Homeschooling Resources in Reedley, California

If you have never homeschooled a child before, getting started might sound intimidating. Are you expected to be a professor-level expert to teach your own child? Will your child do well under this curriculum? How will they experience adequate socialization? Homeschooling raises a lot of concerns at first, but rest assured that these concerns don’t have to stand in your way.

Parents have been educating their children at home for a long time. In this time, many parents have shared their experiences for other homeschooling parents to learn from. Their wisdom has produced some sagely advice that new homeschoolers strongly benefit from hearing.

While this article is nowhere near an exhaustive list of the methods that parents have chosen to help their child succeed in homeschooling, it is a great place to start if you’ve got your worries about it. Remember that each child is different, and you shouldn’t feel badly if one or more of these methods need some adjustment to work for you.

Create a Designated Homeschooling Space

The home is full of distractions, especially when you are trying to get your child to focus on their work. To combat this, make sure to designate one space as the homeschooling spot. Whatever room you choose, ensure that it is an organized and clean space with plenty of room for everything that you need. Storage solutions can be purchased in-person or online to help you get the most out of even the smallest of rooms. Wall space can be utilized for the posting of schedules, assignments and other relevant information.

A space like this is important for two reasons:

1. It keeps everything that you need in direct access to you and your student.
2. Going into the homeschooling space will help put the student into a homeschooling frame of mind, one that is ready for instruction and to learn.

Join a Homeschooling Group in Your Area

One of the biggest concerns that people have about homeschooling is the fear of isolating themselves and/or their child. The traditional school setting is a highly social place, one where many students learn the finesses of interacting with their peers and adults. Without this factor in their lives, parents must search for additional opportunities to socialize. This is where a homeschooling group comes in handy.

These groups connect likeminded adults and their children together and can often be discovered through social media networks like Facebook. Talking with other homeschooling parents can be enlightening, encouraging and informative. The more experienced homeschoolers can point you toward community events and social opportunities that will enrich your child’s life and help them make friends. They can help you to fine-tune your approach to education, if desired, and give you great advice.

In truth, homeschooling groups are just as much for the parents as they are for the students. The community of homeschoolers can improve your experience and create lasting friendships for both children and adults.

….Or Go to an Event

Great Homeschool Conventions are one immensely popular way of getting homeschooling parents to connect, face-to-face, while networking with professionals in the industry. A homeschooling convention like the ones we host in California, Florida, New York, Texas, South Carolina, Ohio and Missouri is a great opportunity to get the latest in homeschooling information from all over the country!

Nurture and Encourage Your Child’s Interests

A rigid classroom structure is one of the biggest drawbacks of traditional public education. The flexibility and individualized approach that comes with homeschooling is one of its biggest appeals. By forcing your child to stick to a rigid structure that they provided no input into the creation of, you’re replicating the classroom experience – just in a different setting.

Instead, get your little student out to explore! Ask them what interests them and cultivate your curriculum or field trips around what they love to do. Getting your child passionate about learning is essential, even outside of the homeschooling program, if you want them to really succeed in academics. Encourage them to explore new things, as a person’s interests are always undergoing development, so that their love of learning can only grow.

Don’t Skip on the Positive Reinforcement

Being told that they are doing well is going to improve any child’s self-esteem, while indifference to their successes can contribute toward failure and low self-esteem. Every accomplishment, every show of increased retention of materials, and every good grade should be praised.

However, it is important to only give praise when the student has done something to earn it. Your child shouldn’t expect praise or reward when they have not, as this will diminish the motivating effects of being told “good job!”

Most Importantly, Be Flexible

If this is your first time attempt at homeschooling, or your first time homeschooling this particular child or children, don’t get mad at yourself when things don’t work out as smoothly as you had hoped initially. It takes a lot to educate one’s children without relying on the public school system and it’s natural to stumble a bit along the way. Instead of becoming frustrated at what’s not working, concentrate on what is, and then build off of that. Don’t toss out your curriculum; tweak it to make it fit your student’s needs. Ask them for their input. Make them a part of the process. Just don’t give up.