For children who have been removed from schools by parents to be homeschooled, the adjustment can be difficult. This is especially true if the child enjoyed and thrived in the school system. However, it is understandable for a parent to remove a child for problems of which the child may not be aware. Of course, you may end up with a disgruntled child. If your child pouts and complains about homeschooling and longs to be back in public school, here are some things you can do to help them along in the transition.
You can demonstrate to the child how much freedom and fun homeschooling can be. Take the child to places a couple of times a week where he or she can learn something while having fun. Places you can visit are the Zoo, Children’s Museum, IMAX Theatre, Science Museum, Art Museum, Dairy Tours, Post Office Tours, and the Theatre for plays and musicals.
You can take the school out of homeschool. Use fun things like video games and toys to teach your child. Most department and toy stores have sections full of learning toys that teach all subjects to grade appropriate levels. Search for titles such as Leapfrog, I quest, and Edmund Scientifics. You can also purchase games for your computers like Math Blaster, Reading Blaster and Clue Finders that your child can use to learn as well as educational games for their Game Boy and Game Cube systems.
Make sure your child gets to spend plenty of time with other children. Arrange play dates with other homeschooled kids as well as your child’s best friends from school. Sign them up for group sports and academic teams so that they will get a chance to develop relationships with kids they see on a regular basis.
Show your child how flexible homeschooling can be by providing lots of free time. Make sure the child has several hours a day to spend on any activity of their choice. If you find they are spending all of their free time glued to the Television, limit them to educational channels like Animal Planet and The History Channel. They will either become a science and history junkie or pick a more productive activity.
Tailor homeschool to suit your child. By scheduling and including your child’s favorite things and activities into homeschooling, your child will soon forget about school and hop on the homeschooling bandwagon. If your child loves gymnastics or swimming, for example, you can assign books to read on the subjects and make up math questions based on the subjects. You can also have this activity dominate their day and scheduling homeschooling around it. This would give them more time to do the activity than they would have had if they went to a regular school
Sometimes you actually have to consider sending the child back to public school. If you have taken a year out of school and tried everything in your power to help them to adjust, as a parent you must decide if homeschooling is really for them. As a parent, you make the final decision, but you must consider all the options like small private schools, part time programs, and tutors if you find that your child either is not learning or has regressed.
