Saturday, October 23, 2010

How To Choose Your Homeschooling Curriculum

By Alice Hall

More and more parents are choosing to homeschool their children. More families are going with this option but it used to very rare to homeschool your kids. Children who have been homeschooled are better able to work independently without letting social interactions interfere, and they tend to perform better on tests and at college according to studies. Homeschooled children have stronger family bonds according to these same studies. Knowing that is all well and good, of course, but making the decision to homeschool your kids is just one part of the process. You also need to choose a curriculum. As you search through curricula, here are some tips to help you find the best one.

Before you begin buying anything, you need to study the federal regulations that govern K-12 education. While a lot of the regulations are left up to the states, there are some federal rules that you need to follow. You need to certain that you not only understand them but that your chosen curriculum meets the current requirements. To get more information on these rules and requirements, you should contact your local board of education or you can contact the Department of Education directly.

Homeschooled kids are still required to take standardized tests that are sent out by the government and state. In "traditional" schools, there are days set aside for these tests every year. You will need to check with your local school board if you want to proctor these tests at home yourself. In some cases, homeschooled kids are required to take these tests on specific days set aside by the school board. Your local school board will be able to help you figure out how to approach the yearly standardized tests that your kids are required to take.

There are several factors to consider when choosing your homeschool curriculum. Your kids personal learning styles is obviously at the tops of the list. Second, is your particular teach strengths and weaknesses. As you put together your curriculum every year, you luckily have the freedom to play up your strengths. You don't have to force yourselves to stick to strict curriculum practices or units and you will be able to play to everyone's strengths while working through your weaknesses.

You can choose to homeschool your kids for any number of reasons. Perhaps you don't like the way your public schools are run. Or maybe you can't afford a private school. Or you've read the studies showing that homeschooled kids perform better later on in life. But whatever your reasons, it's important to choose a good homeschool curriculum for you and your kids. The importance of the curriculum you choose cannot be stressed enough. The more you know about the different types of homeschool curriculum and teaching approaches, the better off you and your children will be. - 42534

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