrate things with? How about artwork and supplies? Although you can home educate with very little, there are some items that will help to create a much more conducive space for children to learn from. Baskets and labels are a great idea to help to keep you organised.
How have you been finding home education if your children are normally at school? It would be great to hear what you think and if you’re planning on this long-term.
