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Meanings for curriculum:
1. All the courses of study offered by an educational institution.
2. A group of related courses, often in a special field
of study
Homeschooling With a Packaged Curriculum
Once the decision is made to homeschool, the next major
issue is which curriculum or methodology to use. While there
are pros and cons for every option, this article will focus
on homeschooling with a packaged curriculum.
A packaged curriculum will usually include all the books,
lesson plans, and scope and sequence planning needed for
an entire school year. Some providers also include additional
services for enrolled families. These services can include
counseling, grading, report cards, and even diplomas. While
this path is often more expensive, there is the advantage
of having everything already planned out in advance. This
alone is a great time saver, which becomes more of an issue
when there are several children being homeschooled in one
family.
Another point to consider is accreditation. When a program
is accredited, it means that it has been reviewed by an
outside agency or committee and has been determined to meet
certain standards. Why would this be important? This will
help greatly when time comes to apply to college. If the
student has a high school diploma from an accredited high
school, there should be much less difficulty proving to
admissions offices that a high school education has indeed
been completed. Also, credits may be more easily transferred
to another school if necessary.
When we first decided to educate our children at home,
I was faced with researching and planning what to cover
in a school year for four children - grades 6, 4, 2, and
preschool - with about a month to have it complete. The
packaged curriculum I chose from Seton Home Study School
proved to be invaluable. As I was brand new at this, I honestly
did not know where to start. The more I read about the various
educational methodologies and the limitless choices of textbooks,
the more I realized it would make more sense to enlist the
help of a company with many years of experience.
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By using a prepared curriculum, I can be assured that each
child is covering all the most important topics and acquiring
the necessary skills. The lesson plans do just that - plan
out each lesson for us, including many suggestions for additional
activities and enrichment. They also include many recommended
resources, especially pertinent websites for further study.
One of the chief complaints about packaged curricula is
that they are not very flexible, and tend to be quite rigid
regarding what to do when. Our experience thus far has not
been so. The program we use emphasizes that parents should
adjust the program to fit the child, not the child to fit
the program. In reality, nothing is actually "required."
We can use or skip any suggestions we choose. The only true
requirements exist only if you want an actual report card
or diploma. Certain assignments must be completed and submitted
in order to verify completion of the material. I find that
keeping a portfolio of work that has been graded by an outside
party is a good "insurance policy" against the
regulations imposed by our state.
While I readily admit that not everyone will work well
with a packaged curriculum, this option does provide many
advantages. For anyone who is just starting out and has
little or no experience working out a plan of study, a prepared
curriculum provides a solid beginning and helps the parent
learn more too. Many families will start with a complete
packaged curriculum, and then as time goes by, they start
making modifications and adjustments as they gain experience
and confidence. As can be seen, the many packaged curricula
available today can prove to be a very useful tool for many
home schooling families.
Article Tags: Home School, Curriculum
Cynthia Brandolini has been educating her own children
at home since 2000. Her homeschooling informational website
can be found at www.BestHomeSchool.info
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How To Homeschool Your Child Successfully
By: Susan Jan
There are many benefits to homeschooling children: as costs
of private schools continue to climb, homeschooling is a
more affordable option; homeschooling allows more educational
flexibility and can be scheduled conveniently around other
family activities; and the curriculum and learning environment
can be tailored to suit your child's individual needs.
When you decide to homeschool your child, you must have
a clear curriculum, plan and goals. Homeschooling allows
you a great deal of flexibility, in that you can teach a
child something in many different ways, and teach many different
things for a given subject. However, this very flexibility
can also be your downfall if not handled properly, as you
run the risk of providing an inconsistent and sub par education
that leaves your child lagging behind his or her peers.
Setting a clear educational plan means you have a better
chance for effective homeschooling. To set your plans and
goals, it is a good idea to first take a look at your child's
standard curriculum for his grade in a public or private
school. See what the standard expectations are for a given
subject level, then set your targets, timeline and curriculum
for your child. Once you have decided what your child is
going to learn, you can allow for some flexibility in how
your child will learn best.
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Homeschooling also requires discipline, as it can be difficult
drawing a distinction between home and schooling at home.
There are plenty of distractions in any household and when
you get busy you may be tempted to try and multitask, that
is, to educate your child and also do some other chores
at home. Parents may even be tempted to give an assignment
to their child and then leave to complete some other activities.
By doing so, you are sending a negative message that his
schooling is not a high priority for you, and this will
seriously undermine the child's attitude towards his own
education. So make sure to do household duties "after-school"
hours and when "school is in," you and your child
are both focusing 100 percent on learning. This will communicate
to your child that education is important and top priority.
Homeschooling not only allows you to tailor education to
your child's individual needs, something that is lacking
in both the private and public school systems; it also allows
you and your child to learn together, thus helping to create
a valuable learning experience, and also to strengthen family
bonds.
Article Tags:
Homeschooling, Homeschooling Curriculum, Homeschooling Online,
Homeschool Curriculum, Online Homeschool
For more on Homeschooling visit Susan's site at about-homeschooling.info.
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When Can I Start Home Schooling?
By: Joshua Poon
Perhaps you have been wondering at what age I can start
homeschooling. You would be pleased to know that when it
comes to the question of age viability or minimum age for
home schooling, there is actually no such requirement. When
you find it appropriate to home school your child, his or
her age will determine what you have to do in order to complete
the transition into home schooling. Moreover, age matters
very little when it comes to home schooling. This has perhaps
been one of its most esteemed and valued characteristics.
Most parents who opt for home schooling are those parents
who have children already enrolled in an educational institution
of sorts. Regardless of what educational level or age your
child is, he or she is good to go. However, because of the
fact that your child has gone through some sort of schooling,
you have to first consult with the educational institution.
Once there, you must get your child's records assessing
clearly the educational level and subsequent attainment
achieved while in the school.
If your child is not yet within schooling age but you're
already planning on home schooling him or her, then there's
no other consultation you have to go through. All you have
to do is follow the required procedure in your state for
home schooling. That is, if your state requires being informed
of the intention to home school your child, you must follow
this and whatever other requirements they have set before
you can go about home schooling. Otherwise, you're free
to start home schooling your child anytime.
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The fact that home schooling your child is not reliant
on age surprises many individuals, and this may include
you. While some parents move their children out of the formal
learning environment to give them a more age-appropriate
curriculum, home schooling in fact (and at times unknowingly)
steps away from age-appropriateness to intellectual-appropriateness.
While children in schools may be required to follow one
standardized curriculum, you may opt to either give your
child more time on the required materials you wish to teach,
or advance to more complex materials if your child is more
than qualified to take on harder materials. As such, the
system is based more on merit than on age. Moreover, it
allows you to create a curriculum designed to address your
child as a growing individual, instead of a statistical
age group recommended to take a particular group of lessons
from a generalized spectrum of disciplines.
Another issue that home schooling addresses in a far more
effective way is socialization. In schools, students are
more or less encouraged to be in the company of peers within
the same age group, give or take a year or two. This has
resulted in age-based socialization. Some parents contend
that this sort of limit on the social environment most accessible
to their children actually hampers a more enriched interpersonal
growth. While this sort of socialization is greatly emphasized
with the various year levels in schools, the fact that age-based
socialization is something seemingly arbitrary is quite
evident. Comparing this to the home school environment with
a child able to interact freely with people in his or her
community without the pressures of a formal educational
system, you can already see an inherent comparative advantage.
It gives children greater experience and opportunities to
grow at a pace dictated only by their intellectual and emotional
maturity.
A little work in the beginning can go a long way, especially
if you want your child to learn of values and other pertinent
academic matter that the school will not teach. The best
part is, there is no minimum age to start.
Article Tags:
Homeschooling Age, Homeschool, When, Start
Joshua Poyoh is the creator of http://homeschoolingreport.com
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Parents are starting to find out that one of the best ways
to teach their children is though homeschooling. Amazingly,
even children are choosing homeschool over public school.
The benefits of a homeschool vs public school education
are many. Children that are homeschooled have more time
to work on projects, are able to have more hands on experiences
and they don't have the negative peer pressure that exists
in public schools. Many parents choose homeschool over public
schools because they want to teach their children religion
and moral values. In the debate over homeschool vs public
school, homeschooling is winning in many states.
One of the primary benefits of teaching a child at home
is designing a curriculum especially for them. Parents can
spend more time on subjects that children are struggling
with. It is estimated that an average 45 minute class time
is spent in the following ways by a teacher: 15 minutes
is spent on discipline problems, 15 minutes on teaching
the subject and 15 minutes spent on paperwork. The time
that a teacher can spend on a student during this time in
a classroom of 25 is less than one minute per child. This
means that the only children getting attention in the classroom
are children with behavior problems. This leaves the majority
of children struggling to understand subject material and
not having the time to ask questions.
Many parents learn early on to accept the fact that their
child is just average. The exact opposite may be closer
to the truth. Your child may have skills and abilities that
are never recognized in the classroom because the teacher
doesn't have the time to get to know him or her. The typical
public school is focused on an outcome-based education system.
This means that children are taught to take tests. Many
teachers are beginning to complain that it is no longer
fun to teach in the classroom. Teaching to the students
and not the task is what most teachers want to do. Instead,
the individual states have taken away the creativity of
teachers and they are no longer able to design individualized
curriculums for their students. It is easy for parents to
decide in this instance that the winner in homeschool vs
public school options is homeschooling.
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One final reason that parents are weighing the options
of homeschool vs public school is that bullying fellow classmates
is becoming prevalent. Many schools are having problems
with teens designing websites on campus where they threaten
and taunt their fellow classmates. The common use of cell
phones has also caused problems such as harassment of classmates.
Each year hundreds of teens commit suicide, many times because
their peers are making their lives miserable. If your child
is having these kinds of problems consider taking your child
out of school for their own sanity as well as yours. Homeschool
is a great education option and it provides a safe learning
environment for your child.
To stay abreast of the current trends, information and
resources available for homeschool parents, teachers and
students subscribe to Homeschool Success News - http://hsnews.homeschooltutorpro.com
If you need an online tutor, courseware or wish to offer
your services as a paid online tutor contact our TutorBug
website: http://homeschooltutorpro.com
Magic Learning Systems also provides excellent products
to enhance the homeschool experience for teachers and students.
http://magic.homeschooltutorpro.com
Dr. J. Elisha Burke Editor, Homeschool Success Newsletter
jeb@homeschooltutorpro.com
Copyright 2005 Burke Publications All Rights Reserved
Dr. J. E. Burke, Editor of Homeschool Success News, a minister
and college instructor, has been involved in various educational
and business enterprises via Burke Publications for 11 years.
Dr. Burke is an educator, writer and motivational speaker
on a variety of topics. Contact: jeb@homeschooltutorpro.com
http://hsnews.homeschooltutorpro.com
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