Homeschool Resources – Home Based Education

By Terri Johnson – co-author of Homeschooling ABCs – an online class starting this month for brand new homeschoolers

We’ve all seen it… or, at least, heard about it… the homeschooled child who wins the geography bee, or the one who graduates at the age of 15, or the one who excels in musical accomplishments…

Now, obviously, a student does not have to be homeschooled in order to accomplish one of the feats above, nor does every homeschooled child excel in such notable ways. However, every homeschooling parent desires for success in teaching their children at home and launching them into the world to become all that God has intended for them to be.

The flipside to this statement is that no one wants to fail when it comes to teaching their children at home. So, what are the five necessary ingredients to homeschooling success?

The first one is the desire to foster a closer relationship with each of your children and your kids with one another. If you don’t want to spend more time together and deepen these relationships (or, at least, want to want to spend more time together), then homeschooling may not be the best choice for you. However, I am sure that you have heard it said before that at the end of the day, no one is going to say, “I wish that I had spent more time at work… or by myself… or with my canary…” No, the universal regret that aging and dying people declare is their sadness over not spending enough time with their loved ones. Teaching your children at home is an amazing opportunity to spend more time with your dearest loved ones and have no regrets.

The second ingredient to homeschooling success is a teachable spirit on the part of the parent. This is essential because, like it or not, you will learn so much more teaching your own children than you ever did in school the first time around. So, you might as well like to learn.

On that same note, the third essential ingredient to successful homeschooling is creating a home environment that is conducive to learning. This may show itself differently in each of our homes, but the result is the same – a place where kids can learn and enjoy it.

A home that is conducive to learning may have quiet and cozy reading nooks, bookshelves crammed with great books, a listening corner complete with headphones and a beanbag chair, uncluttered smooth surfaces for writing, stacks of coloring/activity books and colored pencils, a place to gather together and talk about the day’s events. You get the idea… Create centers in your home that make learning fun and accessible.

The fourth ingredient for a successful homeschool is 2 hours of your time to devote to your children’s studies. Truly, when the one-on-one teaching method is employed in your home, you do not need all day in order to get things done. In fact, a child in K-2 grades might be finished with her schoolwork in as few as 45 minutes (of course, that probably does not include the time that you spend reading together because who can get enough of that!).

At the other end of the spectrum, you might not need that much time with your middle schooler or high schooler either, because they become such independent learners by this age. The kids that will need the majority of that time that you have designated for school – those full 2 hours – would be your students in 3-6 grades as math and grammar assignments might get a little more involved.

The final ingredient for homeschooling success is a library card. That’s right! With access to a huge roomful of books, a world of learning opportunities is at your doorstep. Let’s say that your child is interested in insects or flowers, electricity or magnetism, transportation or inventions… check out as many books as he can devour on the subject and then some more. Watch your child light up with the delight of learning.

With these 5 essential ingredients incorporated into your homeschool, you will experience successful learning in the lives of your children, because this is the measure of success – children that love to learn!

Enjoy those learning moments…

Terri Johnson

Co-author of Homeschooling ABCs – an online class starting this month for brand new homeschoolers. Don’t let self-doubt, or lack of experience, rob you of the best first year possible! Sign up for class at HomeShcooling ABC’s

Best of Success to you,

Todd and Terri Johnson

Knowledge Quest, Inc.

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P.S. – Need to contact us? Just send an email to terri@knowledgequestmaps.com

I finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“This book is boring!”

“This work is hard!”

“We have homework again tonight?”

All the complaining became way too much for me to take. While I try to make my class as interesting and relevant to my students as possible, I can’t please everyone at the same time. But, it started to seem like I couldn’t please any of the students. They get to choose the books they read and then they would complain that the book they chose was boring. If I asked them to write a page, they would complain that it was too much to write. If I asked them to put their thoughts in one sentence, they would complain that they couldn’t possibly do that in such a short amount of space.

There was no pleasing them.

I decided that I had to address the issue with a lesson: At the beginning of class, we discussed what complaining was and what complaining wasn’t. I started to see a pattern develop … it seemed like they felt you wouldn’t complain when you were happy with something. I asked, “Can you be unhappy but still not complain?” There was a pause and they finally said, “Yes.”

After defining “complaining,” we discussed all the things we complain about. The list was long. With every class, some smart aleck said, “We complain about Mr. Fredrick!” and laughter ensued. I wrote it down and said, “You know what I always complain about?” I put my body in front of the chart paper and wrote, “STUDENTS” really big. When I stepped out of the paper, they all laughed again.

I then passed out quotes about having a positive attitude. They worked in groups to put the quotes into their own words and we shared their work. Most of the quotes surrounded the idea that we can’t necessarily change and control the circumstances around us, but we can change and control our attitudes about them. This all made sense to them and I think it got many of them thinking.

I think it was a good start of a conversation, but I don’t know how to “continue” this work. I have no doubt that tomorrow or the next day they will start complaining again. Then what do I do?