How To Teach: Home-school is a Great Alternative to Traditional School
By Mimi Rothschild
Home-school has several distinct advantages over traditional schools. Indeed, some of America's greatest historical figures, like Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain, were the products of home-school environments. Although the idea of home-school is not new, recent years have seen the rise of many advancements that make home-school a viable and even preferential option for many parents across the country. The rise of public libraries, museums, and, of course, the Internet, along with growing social acceptance of home-school as a real alternative to traditional public and private school has made setting up a home-school easier than ever.
Not only is home-school easy to set up, parents can exercise many options when it comes to scheduling their home-school year and curriculum for their families. While most home-school families do things much like they do in traditional schools, home-school parents are free to do more hands-on learning through museums, service projects and nature trips, etc. Also, there is more time for in-depth study. Home-school allows your child to more fully explore a subject and really learn it, whereas in traditional schools there is often little time to do anything but learn and forget the basic facts. Furthermore, the parent is free to adjust the home-school schedule to meet the needs of the student. More time can be spent on a subject if needed while another subject can take less time if a child shows the aptitude. Furthermore, you can schedule the day around the needs of your child. If your child is naturally sleepy in the early afternoon, you can schedule quiet time and pick up lessons later in the afternoon once her energy levels are up.
Another benefit to choosing home-school as an alternative to traditional public and private schools is that you, as the parent, have total control over who your kids associate with. If you only want your child around church friends, you can enroll your child in extra curricular activities through your church. You will know all of their friends because they will all pretty much be from extra curricular activities. You will meet them and their parents at recitals, plays, sports events, etc. It won't be a mystery to you who your child is eating lunch with or who the mystery person is when they are going to the movies; you will already know. This is a great relief to many parents who want to keep their kids away from unseemly elements. This is often a great deal for kids, who don't want to be bullied or pressured into doing things they don't want to do.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling mother, writer, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of home education company Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of 28 years reside with their 8 children right outside Philadelphia, PA.
Rothschild launched Learning By Grace, Inc. because she believed that our nation's public school system has failed parents and students. Learning By Grace, Inc. offers online education through a multimedia-rich curriculum to PreK-12 children across the country and throughout the world.
An accomplished author, Rothschild has written books regarding education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Homeschooling News Café Blog consists of the most current and relevant education news.Electronic reproduction of this article is permitted if content is published unchanged, appropriate credit is given, and the article title links to corresponding article webpage.
