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the need is, your job as a homeschooler is to present information so your child can understand it. Because this is your child, you’re much more interested in stretching his mind than anyone else would be. And he usually responds better to you than he would to anyone else because he knows that you love him.

      Chapter 19 discusses homeschooling students with special needs.

Beginning the Journey

      Some parents agonize over the right time to start homeschooling their children. Actually, there really is no wrong time. Like most other things in homeschooling, it’s totally up to you. Most families make their final decision to homeschool sometime in the late spring or early summer, when the thought of going through another year of public or private school makes them uneasy. (To get to the uneasy part, you’ve actually been thinking through situations and options for quite some time, although you may not realize it.)

      They then spend the summer deciding on curriculum, detoxing from the school year, and reading up on homeschooling. Maybe they find other homeschoolers they know and talk to them about their decision. When August or September comes, these families begin school at home instead of sending their children on the bus. After mentally preparing themselves all summer and sketching a game plan in their minds, they’re ready for the adventure.

      Choosing the perfect time of year

      A good number of new homeschoolers begin in January after winter break. It gives the children two weeks away from school, and they simply don’t return. If a school situation deteriorates rapidly from September to December, these children usually benefit from the release of emotional stress they feel by staying home to school.

One little guy I know had an awful second-grade year. He failed every reading comprehension test the teacher gave him. The teacher then told his mother that he couldn’t read and would have to repeat second grade. His distraught mother then called me. I asked, “What are you reading to him at home?” She replied that he really enjoyed The Lord of the Rings. This was a child who didn’t answer the comprehension questions at school because he found them boring! Now homeschooled, he does just fine.

      In an extreme situation, such as a child who becomes physically ill at the thought of getting on the bus or going to school in the morning, parents sometimes take their children out that week. They then spend a few weeks allowing the child to relax and get used to being at home all day, and then gently begin working school subjects into the schedule. The child would spend that time home ill anyway; his parents simply use it productively to help him adjust to a rather abrupt change in schedule. The downtime allows the frazzled parent time to gather thoughts together, research curriculum, and deal with her own emotions of anger and frustration.

      Deciding at what age to begin

      Many parents start homeschooling their children in kindergarten, but it’s not unusual for a family to begin homeschooling a ninth grader. Some parents begin with an idea of homeschooling long before the first child arrives on the scene. They research the idea, talk to other parents, find out what materials are currently available, and make the decision before they even have children. Then, when their family becomes bigger, they raise the toddlers and preschoolers with an expectation that they’ll be homeschooled until further notice.

      Not all parents are this focused, however, and many begin to think of teaching their own children when they look into that sweet 5-year-old face and think of it being away from home all day. Perhaps kindergarten left a bad taste in your mouth and you want to look into other options. You suddenly realize you taught your child almost everything he knows to this point, so you may be qualified to continue the trend. Good for you!

      Some families find out further along the line that public or private school doesn’t work for their children. You may be one of these parents. Perhaps your child comes home bored each day because she isn’t challenged. Maybe social or educational issues arise that make it difficult for your child to learn. Or perhaps your child learns things from other children that shock you.

When situations such as these arise, and you feel like homeschooling is the best option for your family, you can start whenever you like. Even tenth and eleventh graders come home to school if social pressures and threats of violence become overwhelming.

      No one should have to learn in a place that they don’t feel is safe. If you were concerned that someone may attack you at work when you left the house each day, would you go? If you worked in a place where your co-workers and perhaps even your boss called you stupid and lazy, would you go? Then why do we as parents send our little ones if they experience these things?

      Assigning homework

      One of the main complaints parents voice about the local school system is the amount of homework. Although some repetition may be good and even necessary, four or more hours of homework each night seems a little excessive for second and third graders. As those of us who spent any time in the corporate world know, all work and no play leads to burnout.

      WITNESSING YOUR CHILD’S PROGRESS

      Remember those first toddler steps? Your child stood, wavered, and then plunk! Down he went. But he stood up again, wobbled a little, and took one step, and then another. You were so excited that you could cheer! Maybe you did (and soon after found yourself cuddling a crying toddler who was startled at that great big noise).

      Homeschooling is like that. When you teach your child at home, you see the thrill in your child’s eyes when she learns to add for the very first time. You hear the first words your child learns to read. You get to explain the wonders of the stars to wide, fascinated eyes.

      And farther along, you unfold other mysteries of life to your learner. What is an atom? How do you solve this math problem for n, and why does anyone care what n might be in the first place? What happens when you forget to add salt to that bread loaf that you just made? (Oops. Saltless bread loaves aren’t very tasty.)

      Watching a child learn is a bit addictive, and with homeschooling, you have the opportunity to see it all (even the frustrating I-wish-I-could-throw-my-pencil parts). No matter how old your students may be, the sparkle still comes into their eyes when they master a new skill just like it did during those first steps. One of the greatest joys of homeschooling is getting to see your children learn for the first time over and over.

Homeschooling looks at education from a different perspective. You don’t need to prove that your child is learning by assigning homework for her to do after hours. You’re the parent, you are the one teaching your child, and you know whether she gets it or not. If she doesn’t understand the concept, you can tell by the dazed look in her eyes. If she does understand, there’s no reason to spend the next four hours reteaching the same concept after dinner. You can always test the child over the material if you’re not sure. Chapter 24 talks more about grades and testing.

      Making homeschooling more than school at home

      Homeschooling isn’t really “school at home.” Instead, think of it as independent tutoring sessions day after day. Most homeschooling can be done in two to four hours per day with no homework, and that includes high school. Because you teach 1 and not 20 or more, you can explain concepts in much less time than a conventional teacher. Sometimes independent reading or assigned projects fall outside that range, but the vast majority of homeschoolers find that they don’t need to assign homework for their children to maintain their skills.

      If a child misses a concept today, you can always reteach it tomorrow. Teacher’s manuals include reteaching time nearly every day as they attempt to catch the learner who didn’t quite understand the first time.

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