Homeschooling Your Elementary School Age Child
Homeschooling has become an increasingly popular method of educating children. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, more than 1 million children were homeschooled in 2003.
Many parents have turned to homeschooling because of concerns about the environment in the schools, because of dissatisfaction with the quality and content of instruction, or because they would like their children to receive religious/moral instruction. There are now many resources available for parents who are homeschooling their children; the Internet is a good place to start.
There are two important things you should consider before making the decision to homeschool your child. First, consider what kind of an impact it will have on your family. Homeschooling takes time and energy from both parents and it can affect both the parent-child relationship and your marriage. You should discuss this decision at length to ensure that you're both supportive of the decision.
Second, consider your motives for homeschooling. This will help you be focused and sustain motivation even when things get difficult. Related to this, it is cautioned that you not opt to homeschool simply because your child is experiencing difficulties at school: If your child is having difficulty interacting with his peers, switching to homeschooling is avoiding the problem, not dealing with it. If you've exhausted your options in handling a problem, you should seek professional assistance before making the decision to homeschool him.
Member Comments On...
Homeschooling Your Elementary School Age Child
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Just a note: Free-as-in-Freedom software can be a great help (and money saver) for the computer related part of homeschooling. Here's an interview I did to a couple of parents who already use it: http://stop.zona-m.net/node/68
