Be serious with your child futureWritten by Madhur.G.Bajaj
As a parent your biggest responsibility is to prepare your child for future , physically emotionally and mentally. The first big Intellectual Challenge your child will face is Entrance Test for KG and later for First Standard . Every parent will feel anxious. We know that a child is born with a million of brain cells called Neurons and they form connection to each other called synapses. You can make synapses strong by providing your child with a variety of Input & Experiences. If this is not provided at an early age we lose an important learning opportunity. The early years are most important. Children who are well prepared at home are more confident, enthusiastic, and involved at school. Children who have not received these vital inputs tend to be more withdrawn and less involved. Children are natural learners. They need to be stimulated with a wide variety of inputs.
| | What Is Homeschooling and How Do I Know If It's Right FOr My Family?Written by Anita York
What is Homeschooling And How Do I Know If It's Right For My Family? Do you know what these famous people have in common? Alexander Graham Bell George Patton Albert Einstein Benjamin Franklin Winston Churchill Agatha Christie George Bernard Shaw Will Rogers If you guessed that they were all homeschoolers, you'd be correct. This is a very short list of famous and successful people who were educated at home. If you would like to expand this list, do a search on Internet for ?famous homeschoolers.? There are many websites that list these people and some provide detailed biographies. There is even a book called, aptly, ?Famous Homeschoolers,? by Nancy and Malcolm Plant. (http://www.fun-books.com/specials.htm) The point here is to get into mindset that people can be educated and become successful adults without attending public school. And because I can almost ?hear? what you are thinking, no, it is not necessary to have a high school diploma to go to college. So what is homeschooling? In broadest sense, homeschooling is educating your children at home. You, as parent, become teacher. Parents homeschool for more reasons than you can imagine. Some want to avoid having their children exposed to violence and peer pressure. Some homeschool so that they can make sure their children's education adheres to their religious beliefs. Some live a different lifestyle?perhaps they travel a lot?and want their children's schooling to be flexible enough to fit around that life style. And some, like me, simply enjoy being with their children. They don't want public school to interrupt and weaken parent/child bond that they have been working hard to create for first five years of their child's life. Just as there are many reasons to homeschool, there are many methods of homeschooling. All way from ?un-schooling? (learning by doing, learning from life, not using textbook type materials) to ?school at home? (using textbooks at desks set up in a schoolroom at home) and everything in between. It's very easy to find hundreds of homeschool Websites by using a search engine, but just to get you started, try: Jon's Homeschool Resource Page http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/ When I decided to write this article, I thought hard about what I could offer that wasn't being displayed on thousands of Websites on Internet. I realized that only thing I have to offer anyone interested in homeschooling is?my experience. So everything in article below comes from my fifteen years of experience homeschooling my four youngest children. I hope it is of some use to you. Deciding to homeschool your child may be one of most important decisions you ever make as a parent, and it will take a lot of thought and soul searching. To newcomer, it may seem impossible, overwhelming and very, very lonely. But like most huge obstacles, once it's broken down into smaller pieces, it becomes manageable. We'll take it one step at a time, in small enough chunks to get a hold of. So, if you're game, roll up your sleeves and let's get to work figuring out if homeschooling is for you and your child. First things first. Organization is key. Get a three-ring binder (homeschooling parent's LOVE three-ring binders) and put a label on front. (If you've made transition to digital record keeping, you can just start a folder on computer. But it's not as much fun.) Label it something serious, like ? My Homeschooling Plans? or ?Homeschooling Thoughts.? Put some paper in binder, find a really comfortable ink pen, and sit down somewhere quiet. Ready? Good. Now, let's get started. What are your reasons for considering homeschooling? Even if you haven't actually made decision to homeschool, fact that you are here reading this article says you are curious. Perhaps you honestly don't know answer yet?and that's ok. The remainder of this article is going to try to help you start to find those answers. Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, but each state has it's own set of laws that must be followed. Compulsory (how I hate that word) education here in Washington State starts at age of 8. Even though I had been homeschooling him from birth, to stay legal once my son reached 8-years old, I was required to become ?certified.? That meant I either had to have two years of college education, or take a ?certification class.? I met this requirement by taking an independent correspondence class, during which I was asked to put on paper my goals, philosophies and reasons for wanting to homeschool. I'd like to help you do same right now. Start a page--either ?tree? kind or a file on computer?and title it ?My Educational Beliefs.? List what personal beliefs you have about education?especially education of your own children. Get as detailed as you can here--the value is in thinking process behind list. Take your time, I'm in no hurry.
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