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The "Ideal Home Educator"
Would Be:
(in no particular order)
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Parents know before conception they will be
homeschooling their children and raising them under the authority of God
and will encourage an active relationship with Him by example.
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The parents aren't "victims" of the system
of education they were taught under and for their children's sake have a
pioneering spirit that will not be negatively influenced
by the scrutinizing that will happen by friends,
relatives, and co-workers. Parents who don't crumble under their
"peer pressure!"
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Parents that are "as one" in their
conviction to homeschool, raising children that achieve and don't feel
that they missed something by not attending a school. If
you waiver, so will they.
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Support, if not help, from grandparents and
other relatives.
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Proper respect and authority is already
established and running smoothly in the home. (How can a teacher
teach if the student doesn't respect the teacher?)
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The parents and children are without health
or learning disabilities.
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The child is eager to learn and the
teacher/student teaching/learning styles are compatible.
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Proper diets and exercise are family
priorities.
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The house is orderly, uncluttered and is a
learning friendly environment.
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The TV, if used, is used as a family time -
not for a babysitter or parent get-away. Too much TV cause short
attention spans in children and adults alike. That radio,
periodicals, and books in the home are appropriate for the family.
Many of the mentioned should make a Christian blush if found in there
home!
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Dad and Mom are avid readers and have active
hands-on hobbies and an interest in life.
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Parents' responsibilities allow for both to
take an active role in children's education.
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Finances are not a hindrance to educational
needs and opportunities.
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Apprenticeships are available for the older
child to explore possible job interests while still under the protected
covering of their parents.
Now, if you're looking at this list
feeling defeated and saying to yourself, "We'll never be able to do this,
there are just too many things working against us already." Just
remember that homeschooling is a way of life and is a learning/growing
experience for the entire family and everyone has to start
somewhere. The examples given above are just that, examples of what
will make homeschooling easier and more successful. Please remember
- we don't enter into home education perfect any more than we come to God
perfect; it is a process of pressing on in our life's walk of learning and
seeking the truth.
Common Mistakes and
Misconceptions
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Looking at home education as if it were a
mountain. One major mistake almost all parents make is to look
at educating a high schooler and not the 3 or 4 year old standing before
them! Believe me, a "sold out" home educating parent will
be ready for each grade "each step of the way - one step at a time,"
"line upon line, precept upon precept."
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Do not compare your
children to other children. Every child is developmentally
different, whether they are home educated or public/private schooled.
Use the early elementary years to teach just the fundamental essentials,
the 3 R's (Reading-Writing-Arithmetic). Only after your child has
attained a good working knowledge of these things should you expect to
successfully add other subjects. We're not saying never do a
science experiment or study history or geography, but you don't need to
add them as an entire everyday class in elementary ages. With
these three essentials, teach good discipline, study habits and work
habits. Children thrive on accomplishments. Work with your
younger children's attention span and maturity. A child needs to
learn achievement, success and to complete what he/she has started, so
challenge them but don't give them more than they can handle.
Teaching your children to do a few things well is much more important
than teaching them to do a lot of uncompleted things.
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Don't limit yourself to
only "Christian curriculum." Too often parents are persuaded
that all secular material should be avoided at all costs. Give
yourself and your child more credit. Using secular materials not
only expands what is available to you but also gives you the opportunity
to teach critical thinking to your children (and yourself) using
the Bible as your filter, judging everything according to what the Word
says. Example: At ages 5 and 6 our oldest children were
fascinated by dinosaurs so we not only used creation books we also chose
to use a secular book to show our children what the world thought
(taught as fact not theory) and have them judge it by what the Bible
said about creation. This way, at a young age, our children could
effectively explain why they didn't believe in evolution. This is
a very small example, but we think that there is some really good
educational material out there that gets overlooked because it's not
100% okay. Plus, many people don't realize that much of the
"Christian Educational Material" out there has secular roots, just given
a Christian "face-lift," repackaged and is sold to homeschoolers.
The same failed formats are used, so all you are accomplishing is
"bringing public school home."
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Don't buy and use "busy
work." We've appreciated the great leaders that have gone
before us that recommended children be taught from "real books" instead
of "twaddle." If you want to teach a child to write, let them read
good writers, etc.. Having family reading hour where good books
are read aloud is helpful to give younger nonreaders an early
appreciation for good books and the side benefit to the older ones doing
the reading is to improve oral reading skills. Textbooks/Workbooks
have their place, but they tend to limit independent thinking. We
do recommend them for upper grade school and up for arithmetic,
science, and history (supplement these) because of the importance of
having no "gaps."
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Choose a curriculum that fits your lifestyle. Example:
Starting out back in the early 1980's there was not much of a variety
available so we chose "Christian School Curriculum" which meant too much
non-essential bookwork and time wasting. We were overly structured
and home education became a little dry in 2nd and 3rd grade. Next
year we tried a Unit Study Program. The children learned a great
deal, but the preparation time became an ordeal. By the next year
we only covered the basics and did a lot of fun, but educational
experiments, field trips and the like. Treating everything
we did as educational (applying the same techniques we learned in the
Unit Studies). We all learned a lot and enjoyed doing it...and
most importantly, it has brought our family together in ways we could
have never foreseen.
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