Hello everyone:

When I home schooled the younger of my two sons, there were several things that we did to make the day go more smoothly. Here are the issues that we faced and how we handled them;

Having a schedule was very important, so that he knew what we were going to do and when we were going to do it. For the first year, we kept to the same schedule that he had been on while in a private school. For example, we began with pledges and prayer and worked our way through the day, just like he had been accustomed to. There was one notable exception: he was working at three times the speed of the traditional classroom. As a result, he finished the school year one month early, having completed all of his books. We spent the rest of the year studying anything he was interested in, such as space flight and marine life.

Next, I found that visualization was important. As such, I began each school day by removing all of the books from the home school cabinet and then stacking them according to subject. As we  completed each subject, I put the books back in the cabinet (this included my teacher’s version of each book, so the stacks were quite high). When the table was empty, we were done for the day.

Third, we took a break each day about mid-morning. He could play outside while I walked around and enjoyed the day. We both “got the wiggles out” by doing this. A little fresh air really revitalized us. After the school day was over, we also walked three miles together for PE class.

Finally, we made a point of eating out for one lunch per week, so that we felt like there was something to look forward to (we were very involved in two home school groups where he visited with other kids once a week and he was active in our church youth group, but this was something that just the two of us did). While in the restaurant of his choice, we talked about what it cost to start a restaurant of that type. This continued the learning experience, while also stopping people for turning us in for truancy, since my son was obviously healthy but not in school.

Hope this helps!

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Hello everyone:

Today’s blog is on making the transition from home education to public school education. There can be a variety of reasons to make this move, but whatever your desire to make this change, here are some ideas for making the transition go more smoothly. [Please note that I was a homeschooling mom for many years and my son did not go back into the classroom setup during his high school days, but we did have a transition between home schooling and college.]

When making the decision to place your child in a traditional school, the first thing you need to do is to make sure that your student is up-to-date on all immunizations. You will probably need to show proof that the child has “been jabbed,” as they say in England. Get the records from your doctor’s office so that your lack of proof will not hold things up.

Next, make sure that your child’s education is up to par. Yes, many home schoolers are way ahead of their peers in the public school sector, but your student may have some weak areas in his or her education and you don’t want the child to be embarrassed by a glaring problem in one subject or another.

Try to go see the teacher or teachers your child will have ahead of time, so that your student will already know who will be instructing him or her during the school day. For younger children, try to arrange some play dates beforehand with the other kids in his or her future class.

Within the constraints of your personal wardrobe preferences, check out your child’s clothing and try to help the child blend in with what the other children will be wearing. Some mothers of daughters insist on a “praise and raise” test with their daughter’s clothing, making sure that the outfits are stylish yet modest at the same time. As a college professor, there is nothing more distracting than seeing a well-endowed young woman walk into my class with her breasts almost totally exposed. What message do you want your child to be sending?

Finally, if your child is transitioning into a high school setting, make sure he or she recognizes that there will be class changes and that there is a need to know the way around the school. If possible, make some practice runs ahead of time so that this is one less thing to worry about when the first day of school arrives. I actually made maps with directions for where to walk when I returned to college after many years’ break. It helped me tremendously to have a written guide of where to go, especially with limited amounts of time between classes.

Good luck with this new phase of life!

Sheri