Homeschooling Pros and Cons
Pro's to homeschooling
Set your own schedule; Flexible Hours; High intensity; Functional; Practical;
Skills generalize to everyday settings; Hand select your IEP team; IEP's without
the battles; Choose your evaluators; Individualized curriculum; One on one
attention; Ensure mastery in a subject before moving on; Likes to learn about
different therapies.
Con's to homeschooling
Both parents have to work away from home
The child desires to go to school
Do not want to work on modifying curriculum
Do not want live by a schedule
Do not want to be structured in your day
Easily stressed
Don't believe that your child will learn from you
Believe that the school system knows best
Don't want to invest time in going to seminars
Homeschooling is not for everyone. This is a labor of love, a commitment and a
job. Every day will not be fun. But for those who are committed this is an
experience that they will not regret.
A good book that offers practical advice is Homeschooling the Challenging Child.
A Practical Guide.
A couple of reasons that I like this book is that is easy to follow and the
suggestions are easy to understand. This is a good place to start if you are
considering homeschooling.
Homeschooling the Challenging Child: A Practical Guide
By Christine M. Field
To get started in homeschooling your child there are a few things that you need
to do.
1. Register with an umbrella school or your public school. Check your local
private schools (most offer an umbrella program) or you can check with the
public school. They will have a deadline for registering with them. Remember, do
your research and choose the best fit for you. Look up you local laws by going
to your state's web site.
2. Maintain your evaluations every year. If at all possible do evaluations twice
a year. Evaluate once at the beginning of school and then at the end. This will
give you a good perspective of where your child is and how to set goals for the
up coming year.
3. Have IEP's, you can assemble your private therapist, psychologist, college
students, church members, and anyone who works with your child on a weekly
basis. If all people cannot come together then meet with the psychologist and
the therapist. You can meet the others on a one to one basis. Remember you are
not reinventing the wheel, build on the skills that are there. So if your child
can point randomly, a goal would be that he/she pointed upon request at a
picture of a dog, cat, bird, and horse.
In your IEP's, state where the child is (accomplishment), then building on that
(goal) and how you are going to measure progress toward the goal. You can
measure through observation, data collection, or sample work pages. There are
other ways to measure, just make sure you that you write it down.
4. Building Social activities into your day. Get a goal, for example, we are
going to have 15 hours a week of social interaction. Then list how you will
accomplish this commitment. Check with your local zoos, aquarium and museums.
They may offer homeschooling classes. Also check in the local community to see
if they offer co-ops or community sporting events. And, don't forget play dates
are available.
An example schedule would look like this;
Monday, soccer practice 1 hour
Tuesday, zoo classes, 1 hour,
Wednesday aquarium classes 1 hour, church 1 hour
Thursday co-op 5 hours
Friday, play date 3 hours
Saturday, soccer game 1 hour
Sunday church 3 hours
For a total of 16 hours of social time.
Your schedule will look different, the amount of social time you choose for your
child and your family should be what fits your family the best. If you have any
questions about social activities or the amount of time right for your child
your IEP team can help lay out a social plan.
