Homeschooling Resources:
A Blueprint for Parents, Teachers, and Student-Teachers
Educators are often asked by parents, guardians, and other people for resources. Common questions include: How can I help my child study for a test? What should my student be learning? How can I prepare now for my own classroom? Homeschooling is the oldest learning environment. Students throughout time have learned at home, such as the ancient Romans. Preparing to homeschool or to become a classroom teacher is an arduous task. Plan to work 40 to 80 hours a week during the school year, basically fourteen months of work in 10 months time.
When should you begin? Yesterday. As a parent-teacher or student-teacher in college it is best to get as much planning, lessons, and activities in your file cabinet long before the school year begins. Developing a repertoire of lessons will go a long way. Create your bag of tricks, your lessons, prior to the school year starting. Football teams have a book of plays, chefs have a certain ten ingredients or so they use all the time, and painters have a set of colors they use over and over. You will need a template of lessons that you use throughout the year, this may include starting each school day with warm up/bell ringer questions, doing one SQ3R or QAR a month, one book report a month, playing a certain game once a month during the last half of the school year, or asking your students the same set of thematic questions with every chapter (commonality, conflict, law, cooperation, moral, usability, continuity, change, religion, ethics, actions, power, et cetera). Your school lessons, activities, and crafts can be designed in a general way and then altered for the level of the student.
When should you begin? Yesterday. As a parent-teacher or student-teacher in college it is best to get as much planning, lessons, and activities in your file cabinet long before the school year begins. Developing a repertoire of lessons will go a long way. Create your bag of tricks, your lessons, prior to the school year starting. Football teams have a book of plays, chefs have a certain ten ingredients or so they use all the time, and painters have a set of colors they use over and over. You will need a template of lessons that you use throughout the year, this may include starting each school day with warm up/bell ringer questions, doing one SQ3R or QAR a month, one book report a month, playing a certain game once a month during the last half of the school year, or asking your students the same set of thematic questions with every chapter (commonality, conflict, law, cooperation, moral, usability, continuity, change, religion, ethics, actions, power, et cetera). Your school lessons, activities, and crafts can be designed in a general way and then altered for the level of the student.
Teaching is an art and a science. It takes great mastery to take on the practice. It is about relationships in the classroom. And outside the class. Millions of books exist of the practice of teaching and learning. It is important for you to read the best of these books and practice on yourself and others before working with your students. Keep in mind that the best textbooks on teaching will focus on practice over theory. Anyone can write a book and give you theoretical ideas. It is vital to know the theories, to understand them, and to know why they come about. That discussion is too long for our purposes here. It is key to remember that good teachers make it look easy. If you find homeschooling or teaching in your own classroom overwhelming, welcome to modern teaching. Politicians, school boards, administrators, society, and parents of your students have created a very complex environment.
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| Visit Amazon for the best school supplies for elementary school, middle school, high school, home, and college needs. |
A great teacher is effective and masterful at the art and science of teaching and working with students. As a teacher you must make your physical, mental, and emotional, and spiritual health a priority. Eating junk food, not getting enough sleep, and poor organizational skills are among many pitfalls to avoid. If you find homeschooling is not for you, then you may wish to employ tutors or seek out a good school for your child. Teaching is vital and extremely important vocation. If you are brave enough to go ahead with the endeavor, the following resources will give you a good place to start. These resources are good for homeschool, parents/guardians in general, teachers looking for career development, and student-teachers in college.
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| Visit Amazon for the best school supplies for elementary school, middle school, high school, home, and college needs. |
Teaching and Learning
Knowing the subject matter yourself well enough to teach it to someone else is important. Although being a bank of knowledge is not the only component of being a teacher. A good teacher must set and model standards of learning and behavior. It is key to remember not to have expectations of your students, rather set standards. A subtle difference and very important to remember. Classroom management is vital to being a successful teacher and you must learn more about it and get good at it.
As you learn more about classroom management you will see firsthand the importance of such things as followthrough, not asking rhetorical questions, remaining calm, cool, and collect. Look for great books on classroom management and ask a great teacher if you may observe his or her classroom for an hour. Better yet, volunteer. As a homeschool parent you may wish to get a teaching credential. If you decide upon that path, look for a college program that emphasizes practice over theory.
As you learn more about classroom management you will see firsthand the importance of such things as followthrough, not asking rhetorical questions, remaining calm, cool, and collect. Look for great books on classroom management and ask a great teacher if you may observe his or her classroom for an hour. Better yet, volunteer. As a homeschool parent you may wish to get a teaching credential. If you decide upon that path, look for a college program that emphasizes practice over theory.
Homeschooling
Search for local homeschooling networks.
Curriculum and Textbooks
Check out the webpages of local teachers by grade level, usually they are listed under the district or school websites. Many teachers post daily, weekly, or monthly what the kids are doing in class along with resources and enrichment ideas.
Textbook publishers also have their textbooks and additional resources online.
Learning and Teaching Tools
College and Career
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (career information)
Making connections to college and career is an important part of teaching. There are many sites to utilize to make the connection, make learning relevant, and to plan, and develop workplace skills.
Parent/Guardian Corner
Books
Amazon is a great resource for finding books on teaching and learning. You may also find book recommendations through teachers you know. Textbooks can be expensive, so you may wish to compare prices on Amazon and other sites for your child. Many books are accessible or will over time be accessible through a device.
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| Visit Amazon for the best school supplies for elementary school, middle school, high school, home, and college needs. |
Credits
Photo by Eleni Koureas on Unsplash
FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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