5 Tips For Home School Beginners

By Alice Coaxum

Here are a few tips to help those new to home schooling or those who may be struggling with or just interested in home schooling.

1. You must have a plan: Figure out which direction you are going in with your home school education plan before you start. Do your research to see what is available and make a choice. Day 1 of home schooling is not the time to scramble around looking for school work for your child.

2. Have a scheduled time for school work: Yes homeschooling should be flexible when you need it to be for Doctor appointments, shopping or special occasions but try to keep to some type of schedule and stick to it. Pick a schedule that works best for you and your child and stick to it. It will be so much easier for you and your child if they know they have a set time to get their work done.

It will be much harder if every day you are trying to find the time to fit school in when it really should be a top priority.

When we decide to home school our children we make a commitment that we need to take seriously. It only hurts our child if we do not teach them as we set out to do. You only get out what you put into it. It is so easy to just put it off until tomorrow. Children can easily fall behind too, so scheduling is important.

3. Have a set bedtime: This is important in our house because children can easily get off track and if they are going to bed at a different time every night it is kind of hard to stay on a set schedule for school. Also children need to be well rested so they can have a easier time understanding and retaining the information that is taught to them.

4. Establish consequences: Home school is not the equivalent of no school at all and children must be made to understand that from the beginning. No child is perfect and at times they may not feel like doing their work. They have to made to understand that home schooling is real school and if they attended a brick and mortar school they would have to do the work presented to them by the teacher.

At times in the beginning of our home school journey a couple of my children have had what I refer to as a home school is no school, type day.

I swiftly let them know that home schooling is just as important as if they were sitting in a traditional classroom and that they would face consequences if they did not complete their work as I knew they could.

Once they realized that they would lose privileges such as viewing their favorite television programs, playing video games on the weekends or even playing with their favorite toys just the same as if they neglected to do their work in a traditional school the problem cleared right up.

My children knew I meant business and they eventually adapted to our home school schedule. It can be a little hard on them at first especially if they are used to attending a brick and mortar school. What you view as school time they may view as complete freedom and a long vacation until they get used to and fall in line with the schedule.

5. Have fun: Home schooling can be a fun and wondrous adventure if you choose to make it that way. Enjoy the time with your child.

Make the lessons fun with activities that go hand in hand with what you are teaching them. Do science experiments. Teach your child to prepare easy recipes. You could have themed parties or fun times with arts and crafts like painting, working with clay, making homemade cards or jewelry etc.

You can also take them on fun educational trips. Young children love these type of activities and you can enjoy them together.Make the most of your home schooling education plan. It can be a wonderful experience for you and your child.

Alice Coaxum is a happily married mother of four beautiful girls a dog and one frisky cat. She home schools hers daughters and taking care of her family is a top priority to.

She is a partner with Vitamark and runs Wahms Beautiful Deals Traffic Exchange and loves networking and meeting new people. http://wahmsonline.com

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Homeschooling ABC's

I recomend Homeschooling ABC 's to anyone who is just starting homeschool or struggling with it. You will receive a simple lesson via email each week that will walk you through the steps from just beginning homeschool to building a successful homeschool routine and curriculum. The lessons include links to helpful sites, homeschooling support groups and more.

The Worste Day of School. Should I Quit?

Books, papers, crayons, glue, and just about everything else is strewn all over the floor. It's 11:30 a.m. and all we've covered so far is a half a lesson of math. The preschoolers are happy, for the most part, dumping every box and container they can find. Did I hear the toilet flush a few too many times? The students are getting grumpy. First grader seems to think that pounding the paper will solve the problem. Baby needs changed. Now they all think of a reason to leave the school room, drinks, potty, etc. Preschooler doesn't want any help with his work book. He's a big boy. "Now I 'm not going to do it because you told me how." Sisters start fighting over who's right it is to rest their elbow on the other's desk. Now every one is screaming, but not teacher yet. This looks like a good time to take a lunch break (it's lunch time anyway isn't it.)


Some of these problems can be avoided. How? Children get grumpy and uncooperative. Here are some simple steps that may help. You can take steps to dodge the problem, but you won't get away from it altogether.


Get the children to sleep early the night before. Many times a child is ornery just because he didn't get enough sleep.

Don't feed the children cereal for breakfast. Feed them something nutritious, with no sugar if you can help it. Even if your morning is rushed, a good breakfast is worth the time. Plan ahead the night before. Get up ten minutes earlier so you can fry some eggs or potatoes. Even good old-fashioned mush will do the job. Just don't call it mush. Think up a creative name. Hot Corn Cake With Milk.

Clean up the school room after school so you can enter on a clean room and get a fresh start. It only takes a couple of weeks to get everyone in the habit of putting things away before they leave the room. You may seem like the mean mama bear, but insist. No one goes out for anything, unless it's a real heart attack, until the room is clean.

Limit wacking-up-papers activities. Hide the scissors. It makes clean-up easier.

If every one gets really grumpy, change the scene. Play a game. Take a walk. You stay happy and you'll have 100% better chance of getting the children to be happy.

Put things you don't want dumped up out of the reach of little hands. Make a special place, preschool cupboard or shelf with toys that preschoolers can get any time. Have only a few toys at a time. If you periodically change the toys, it will keep them from losing interest and heading for more exciting things, like the toilet. Keep the bathroom door closed.

Let older children take turns doing a preschool "class." Have them take turns keeping the toddlers busy while you work with another child.

Don't sit there getting nowhere. If one subject, say math, takes all day, cut the lesson short after half an hour. Thank the child for what he's done that day and go on to the next subject. Stop while he's still in a good mood, before he gets frustrated.

If a child just woun't write his lessons, let him use a crayon, or colored pencil, or a pen. A little change may do the trick.

If this is your first year of school, or second, or third, and it's still hecktick, I'd suggest Homeschooling ABC's. Click Here! This e-class will help you get things organized and off to a good start.

What Do I Really Need to Teach?

Go to any search engine, google for instance. Type what to teach in .....
3rd grade, kindergarten, etc. See how many thousands of results you will get. How does a homeschooling parent search through all of that and find what they really need? Homeschooling ABC's class will help confused parents sort things out.
To get your Homeschooling ABC's 26 week class Click Here! This is a class that comes straight to your email box.