Getting Started with Homeschooling
Practical Considerations for Parents of School-Aged Children
© Beverley Paine
Index
Homeschool
Australia
Part 5 Writing a Learning Program
By now you have gathered enough information to begin to formulate a learning program for your children based on your own unique philosophy of education. You will have established what educational approach best suits the individual needs of each child, and what will work best in your particular family situation. You may have already begun to collect resources and materials, some of which may help to determine the content and methodology of the learning program. This is the second phase of developing your curriculum.
Remember, your curriculum is basically the set of statements which answer questions such as:“What do I want my children to know, feel and do, as a result of the educational process?” So far you and your children have looked at this question in general terms. This process has defined your long term outcomes, and those for the more immediate future. More detail is now required to help you achieve them.
Implementing Your Curriculum
Implementing your curriculum refers to the actual how and when of your children’s learning, and includes all of the activities and instruction provided to them. These need to take into account the following factors and influences in the learning environment:
- The existing understandings, attitudes and skills of the children;
- Their developmental abilities and levels;
- The understandings, attitudes and skills of the parent and other adults involved in the learning program;
- The resources in the immediate surroundings (home and garden), and in the community and wider environment.
This may sound daunting - jargon always does! Most educational jargon can be easily translated by thinking up an example.
Perhaps one of your children has asked why things always fall down. You could become interested in doing a science activity related to gravity. Think of the factors listed above in the following way:
- What does the child already know and understand about gravity?
- What has been his or her experiences in the past?
- What do you know?
- What is there available you can use to learn more about gravity (people, books, places, materials)?
- Will the child be able to use these resources, or understand them?
- Do you want to go further afield than the home? Do you need to?
- What experiments can you do, and will the child be capable of doing or understanding them?
Implementing the curriculum involves organising activities, from simple ones, such as reading together, to complex projects which can take months to complete. The timing of introducing activities, how the children will be motivated to participate, and what materials will be used, are part of the process of implementing your curriculum.
This also involves recognising the many existing and natural activities the children do everyday as having educational value. These form an important component of your educational program.
Most children are very adept at keeping themselves busy playing or working on their own‘projects’, seeking help or social contact only when they need it. Parents who can ‘analyse’ these types of activities in educational terms soon realise their children are learning valuable skills and processes without needing to be ‘taught’. This results in more ‘child free’ time for the parent. Parents do not need to be constantly ‘educating’ their children when they choose to home school.
As a home schooling parent you will use all of your children’s activities as springboards for learning, sometimes overtly, but most often in the gentle guiding way you have used since their births. As they get older you can add structured ‘bookwork’, educationally oriented excursions and learning activities in the community, to the wealth of experiential learning opportunities available in the home environment and daily life.
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Excerpt from Getting Started with Homeschooling, Practical Considerations
© Beverley Paine, 1997
