So, according to authors, if home-schooled children study for only two hours a day, year round, they will get three times more educational hours on academic basics like reading, writing, and arithmetic than public-school students get.

Not only does teaching your child basics at home take far less time than you thought, but teaching these skills is even easier today because parents now have all educational resources available to them that we’ve already noted. Also, bookstores like Barnes and Noble and Borders have whole sections full of books about teaching your child to read, write, and do basic math, as well as books that will interest and challenge young readers.

Once your children learn to read well, whole world of learning opens to them. They can explore any subject that interests them, and read ever more difficult material by themselves in books or on computer. For a small subscription fee, your children can study entire Encyclopedia Britannica on Internet. They can access almost every major library in world through Internet, including Library of Congress. If your kids love to read and learn, Internet provides unlimited resources.

Once your children read fluently, you can point them towards your local library or bookstore, supervise their studies, and see where their interests lie. Your job is to introduce your kids to as many different subjects and resources as possible. Have them take art classes at local YMCA, library, or arts and crafts store. Introduce them to different kinds of music. See if they enjoy a music lesson on piano, guitar, or drums. Give them classic novels by great authors to read.

Most home-schooling parents spend about three to four hours a day homeschooling their kids. The key point to remember is that you have many options and a vast amount of educational resource material available to help you homeschool your children and quickly teach them basics. When you take advantage of this material, home-schooling can be fairly easy and take much less time than you think.

I remember when my oldest son was sixteen and working as a waiter in a local diner. He became involved in a confrontation with a customer over a racial remark customer made. When hearing story, I was extremely proud that my son stood up for equality and fairness but was actually mortified by his immature, locker room behavior that he displayed! No, I will not print exactly what he did but suffice it to say that it was not a proud maternal moment.

My son and I had several conversations about this incident over next few days and I was unable to get him to understand that what he had done was inappropriate. Finally, he said to me, “Mom, I know you want me to say that I was wrong but I’m not ashamed of what I did. In fact, I would do exactly same thing if situation presents itself again.” Wow, I guess he told me!

I had to practice what I preach. His value system was not matching up with mine. It was very clear to me that he was “wrong”, however, in his world at that time, he did “right” thing for him. When you give your child wings, you need to allow them to do things their own way even if you are sure a better way exists. You can offer your better way in form of a suggestion, but then get out of way and allow your child to make decision and to manage consequences that occur because of that decision.

This process helps our children become better decision makers. We talk with our children about all choices that exist, and then examine pros and cons of each choice. After that, we must step back and allow our children to make decision that’s right for them. Then, we can talk to them about how things worked out but never protect them from consequences of their decisions. This is where learning takes place.

You are there to support them and help them manage consequences but don’t intervene on their behalf and also don’t assume that “I told you so” attitude. That does not teach your child anything but not to come to you to talk things over anymore.

Come to one of our workshops where you can learn more about parenting teens and more about roots and wings, while your children are involved in revolutionary R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Academy, where they will be learning tools of self-discipline, survival and empowerment. Visit www.TheRelationshipCenter.biz and view information regarding our Parent/Teen Weekend Workshop that run periodically throughout United States or check our events calendar for upcoming teleclasses and chats.