| If you are a parent who is considering | | | | colleagues to interact with. If your children have |
| homeschooling, it is imperative that you have as | | | | been attending a traditional school, they will not be |
| much information as possible. This is a decision | | | | able to see their buddies on a daily basis. Some of |
| which will impact the lifestyle of your entire family. | | | | your friends may even look at you and your kids |
| In this article I will talk about some of the reasons | | | | as weird! |
| for and against homeschooling. | | | | Sounds pretty negative, doesn't it? So now let's |
| Your first consideration should be whether or not | | | | discuss some of the positives of homeschooling. |
| you have the knowledge and teaching skills to | | | | The choice to homeschool does not mean that |
| teach your children everything they would be | | | | you and your family have to be isolated. There |
| taught in a traditional school setting. Many parents | | | | are literally thousands of support groups, co-ops, |
| feel comfortable homeschooling their younger | | | | and websites for parents who choose |
| children but when it comes to chemistry or | | | | homeschooling. You can join local groups that allow |
| calculus - yikes! Some parents are very | | | | you to get together with like-minded parents to |
| knowledgeable about advanced mathematics or | | | | share ideas, ask questions, and plan field trips, |
| science but are completely clueless as to how to | | | | competitions, games, etc. Your children will have a |
| teach these concepts to children. It is important | | | | network of friends to play and study with. |
| to honestly evaluate your own strengths and | | | | There are also loads of homeschooling curriculums |
| abilities. | | | | that take the burden of planning off of you. |
| Another consideration is time. It can take a lot of | | | | Some are yearly program bundles and some are |
| time to plan lessons, acquire needed materials, and | | | | delivered to you weekly or monthly. The beauty |
| correct your child's work, not to mention the daily | | | | of using these programs is that you can move |
| "classroom" time. Can you afford to quit your job | | | | through them at your own pace, depending on |
| to do this? Do you want to spend so many hours | | | | the needs of your child. Be sure to choose a |
| per day in such close proximity to your little | | | | program that includes a guide that gives you |
| darling? If not, this does not make you a bad | | | | teaching instructions and an answer key. |
| parent! We all have different needs for personal | | | | Finally, parents who have chosen homeschooling |
| time. | | | | report that they have much closer relationships |
| Finally, you need to consider the change in the | | | | with their children than they did before. They feel |
| social life of your family. If you decide to leave | | | | it is the best decision they ever made! |
| your job, you will no longer have professional | | | | |