Homeschooling Platforms

Upon deciding on the curriculum for your child, there is then the question of how you should do it. This depends a lot on your lifestyle, your child's needs, your beliefs and your environment. There is the traditional way where you start at a fixed time every morning and have lessons for different subjects in fixed predetermined hours, in a 'school room' or simply put 'do school'. You can even follow a typical school timetable everyday and have the revisions and assessments done during the same period. This is good if you have to follow state requirements closely or if your child has to take state examinations regularly. You would also be more in control of your schedule and your child's as terms and lessons are fixed and your child has the added advantage of a stable and familiar daily sequence which is good for children in general. There is however a danger of getting too comfortable with ticking off what you need to do with your child and sticking too rigidly to schedule that does not allow for engaging the child for 'learning moments'. So just look out for those signs and remember to enjoy learning. The other extreme to this spectrum is that of 'unschooling' where a child basically decides on the learning path that he or she wants to take, including what,when how a subject of interest is to be learned. Personally, I believe this is a very good method for independent, driven and disciplined homeschoolers- but not for children under 12. To allow such a child/student-driven method requires a lot of preparation and self-study on the side of the educator and the child. The younger the child is, the more the preparation needed for the environment and the educator. This is because the educator has to be prepared for any turns that the child can make within one topic and this also means access to resources. Creativity and flexibility in teaching while ensuring you're covering curriculum is a pet conflict I face that has yet to be resolved. It is one thing to read or witness about how such things are done, and another to actually be trying it. I personally like something between traditional and unschooling; there are times when we go through lessons and work at the school/dining table and , there are times we explore what any of the children are interested in. When deciding on how you are going to homeschool, you can also consider situations where part of the teaching is done by someone/something else; your spouse, a school, a homeschooling group, a tutor or a distance programme. In this way, your child can experience different ways of learning and you are able to better balance other duties that you might have like working, community/faith-related work or caring for your baby or special child.