A Wahm Trying to Homeschool Also!

Whether a child has been to a traditional school or has been home schooled forever, many six to eight year old's enjoy learning.  As a parent, understanding how your child learns, which temperament is their strongest, and what type of intelligence they excel in will greatly assist in the teaching/learning process.

Six to eight year olds learn best when they are having fun.  Reading to the child is essential to their learning experience.  Read about a variety of subjects, such as animals, mystery, history, fantasy, classics, and adventures.  Visit the library often and see what they offer.  Some offer reading and art classes or other activities.  Purchasing a phonics book will dramatically help your child to understand how words are phonetically read out loud.

Another lesson for this age group is writing skills.  Although the child may have difficulty writing, they certainly can talk up a storm.  Scribing for your child as they tell a story is a great way for them to see it written down.

Have them draw pictures by the words that you have written for them.  Narration is also a great tool to learning language skills.  Read to your child and have them repeat in their own words what the story was about.  Remember to keep all these lessons fun and stress free.  Children learn at their own pace as long as there is daily practice there is nothing to worry about.

When working with arithmetic, try to incorporate a lot of real life situations, such as cooking, or trips to the grocery store, etc.  Science is another subject that is learned best in its natural setting.  Read about snakes and then go to a zoo to see some.  Name all the animals at the zoo and then write about it later.

See how many different birds are outside your home and try to name them.  The hands on approach is often the easiest way to learn.  Walk on the beach and name all the animals, hike in the mountains and notice the different landscapes, collect specimens, notice changing seasons, the world is a learning experience.

In addition, parents want to teach their children responsibility and accountability with household chores.  This is an excellent way for child to learn that they are capable and that they are needed in the family.

Overall, children in this age group enjoy combining research with creative projects, such as crafts, costumes, foods, reports, place setting, home decorations, music, and imagination play.  With every activity, each subject can be incorporated easily.  A purchased curriculum is not necessary, learning is inevitable.

In WA state we have free online learning for the homeschooling children.  Called WA Virtual Academies. It is a great opportunity for kids in WA to get a full curriculum at home and on the computer.

If you did not know that this was an option in WA please go check it out, this might be just the thing for your child.

What you get out of this program is;

WAVA students students in grades K-12:

• Work one-on-one with one or more state-certified, highly qualified teachers.
• Learn with the engaging, patented K¹² curriculum
• Are connected through our active, supportive school community
• Benefit from an individualized approach to learning

Just another option available to families trying to homeschool in WA.

Homeschooling and the Internet - many consider the two to be a match made in heaven.  In fact, those who homeschool would be hard pressed to do so without the Internet.  The following seven ways explain how to use the Internet with homeschooling, but there are many more.

1.  Find state laws concerning homeschooling.  One of the first ways the Internet can help with homeschooling is by giving parents access to homeschool laws for their state.  Knowing the laws will prepare homeschool families to meet their state’s requirements so they can comply with them. 

2.  If you’re new to homeschooling, you’ll most likely need to have support during the year.  The Internet is a great place to find support.  Not only can you find online homeschooling groups, but your local group will probably use the Internet to communicate, especially if the members are spread out over a large area.

3.  Purchasing curriculum is a major undertaking every year.  Use the Internet first to research curriculum and compare prices before buying.  Besides going to the curriculum manufacturer’s websites, look for used curriculum on places such as eBay and half.com.  If you purchase materials online it will be delivered right to your door instead of having to drive around trying to find it.

4.  Once you have your curriculum, you may want to supplement it with handouts, worksheets, and puzzles.  These are easily accessible on the Internet.  And, most of the materials you find on the Internet are either free, or very inexpensive.  Use common search engines like Google, Yahooligans, or Ask Jeeves Kids to find the items you need.

5.  Some children are interested in music and would like to learn more about it.  Resources found online would be great for this child.  Not only can you find free sheet music online for nearly any instrument, you can also learn about the composers who wrote that music.  There are even websites that can teach your child how to create music.

6.  If your child is looking for specific information about their favorite subject?  You can run to the library, or if you have Internet access, your child should be able to find anything they could ever hope to learn online.  A couple of good research sites would include Discovery.com, HistoryChannel.com, and PBS.com. 

7.  Does your child need to learn something that you don’t feel comfortable teaching?  You could either find out if there are private tutors for that subject in your area, or you may be able to find an online tutorial. 

As you can see, the Internet can be extremely useful if you homeschool.  These seven ideas for using the Internet are not exhaustive.  All it takes is a little bit of imagination and you’ll be able to find other ways that you can use it, as well.  Take some time, do some searching, and you’ll see that homeschooling and the Internet are indeed a match made in heaven.

If your child is fascinated by the blinking cursor of a computer you may want to look into some of the recent developments in homeschooling techniques. Gone are the days when parents had to buy material from vendors and then pass it on to their children with explanations. Today, you get the full course details, material and test papers online.

Children love to play on the computer. In addition to making them feel like an adult, the computer also makes use of the visual and sound medium to make learning fun and easy. Streaming video and audio show various scientific processes in great detail. The colorful pictures and the various techniques used help to effectively bind the data to the child's memory.

Many online resources have a fun testing center that aims to measure the knowledge and skill level of your child. Complicated math and science problems are dealt with deftly and elegantly. A visit to an e-library can also be fun, especially when there is an audio clip that reads out the passage to you.

E-learning has just begun to revolutionize the world of studies. If harnessed properly, a child can assimilate an astonishing amount of information from that great resource sitting right there on your P.C.

Why let Timmy and Susie learn at home than send them to school? Well, first of all, you don't have to wake them up at 7 every morning and bundle them off to school with umpteen numbers of instructions, and wait with an anxious heart till they return.

Homeschooling gives you more control over the influences that affect your child. The growth and development of your child is removed from the realm of the unknown. You, and you alone can decide what your child needs to do or learn.

Tailoring the curriculum to suit the needs and interests of the child is one of the most obvious benefits of homeschooling. Individual attention is another salient benefit of homeschooling. For instance, if Susie needs more time to learn Math, then she can reduce the time for her English lessons.

There are no fixed hours of learning per subject. This means that a child has the advantage of assigning more number of hours to the subject that seems tough WITHOUT any additional pressure. The amount of time needed to learn each subject will depend on the abilities and interests of the child.

The schooling of the child becomes an extended family activity. Parents get involved in every step of the learning procedure. Field trips and experiments become family activities. Thus, the child receives more quality time with his parents. The entire family shares games, chores and projects. Family closeness becomes the focus here. The child is also free of any negative peer pressure while making choices and decisions.

Competition is limited when it comes to homeschooling. The child does not need to prove his ability with regards to other children. His confidence remains intact. Since parents have a deep understanding of their child, they can plan the learning program to pique the child's interest. It is also possible to intersperse difficult tasks with fun activities. A tough hour with Algebra can be followed by a trip to the nearest museum. Learning becomes fun.

Parents can also tailor the curriculum to suit the learning style of the child. Some children learn through reading, while others need to write, and still others need to see objects in action.

Homeschooling allows parents to take control over the moral and religious learning of the child. Parents have the flexibility to incorporate their beliefs and ideologies into the child's curriculum.
There is no confusion in the child's mind either because there is no variation between what is being taught and what is being practiced.

Lastly, more and more parents are getting disillusioned with the public school system. They believe that their children are being pushed too hard or too little. Other worrying issues pertaining to
discipline and ethics also make the school system less welcome. Many repudiate the educational philosophy of grouping children solely on the basis of their age. Some parents themselves have unhappy memories of their own public school experience that motivates them to opt for
homeschooling when it comes to their own children.

Homeschooling is the best way to teach a child if you have the time, the ability and the interest to follow through with his education. After all, nobody can understand or appreciate your child more than yourself.