I want to address an issue that regularly comes up this time of the year with the end of the school year.

Are you confused or concerned about whether to keep homeschooling next year? There are a few questions that need to be answered before one can determine the answer:

Is your doubt a result of frustrating homeschool days? There could be many causes for frustrating days and the best of us have those, so don’t feel alone. As soon as the cause can be identified though, a solution might be found. Here are some possible causes for frustrations as well as some possible solutions:

Possible cause:

You could be trying to teach your child using a different learning style than what he/she naturally is comfortable with. If you are attempting to teach them the way you learn best, it might not work, or if you are trying to do “school at home”, remember that the majority of people do not learn with the learning style public schools cater to, so if you’re duplicating that, they might not be learning effectively either.

Possible solutions:

I suggest obtaining a copy of “Discover your Child’s Learning Style” by Mariaemma Pelullo-Willis and Victoria Kindle-Hodson, to find out his/her learning styles. It has questionnaires to determine a person’s learning style and is a super helpful book! The authors also have a business counseling families and providing learning style profiles, which include assessments and recommendations. They offer an online profile, too. Once you know your child’s learning style, you can proceed with the curriculum suggestions in the book or contact them online for more detailed help. I found the learning style assessment quite insightful for me too.

Make sure to consult your children about what they find hard and what they find enjoyable while studying or working with you and then you can use that to fine-tune your approach.

Possible cause:
Frustrations could be the result of unrealistic expectations on your side.

Possible solutions:
Clearly define your goals and vision with your child’s best interest in mind. I know for me, I love A’s, because I used to be a straight A student, but some children have strengths in areas other than academics. My children have challenged me in this area, because not only do they have completely different learning styles than me, but they have different interests and strengths. I tend to be more left-brain focused and they are more right brained. I learned a valuable lesson through the years to focus on their strengths instead of frustrating all of us!

Give them enough time to pursue their passions and you could get the academics done much faster and with less frustration on both sides.

Other methods, like educational games, could be employed to make learning more exciting and interesting too.

Let them lead you to what they want to learn about. They always want to learn about something, it is just not always what we want them to learn about.

Be creative, e.g. if they want to learn about airplanes and you had planned that day for them to learn addition, you could still work in the addition using their desire to learn about airplanes. Build a unit study around what they are interested in that incorporate all the subjects you would like them to learn.

Possible cause:
Your concern could be rooted in skeptical family or friends pressuring you to not homeschool and so you might be trying to prove to them how advanced your child is or how superior homeschooling is. The problem comes in when your children just don’t co-operate and go with your plan, because they don’t have the same agenda.

Possible solutions:
It might be helpful to research some statistics for skeptical family or friends to show them that homeschooled children do regularly outperform their public school peers.

You could let them read “Dumbing Us Down” by John Taylor-Gatto if they are willing to look at the facts. Be careful though not to get caught up in arguments with people who really just want to criticize and have no intention of listening to your side of the debate.

Also see the above points about learning styles and expectations. Try to focus on truly putting your child’s interests first and not others’ opinions. If you don’t, it will be frustrating to you and your child.

Is your doubt or concern because of a lack of social interaction and friends?

Possible solutions:
Consider researching local homeschool support groups in your area and join one. The Link has a handy list from Diane Flynn Keith at: http://californiahomeschoolingtoday.com/?page_id=8, but such lists aren’t always complete or current, so keep your eyes and ears open in your local newspapers or ask around if you already know some homeschoolers.

Go to activities and park days for some groups regularly. Stick it out for awhile because it takes a while to get to know people.

• If you live in Santa Clarita, CA or near there, I write about all the local opportunities in my articles on examiner.com, but there might be a local examiner for the area you are in or just a google search might bring some answers too.

• Consider starting a co-op group. See more under point no.3

• Consider enrolling in some outside classes or activities, e.g. signing up for some of your local Parks & Recreation department’s sports programs or music or dance lessons, whatever your child is interested in.

1. Are you just tired of working so hard at educating your child?

Possible solutions:
• Consider starting a co-op group. A co-op group is a co-operative effort on the part of a few moms who start sharing the load of teaching. We have a co-op at my house on Mondays. These are sometimes called “Mom schools”. One mom teaches Sign Language, another teaches Writing, another Science, yet another Educational Games and lastly another mom teaches History. This way, I prepare in much greater detail for one or two subjects that I’m teaching once a week than if I had to teach all these subjects and make it fun. It’s like bartering, you help me with teaching my child Writing and I help you by teaching your child History. Get the idea? There are so many different ways this can work, your imagination is the limit! There is an excellent book that will tell you everything to consider, give ideas for what to do and more that I can recommend: “Homeschool co-ops: How to start them, run them and not burn out” by Carol Topp. I will also be offering a group coaching session on co-ops starting in July.

• Consider outsourcing some classes that you do not enjoy teaching to trusted teachers you might know e.g. some areas have centers where children can take classes a la carte and you can sign up for some of those and not have to do all the prep work yourself. If you don’t have that option, but maybe have a friend who is a History buff or an amazing artist, ask them to teach your children in exchange for some service to them or cash.

• If you have a really hard time with Math or some other subject, you might want to consider employing a tutor for whatever subject you are having trouble with.

• You could also consider buying boxed curriculum that already has everything included and you don’t have to prepare hardly anything.

• Consider joining a charter school like CAVA where you are supplied with online curriculum and supplies, as well as a computer for your child to use to do their school work. You will even have a credentialed teacher supervising you, so you will be much less involved in deciding which curriculum to use and even implementing it, depending on the age of the child.

• If your child is in high school, consider outsourcing to a local community college for some or all of the subjects because your child can receive college and high school credits simultaneously.
I hope this has helped inspire you with some new ideas to empower you as you start thinking about the next school year.
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BIO:
After earning her Accounting degree cum laude, Elmarie worked as an accountant and auditor until the birth of her first child. She then became a full-time mom and part-time bookkeeper. In the subsequent years, she discovered the joys of homeschooling.

A homeschool mom of 4 kids from 1st grade to high school, Elmarie has 10+ years of experience in homeschooling. She has been part of private PSP's, filed her own private school affidavit, been part of various charter schools, homeschool support and co-op groups, teaching classes and organizing fieldtrips. She also has experience dealing with various community colleges where her oldest children are taking classes.

Currently, she is the Homeschool examiner for Santa Clarita on examiner.com. She provides helpful advice for new and veteran homeschoolers as she focuses on local homeschool opportunities as well as articles that apply to any homeschooler regardless of location. She also does homeschool coaching to help newcomers and veterans alike to carve out the educational path that is best for their family. Enjoy her articles at http://tinyurl.com/yeo55yr and visit her website, Joyful Journey Coaching, for coaching possibilities. ♦