Every parent has the option to homeschool their children. Making the decision for homeschooling can be a tough decision. Especially if both parents are not on the same page. Homeschooling your children is a joint effort. Both parents need to be in agreement with the idea and support one another in the process. If one parent disagrees with homeschooling then that person's attitude will rub off on the child. A homeschooled child needs to know that he or she is in the right place. They need to have the support and encouragement of both parents.
Homeschooling is not just for those of a particular religious persuasion. In fact, this is a common mistake. People of all types homeschool their children and for a variety of reasons. Homeschooling may be chosen by parents who have a special needs child. Or, sometimes the parents are not in agreement with the methodology and subject matter being taught in the schools. Another reason for homeschooling could be due to the fact that their child is one of 30 students in a classroom and therefore not receiving enough attention and therefore not being taught well enough. Perhaps the school is not a safe environment for children in your neighbourhood. There are a lot of areas with much violence and bullying. Homeschooling parents may just be doing so because they think they can do a better job than the school system.
Methods of homeschooling vary in their approach. Some parents will follow a structured and traditional curriculum that they have purchased from a well-known organization. Other parents may be following the 'unschooling' method. In between these extremes, there are those that follow a more relaxed approach. Following a structured curriculum, depending on the child's age, may take up to 1/2 a day or more of school work. The unschooling approach loosely follows the topics that a child has expressed interest in with the main focus of educating a child rather than 'doing school.'
As mentioned above, the age of the child has a lot to do with the amount of time spent on homeschooling each day. A preschool or kindergarten age child may only hold an attention span of 1/2 to 1 hr per day. This is fine for this age group as you are giving them individual attention for that entire time and they are learning! As the child grows, he/she will mature enough to have a longer attention span. At that time, the child is able to take in more. Generally speaking, homeschooling by it's very nature is more concentrated than the mainstream school system. For this reason, many homeschooling families only need to spend about a 1/2 day on their school work. This leaves the rest of the day to do other things the child may want to do.
Choosing to homeschool your child is perhaps one of the most self-less things you can do for your child. Give it a try and if it doesn't work out then you can always move the child into the public school system. Before you give up, be sure and connect with other homeschooling families. You can receive a lot of support an encouragement from other like-minded individuals who will no doubt contribute to the success of your homeschooling activities.
