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.
