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New to Home Education

Some Thoughts on Academic Achievement

Home education is uniquely poised to provide exceptional opportunities to focus on each child’s strengths and weaknesses, both academic and non-academic. Please remember that children have different academic abilities, and there is nothing wrong with possessing gifts in different areas. Academic excellence is not the end-all and be-all. For instance:

One child may do well in some academic subjects (for instance, math and chemistry) and struggle in others (such as language arts and biology).
Another child may excel academically but struggle athletically.
A third child may excel athletically but lack a creative bone in his or her body.
A fourth child may excel artistically but find academic studies and athletics challenging.
A fifth child may have equal gifts — of varying ability — in two or more of these (or other) areas.

One thing all of our children have in common is this:

Each of them is a unique individual with a great deal to offer our world.

As home educating parents, let us do our best to inspire our children to excel in their strengths and to improve in their weaker areas, and let us always encourage them to be kind and good members of our families, of our society, and of our world at large.

Why Home Educate?

Parents decide to home educate their children for a multitude of reasons.

Are you thinking about home educating:

for academic reasons;
because of religious convictions;
because your child’s learning style does not mesh well with a traditional classroom situation;
to protect your children from negative influences;
to have more quality time as a family;
so that your child has more time to train in a specific sport;
to protect your child from being bullied?
Are you hoping to:
let your child excel academically at their own pace;
strengthen family relationships;
develop godly character;
cultivate a love for learning in your child that will last a lifetime;
nurture your child’s creativity;
raise critical thinkers;
give your child more time to study specific topics such as music or art?
Many parents have multiple reasons when they begin to home educate, but even those who begin for only a single reason often come to discover many more advantages to the home educating lifestyle, for their children individu-ally and for their families as a whole.

Approaches to Home Education and Selecting Curriculum

15 Questions to Ask Before Buying Curriculum

There are many different approaches to home educating, and it’s not unusual for a home educating family to change their approach as they become more comfortable and experienced with home educating.

Some approaches include:

Curricular: Highly structured, using mostly textbooks and workbooks
Accelerated Education: The student begins high school when as young as 10 to 12 years old
Delayed Academics: No formal studies until a student is 8 to 12 years old
Classical Education: Trivium-based form of education using the grammar, logic and rhetoric stages; used to develop critical thinkers
Unit Studies: Integrates and relates several subject areas into one theme
Charlotte Mason Method: Learning through real-life “living” books
Delight-Directed Studies: Learning based on child’s areas of interest
Unschooling: Learning through natural life experiences
Eclectic: A combination of two or more approaches

12 Helpful Tips for the Beginning Home Educator

1. Read a few good books about home education. As you learn about its advantages and the potential challenges, as well as the different approaches you can take, you will be able to consider what would work best for your family.

2. Establish a vision and set goals: Why are you home educating and what do you hope to achieve? Remember to be realistic; the home education journey is a marathon, not a sprint. Be willing to adjust your short-term goals if you discover you’ve been overly ambitious or if unexpected circumstances arise.

So You are Thinking About Home Educating . . .

Welcome to a new way of thinking and living, one that thousands of families have found to be very rewarding. This page is an introduction to the discovery of a new lifestyle. It is in no way intended to be comprehensive, but only a guide to point you down the path of the home education adventure.

Our goal is not to tell you what is right for your family, because what is right for one family may not be right for another family. We want to come alongside of you and share some of what we have learned and let you take it from there. The journey is worth the time and effort.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why do families home school?

A: Many Christian parents are committed to educating their children at home. Their underlying motivation is the conviction that this is God’s will for their family. They are concerned for the spiritual and character development as well as the social and academic welfare of their children. Specific advantages have been expressed as follows:

Opportunity is available for spiritual training and presenting a biblical perspective of all academic subjects.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov.9:10, NAS).
Home schooling makes quality time available to train and influence children in all areas in an integrated way.
Each child receives individual attention and has his unique needs met.
Parents can control destructive influences such as various temptations, false teachings (including secular humanism and occult influences of the New Age movement), and negative peer pressure.
Children gain respect for their parents as teachers.
The family experiences unity, closeness, and mutual enjoyment of each other.
Children develop confidence and independent thinking away from the peer pressure to conform and in the security of their own home.
Children have time to explore new interests and to think.
Communication between different age groups is enhanced.
Tutorial-style education helps each child achieve his full potential.
Flexible scheduling can accommodate fathers’ work and vacation times and allow time for many activities.

New to Home Education

SUGGESTED READING LIST

How To Books and Philosophy of Education

Curriculum Guides

Home Schooling Periodicals