Choosing to homeschool is one of the biggest decisions your family will make. It will impact your children for the rest of their lives. It takes the whole family cooperating in order for homeschooling to be a success. My husband serves as "principal" and "administrator" of Sisney H.O.U.S.E. He also teaches certain subjects (in the past he has taught Animal Science, Small Engines, Gun Safety, and so many more).
Take your time researching the laws of homeschooling in your state. While Illinois has few laws governing homeschooling at the moment, other states require you to work closely with the public schools. There is a lot of information out there and you must be careful that someone with good intentions has not posted incorrect information. On another page, here, we have listed some good websites regarding homeschooling in Illinois.
If someone tries to convince that homeschooling is "a breeze", I beg to differ. We spend hours deciding on the curriculum that best fits our needs, more hours on gathering our school books and supplies, even more hours on lesson plans, and then once the school year actually begins, well...there's getting ready for each day's lessons, test to prepare and grade, field trips & special activities to plan, meetings and appointments to schedule (such as home school support groups, clubs, and "outside" classes). The list is quite long and the days are sometimes even longer! Homeschooling takes a lot of commitment, organization, effort, and time. But it is soooo worth it all!
As you research homeschooling, you will find an endless assortment of descriptions of all the different approaches and the "hows" and "whys" of teaching using those approaches. You, as a parent know your child better than anyone. There is no "correct" way to homeschool. You start by choosing an approach that you think will serve your child best. Or, what we do, is a little of this and a little of that: the eclectic approach. "Eclectic," according to the New American Webster Handy College Dictionary means being "consisting of selections from various sources." This way you can pick and choose what you think is the best of all worlds, or in this case, teaching approaches. If you try something and it does not achieve the results you desired, it's OK to admit "that didn't work" and go on to try another. You don't have to be the perfect home educator, you just have to be willing to admit when something is not right for your child, learn from the experience, and find something else to try.
"The Dangers Of Homeschooling" Video
Take your time researching the laws of homeschooling in your state. While Illinois has few laws governing homeschooling at the moment, other states require you to work closely with the public schools. There is a lot of information out there and you must be careful that someone with good intentions has not posted incorrect information. On another page, here, we have listed some good websites regarding homeschooling in Illinois.
If someone tries to convince that homeschooling is "a breeze", I beg to differ. We spend hours deciding on the curriculum that best fits our needs, more hours on gathering our school books and supplies, even more hours on lesson plans, and then once the school year actually begins, well...there's getting ready for each day's lessons, test to prepare and grade, field trips & special activities to plan, meetings and appointments to schedule (such as home school support groups, clubs, and "outside" classes). The list is quite long and the days are sometimes even longer! Homeschooling takes a lot of commitment, organization, effort, and time. But it is soooo worth it all!
As you research homeschooling, you will find an endless assortment of descriptions of all the different approaches and the "hows" and "whys" of teaching using those approaches. You, as a parent know your child better than anyone. There is no "correct" way to homeschool. You start by choosing an approach that you think will serve your child best. Or, what we do, is a little of this and a little of that: the eclectic approach. "Eclectic," according to the New American Webster Handy College Dictionary means being "consisting of selections from various sources." This way you can pick and choose what you think is the best of all worlds, or in this case, teaching approaches. If you try something and it does not achieve the results you desired, it's OK to admit "that didn't work" and go on to try another. You don't have to be the perfect home educator, you just have to be willing to admit when something is not right for your child, learn from the experience, and find something else to try.
"The Dangers Of Homeschooling" Video
To the family who produced this video, first of all I want to say, "What a fantastic job you did!". I loved it! "Thank you!" for wonderfully done explanation of how homeschooling works with a humorous twist. I hope everyone who has their doubts and misconceptions about homeschooling will see this!
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