Homeschooling is it for you?

I have been homeschooling my own children, working with homeschool families and teaching in co-ops for 15 years. Before that, I was homeschooled myself from 8th to 12th grade. I then went to college and got my teaching certificate and then taught a few years in the classroom. After having my own children, is when I got back into homeschooling. At the same time, however, I worked on my Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction and maintained my teaching certificate.

What are common challenges in homeschooling?

Homeschooling can be challenging, but the rewards greatly outweigh the challenges. Some challenges that I have seen are that it does not always work to set up homeschooling as you would classroom schooling with strict schedules, study locations, etc. With homeschooling, you have to be flexible and meet the needs of your family. Another challenge is figuring out how to best teach each child as every child learns differently. It does not always work to have the same curriculum for all your children. Sometimes it does, but sometimes it fails as well. You need to figure out how your child learns and customize your curriculum to meet their needs.

What challenges do homeschoolers face with public schools or colleges?

Public schools do not know all the homeschool laws, so you can get a lot of misinformation on what is and is not required from them. You may also receive miss information in the programs that your child can participate in at the public school, even while not being enrolled in the school as a student and also misinformation on how Running Start works. A good source for more accurate information is www.washhomeschool.org

A big challenge with some colleges is not wanting to accept a homeschool transcript and requiring that the student take a lot of placement tests when enrolling. Some colleges are less homeschool friendly than others; so shop around. There are a lot of colleges out there that welcome homeschoolers as well.

What are the advantages of homeschooling?

In my opinion, one of the biggest advantages to homeschooling is that you can customize the curriculum to the way the child learns and thus greatly enhance the learning experience. You also are able to spend more one on one time with the child than they would get in a standard classroom. Another advantage is that you can be selective in the curriculum you choose and in the peer activities attended so that the education experience agrees with the values of your family.

Is homeschooling a rewarding experience?

Absolutely, it is such a joy and rewarding experience to be able to work one on one with your children in the way that they learn best and to see them just take off in their learning and become independent learners.

What advice do you have for new homeschoolers?

Don't give up!!! It will take some time to adjust and to figure out what works for your family...such as schedules, extra-curricular activities, curriculum needs, learning styles and more. However, once you get things figured out, you will be so blessed by the growth that you see in your children. Also you do not have to do it alone, I can help you and there are Co-Op groups for homeschoolers.