Still Meeting the Needs of Children

By Vicki Caruana, www.applesandchalkdust.com

The choice to homeschool your children is never a choice made lightly. It usually entails a great deal of thought, consideration, accommodation, and commitment. There are many parents, who for one reason or another, cannot homeschool their children full time and then sadly decide not to even try.

Janice had always planned to homeschool her three children. It was far from an agonizing choice. It was the natural one that she and her husband Dan both agreed with. She didn’t plan on ending up alone after a fatal car crash took her husband from them. She went back to work to support her family and reluctantly left her plans for homeschooling by the wayside. Most of her friends homeschooled, but it was difficult for her to be around them now. They were doing what she wanted and needed to do. Slowly she backed away from her friends and walked deeper into her career, hoping to at least make enough money to send her children to private school.

What choice did Janice have? She was alone and without a support system. She had no choice–or so it may seem. There are many situations that might lead a parent to believe he or she could not homeschool even though the desperate desire is there. Widows are only a percentage of that population. What if you whole heartedly believe that homeschooling is what is best for your child, yet your spouse is dead set against it? What if both parents work full time just to make ends meet? What if you have a physical or health limitation that makes homeschooling too intimidating to undertake? Or what if you are curious if homeschooling is for you, but you aren’t ready to do it full time? These are all valid concerns.

How often do we run into people who look longingly at you and your children and say, "I wish I could homeschool, but I can’t because..."? That is an opportunity to share with others how they might homeschool–part time. There are myriad ways one might go about this. When we began homeschooling, it was as a preschool effort. We only did it for about 2 hours twice a week. We wanted to instill a love for learning and get our feet wet before we jumped in completely

The first step to homeschooling part time is to identify your children's neediest areas. Obviously, you will not be able to teach a comprehensive curriculum on a limited basis, nor should you, as it would only frustrate your children. You need to proceed with caution so that they don’t come home from school just in time to face more school at home. Is your child experiencing gaps in his learning at school? Is it difficult for him to keep up? You could start by providing remediation. Maybe you are worried that your child isn’t getting enough in the way of a Christian education because he goes to public school. You could begin by working on a Bible study correspondence course. Is your son or daughter academically gifted and bored in the classroom? You can enrich school curriculum with additional investigations into the current topic of study. These are all ways to infuse homeschooling into the school year.

The summer is a great time to try out homeschooling. If you are an at-home mom, then you could even homeschool full time during the summers. Teach around a theme that interests your children. Themes like the ocean, space, and dinosaurs are great for theme teaching and provide activities on a variety of levels. Even if you work full time, the summer is a good time to homeschool. It is important to keep young minds working year 'round. Don’t just let one of the many camps out there have all the influence. Again, choose a theme and build into your schedule time to explore it. That might include trips to museums and other attractions. Follow up any trip with some kind of writing assignment or creative expression.

Depending on the age of your children, they may be apprehensive about your teaching. Try not to make it a big deal. Treat it as a natural occurrence–just the next step. The summer would be a good time to introduce them to full time homeschooling families through a co-op or on some field trip. Spending time with other homeschoolers will help you to build a support system that will then already be in place should you decide to homeschool full time.

Local and state homeschooling conferences are also good ways to draw strength, ideas, and valuable insights needed to teach your own children. There are local support groups that meet monthly and would be happy to offer encouragement.

Full time homeschoolers who are currently at a crossroads may benefit from knowing that if they choose to put their children back into a traditional school setting, that doesn’t preclude them from homeschooling on a part time basis. It is not an all or nothing offer. There is no time limit. The way we meet children’s needs may vary as much as the needs themselves. That’s the beauty of homeschooling.