Homeschooling structures

If you have taken the time to carefully consider the benefits of including homeschooling into the broader picture of your child's education then you will need to begin a preliminary plan. This assumes that you have already investigated the issues raised in my previous post(s).

Assuming that you have looked at how your school district deals with homeschoolers it's now time to get a copy of the curriculum for your child's grade. This is the path that you will need to follow if you'll want "credit" for the grade for transcript purposes.

The college prep track in high school usually requires the following minimum elements.

Four years of English. Three years of a foreign language. Three years of math. Three years of history, including American history. Three years of science including chemistry and biology. Civics, social studies, physical education and community projects are usually addressed as well.

Don't get me wrong. Plenty of homeschool students study without this and simply have to gear their work towards attaining a G.E.D. The prep guide would be all you need to outline curriculum. This score, along with some interesting (and relevant!) activities will happily be considered by college admission officers.

Now that you have the school's curriculum guidelines break them down into:

1.) What will we enjoy teaching/facilitating ourselves?

2.) Are there are others in our group? What would they like to do in their active roll?

3.) Is there a bilingual person who might take on the language portion?

4.) Grade school science is relatively easy to do at home or in groups but high school work will require access to a lab. You will probably have to find a tutor with the facilities or take a course at your local community college. Most community colleges do not have age requirements for matriculation, if a parent attends the class that usually solves the problem if there is one.

Community colleges are inexpensive and provide very good instruction. All three of my children did their language requirement in this way.

History can be a fun one as current events can be brought into focus by comparing them to historical events and precedents. Plenty of room for discussion there and for the creation of "opinion papers."

Community involvement will take some looking around but there are innumerable options. Volunteering at museums, civic events, and fundraisers are just a few.

With athletics we had the boys try just about everything from swimming to archery to soccer. Even ultimate Frisbee was a passion for awhile. Give it a shot.

Childrens art classes are offered in many places, see if one of them might appeal.

Learning a musical instrument is also an excellent skill to acquire, maybe there is an interest there? Lessons can be expensive so it's a budget consideration.

Part time jobs are great too...nothing like exposing a young person to the working world. One of my boys at 14 was asked to work at a garage and started by changing tires. When he was 16 he was buying wrecked BMW's and fixing them up for resale. He now runs his own successful tree company. He learned early on that a career spent inside a corporate office wouldn't be for him!

With respect to beginning I would advise that you take it slow. It's going to be an adjustment for everyone. Start in one area and be prepared to skip around until you find a good place to begin; the area where everyone is most optimistic.

Of course these efforts can be integrated with whatever virtual schooling is taking place but use the other activities as a break from Zoom.

Nothing will do that better than a field trip. Given the current state of affairs maybe a visit to a local food bank will show how hard people are working to get food out to people who have been seriously hurt during the pandemic.

Or get in the car and tour some local historical sites or parks. Most are still open. We live in eastern Pennsylvania and spent a very informative weekend touring local battlefields. We had the boys read up on the site and have a list of questions ready for when we arrived. The didn't like eating the standard soldiers diet!

It is very important to keep a daily log on time spent and subjects covered. You may have to verify "days in school" and you should also keep a portfolio of any completed assignment work.

Remember, this is to be "child directed education" so offer guidance and questions, not judgments or absolutes. The goal is to find things that your students can become passionate about. It gives them the time to explore something of interest in depth; for hours at a time if they so choose. The bell will not ring after 45 minutes and send them on to a new topic.

This is an experiment so do not expect immediate and overwhelming success. It's new for everybody so some trial and error has to be expected. Give it a fair trial and some serious thought. If it looks like it might not work out they can always go back to school. Just don't make excuses too early. My children will say that it was the best thing ever!!!