Homeschooling sounds like a great idea, you may be thinking, but can I do it? How much time will it take? And I just barely squeaked through high school myself, so how do I know I’ll be a good teacher?

Yes, there are some points you have to consider before deciding to homeschool. It’s a major commitment, in time and effort, and not something you want to take lightly.

If you’re working 12 hours a day and your spouse works as well, or you’re a single parent trying to do it all, then you’re probably thinking, “No way, Jose!” Or something like that…

Obviously, the ideal situation would be to have a stay-at-home parent to teach full time, but don’t get discouraged if your schedule isn’t like that. It’s only a challenge, not a deal killer.

I can’t give you a specific number as to how many hours per day you’ll need to invest, because it depends on how motivated your  child is to work independently, how efficiently you plan the lessons,  how many children you plan to homeschool, and so on.

Keep in mind that many states (USA) have a minimum number of hours required per year (we’ll be discussing that in a later issue).

But this is something you MUST do if you want your child to get a proper education. You have to make it the highest priority possible if you want your children to achieve excellence. And it ain’t likely to happen in public schools…

It IS possible to fit homeschooling into a packed schedule with some creative time management. You make time for the things that are most important to you, and this should be one of them.

If you’d like to see some real-life schedules of homeschoolers, to get an idea of their daily routine, follow this link:
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/scheduling/a/dailyschedule.htm

Do you need to be a scholar, or earn a teaching certificate to be able to teach your child properly? Or do you need to have been at  least an above average student yourself, back in the day?

In a word, no, and here’s why. Even if you know very little about the subject you’re teaching, you and you child can learn TOGETHER.

And you can’t beat the one-on-one attention you’ll be able to give to him. Try to find that in a public school classroom with 30 students.

The vast majority of children are far better educated at home–even with parents who did only mediocre classwork themselves and squeaked by with D-minuses–than with the most gifted and motivated teachers in a school setting (assuming that the child even HAS a gifted and motivated teacher-rare).

Keep in mind, though, that most states (USA) require that you have a high school diploma or GED in order to teach at home. So you do need at least a minimum knowledge of the basics (which is all you usually get with public schools anyway).

Again, it all goes back to the issue of the bonding and social development process that happens between parent and child. When it gets interrupted by public schooling, the problems begin.

Really, we’ve only scratched the surface here, but to review, I think the main issue you face in making your decision is what we’ve just discussed: the time committment. The other issues of how comfortable you feel with taking on a teaching role, and your own skill level, are very minor and will improve with experience.

There are also some financial consideration, but these can be minimized by a little planning and research. We’ll discuss this topic another day.

It’s best to discuss homeschooling with your family and decide how high of a priority it is. And if you do indeed decide it is a top priority, then commit to making the sacrifice of your time, energy, and resources, knowing that your child will reap the benefits.