Home Schooling | Getting Started

By Ina Woolcott

To you, what does learning mean? Ask yourself this simple question before trying to answer the ‘how to’ questions.

Do you think its just a set of facts to be memorised and repeated back, like the ABC (alphabet) song, and then for a test to be taken? Or does this mean to you a happy time of exploring and adventure, hardly a dull moment, where the path toward learning and mastering new skills is its own reward? Or is it somewhere in between these things to you?

When you were really motivated to learn something new, how did you go about it? What piqued you? What stimulated and inspired you? What methods did you use? What resources? What setting did you work in? were you confident? Did you have previous experience? Or were you a first timer? You certainly chose the subject, the resources -perhaps with a little help -, you decided how much or how little help you needed and you decided when you felt you had understood whatever you learned and when to stop.

Really, we all learn in a similar fashion. We are motivated to want to learn a particular thing, pick material we can easily understand but that isn’t too simple either, use resources that make learning easiest for us - books, DVDs, audio cassettes/CD’s maybe a tutor. We then work until we have thoroughly understood and can effectively use whatever it is we have learned. As mentioned before we all individually know when we are ready, we don’t need anyone to tell us we are ready, although some of us may need a little encouragement,

Motivation/stimulation, resources and assessment are all linked to give a successful learning experience. Naturally, children implement the same process for learning. Each child does begin with their own unique knowledge bank and may have a unique learning style and ability levels though. But building a creative, loving, understanding, compassionate and supportive environment for learning to take place in couldn't be easier.

To create this environment you need to begin by understanding what makes your child, or children, tick. You need to know how your child learns best, their ability in different areas and what mentally stimulates them. This is how the foundation of the ‘beginning to home educate’ puzzle. Considering this, one can see that the ‘all kids should learn at the same pace, age and level’ approach doesn’t help to build that environment very effectively AT ALL. That type of learning environment was designed to make teaching large groups of children easier, not for prime learning opportunities.

The one guaranteed way to discover what type of learner your child is, is to be a patient and observant, and to listen. You must also earn to know yourself. It is as simple, and as complicated, as that. You need to know how you each learn, your stance on life, how you react to stress, even how you each prefer to wake up in the morning. If you don’t take the time to discover things like this, you may find it more difficult to teach at home than you have to! Because at ALL stages, it will be you and your child, working together as a team, to give home schooling a favourable outcome!

Some basic information to gather about your child(ren)s learning style -

* Are they active?
* A quiet type?
* Very vocal?
* Attentive?
* Easy to capture their interest?
* What makes them the happiest?
* Introvert or extrovert?
* Reflective?
* Talkative/shy?
* Do they learn best from interacting with another person?
* Are they inwardly directed, wanting to touch/explore everything they works with?

Read up on the basics of home schooling, find out as much as you can about all the different learning styles out there, because this will be the basis for the activities and resources you use together with your child.

THEN - decide when your child's peak learning times are. Be it early mornings, mid or late afternoon, early or late evening - whatever works best for them AND YOU.

THEN, you must discover and decide what attracts and motivates your child. What are their interests? What types of learning experiences attract them? Children learn the best when they are attracted to something, because it draws them into the learning experience, and then motivates them to participate.

Next, once enough information is gathered, you can start creating an environment that will make learning a happy, wonderful, exciting experience. To do this, help your child learn things that interest them. Once you realise this, you will have a far keener and involved learner. Regardless of what you want, your child is the one who in the end who decides what they want to learn.

Have learning aide’s that are at, or slightly above, your child's current level of ability. Put grade-level aside for good, for it is outdated and of no assistance to homeschooling. Knowing which level your child is at will help you find them resources and experiences that will bring them success as they continues to gain knowledge and skills. They will build on all the things already known to them. With your assistance, your children can stretch their limits and reach new levels.

It is helpful to keep a diary of how your child is progressing in a way that makes sense to you. Write regularly in it. There may be times when you worry that they aren’t learning enough, as you don’t do tests such as GCSEs. don’t worry. Tests were really designed to prove that the teacher is teaching, indoctrinating, kids with what the school board wants them to learn. Its all about statistics. You could also make videos and take pictures of their work and progress, make a memory book, portfolio or wall displaying their work (or all three). This is a great way to see the progress being made.

Continue to listen carefully, to work and learn together with your child. What worked last year, last month, last week or even yesterday may not work tomorrow. Children grow and mature and their needs often change.

Helping your child be focused from the start, means building a learning environment filled with resources that respect and assist your child's learning styles, abilities and level of understanding will come naturally. Encouraging learning that is motivated from a sincere interest, and helping your child build on what they already know, means you will almost certainly be astounded at the depth of learning that occurs. If you include your child in the decision making part of learning from the get go, you will end up partners who work and learn together. And this is the real answer to all the questions about how to get started in home education.