When it comes to homeschooling, there are no lack of options, opinions, and misconceptions. Homeschooling has changed over the past few years, that much is true. Long considered a radical alternative to traditional public schooling, homeschooling is fast becoming introduced to many families in the US.
There are already many students — around 2 million — being home educated, and each one for a variety of different reasons. More are joining the ranks, as homeschooling has become attractive because it’s considered a safe alternative. What most homeschooling families (and those just considering the option) share is the desire to offer their kids the best possible education.
If you’re wondering if you’ve got the stuff to homeschool, you’re in good company. Most homeschooling families have asked this same question. Assuming the responsibility is a big choice, but it can also be the most rewarding one you’ll ever make.
We’ve gathered all the expert homeschool resources published on The Wyzant Blog here to help you get your head around homeschooling.
How Tutors Help with Homeschool
We’ve launched a free Homeschooling Tutor Concierge Service for families that allows Wyzant to help you connect with the perfect educator for your family’s homeschool plans this fall.
Whether you’re partnering with other parents in the community, a “homeschool pod”, or want long-term support for your kids regardless of how school shapes up this year, our Concierge takes the guesswork out of finding the perfect support for your unique goals.
Find out more: Group & Individual Homeschooling Tutor Concierge
Because tutors provide personalized sessions, they develop a deep understanding of how an individual student learns best. That’s the secret to successful homeschooling.
Education leaders are already saying that remote learning is the future, and that the pandemic has forced educators to rethink assessment. Homeschool tutors offer more than just expertise and direction: they provide peace of mind for that future.
Read: Need Help With Homeschooling? You Need a Tutor.
When families needed to keep their kids on the path toward a valuable education, tutors became front and center in a national discussion about how families could keep their students learning, developing, and progressing as their routines and traditional systems of support – the classroom, trusted teachers, and social groups – were turned upside down. COVID-19 has altered education, and tutoring is certainly no exception. In this article, learn what tutors on Wyzant have to say about what they and their students are experiencing.
Read: 5 Ways COVID-19 Has Changed the Meaning of Tutoring
There are certain things most parents expect from any tutor: accountability, subject expertise, and that special something that ignites a love for learning in their children. But did you know that tutoring can be an essential part of a homeschooling plan? In this article, we dive into seven concrete benefits of tutoring for any family who is tackling education outside the classroom.
Read: Personalized Tutoring: The Homeschool Help You’ve Been Looking For
How to Homeschool
School at home can mean a lot of stress: kids having to learn in an unfamiliar manner; their parents feeling the pressure of trying to oversee something as important as their education. Now that homeschool is becoming a reality for many families, parents and children are bearing a level of responsibility they’re not used to. We asked a professional tutor to help us understand the things families can do, and the resources they can use, to feel comfortable with learning at home.
Read: How to Homeschool: 8 Important Tips from a Professional Tutor
If you’re new to homeschooling, let’s face it: you’ll have to adjust your daily routines to make room for learning. Learning to schedule and prioritize education with enough time to balance everything else in your life is an important part of homeschooling…and one many parents overlook. With these homeschool time management tips, it’ll be an easy transition.
Read: The Secret to Homeschool Success: Time Management
Remote learning is kind of an umbrella term; a moniker used to describe all kinds of different approaches to non-traditional learning outside the classroom. In most types, students access educational resources online, but there are big differences between each one, and not every style is right for every student. Here’s how to spot the differences, what they mean, and ways to make the right call for your kids
Read: Making Sense of the Different Types of Remote Learning
On July 30th, 2020, we held a free live Q&A with professional homeschooling educators. Hosted by Wyzant President Elaine Richards, our panel of homeschool educators answered questions from the Wyzant community about a topic many families are thinking about as back-to-school plans for Fall 2020 continue in flux: How can you be sure homeschooling is right for your kids?
Watch: WyzChat Live Q&A – “How Can I Be Sure Homeschooling Is Right for My Kids?”
Manipulatives are a powerful tool to keep your child engaged in math. Use what you have and skills you use in everyday life to make math as much fun as possible. Manipulatives are objects that are intended to help students learn math concept hands-one. They can come in many forms, and are utilized in endless ways.
Read: What Are Manipulatives? How to Make Homeschool Math Hands-On, Creative, and Fun!
Homeschooling Methods and Approaches
Many new homeschooling families are surprised to discover a diverse set of educational methods and philosophies from which to draw. Homeschooling’s flexibility gives parents and kids the freedom to blend styles to find what works best for their unique needs.
What can kids and parents expect from the upcoming school year? Hard to say. Many families are seeking out alternative and hybrid education methods for their students. There’s no shortage of homeschool options, though, and some families are making their own, forming teams, learning groups, and playbooks. As parents, how can you really know which style of homeschooling is right for your own kids? Which options are the most effective? Affordable? Most flexible for your family?
Read: Which Homeschool Approach is Right for Your Kids?
If you feel your kids need structure, a traditional homeschooling approach may work for your family. If you’re looking to give your at-home students freedom to let them explore their curiosity and creativity, unschooling might be more your speed. There are lots of differences between unschooling and homeschooling, so let’s take a closer look at each method separately, and examine how they’re similar, and where they diverge into two separate education paths.
Read: Unschooling Vs. Homeschooling
The Montessori Method, pioneered by Maria Montessori in the early 20th century, offers plenty of benefits for families that homeschool: flexibility, encouraging creativity, developing independence and social skills.
It might be on a list of your top choices of homeschool methods, since it’s a structured program that strives to provide children with well-rounded development. Before you decide on this approach, though, it’s a good idea to educate yourself on the methods and details.
Read: Montessori Education – What is It? Why Is It? Will It Work for My Family?
About Homeschooling
With so many misconceptions and rumors around homeschooling, it can be difficult to see that education at-home is flexible, adaptable, and a lot less mysterious than most people think. To help you make an informed decision about homeschooling – or just learn more about it – it’s worth looking closer at those myths, and get answers for questions like, “Do homeschooled kids learn the same stuff?”, and, “Are all homeschool moms and dads stay-at-home?”
Read: Let’s Debunk 8 Common Myths about Homeschooling
If you’re a parent with your school-age children who has struggled with learning at home, we wrote this guide for you. Homeschooling, e-learning, distance learning…whatever you call it, education at home is a tall order. In this article, we present a useful list of the most commonly asked homeschooling questions, with answers that you can put to use today.
Read: “How Does This All Work, Exactly?”: Remote Learning and Homeschooling FAQ’s
Resources for Homeschooling Families
Homeschooling your kids may seem like a great solution at first, until you realize it’s not that easy to engage a bunch of 6-year-olds for longer than 5 minutes at a stretch. To help, you need a list of powerful and creative homeschool resources designed to make homeschooling fun and exciting (and not boring or too much like “real school”).
Read: Keep Your Kids Engaged with These 18 Smart and Creative Homeschool Ideas
PUBLIC SCHOOL SEARCH: Many states require homeschool parents to have certain qualifications. The best way to learn more about them is to contact your school district. Use this link to search for public school info at the National Center for Educational: https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/
HOMESCHOOLING BY STATE: You can search for homeschool information by state with this easy-to-use map from The Coalition for Responsible Home Education: responsiblehomeschooling.org/
PROJECT GUTENBERG: Families who need reading material can find 60,000 free eBooks on Project Gutenberg, including classics and favorites. This is a time-saving, and money-saving, resource that’s useful to anyone educating at home. Find it here: gutenberg.org
SPECIAL NEEDS HOMESCHOOLING: Parents who have a child with learning differences sometimes need different kinds of help with homeschooling in order meet their student’s unique needs. There are lots of resources, articles, and other helpful material, at specialneedshomeschooling.com
THE HOMESCHOOL CLASSROOM: This expansive and collaborative blog features numerous contributors on a wide range of homeschool topics, and highlights parenting ideas, child development tips and suggestions, scheduling, organization, planning, and tons of other areas that benefit homeschool families: hsclassroom.net
No matter what learning looks like in the fall, parents are doing their best to ensure their kids receive the best education possible. This article provides three resources that Wyzant offers to students and families to get them prepared for back to school time. Use them to counteract learning loss over the summer, get caught up, or just to help you set your at-home pupils up for success.
Read: 3 Online Resources to Get Students and Families Ready for “Back to School
When schools began to close in Spring 2020, Wyzant went straight to the experts. We gathered top Homeschool educators on Wyzant to discuss school at home. In our conversation, these professional tutors chat about remote learning and how parents and families can keep their at-home students on a path to success in their education – indispensable advice for any parent considering homeschool.
Watch: Wyzant Homeschool Roundtable
