Homeschooling Overview
In present times, parents are choosing to homeschool instead of sending their children to traditional schools. Homeschooling is considered to be a highly progressive movement around the country as well as the world. Here, parents are choosing to educate their children at home. Most present-day families opt for getting their children homeschooled due to various genuine reasons. The common ones include limitations in the availability of educational options, a vast array of religious beliefs/educational philosophies, children not reaching their true potential in the traditional school environment, etc.
Why Homeschool?
There are some common reasons parents give for homeschooling. These include concern about safety, educational benefits, and religious preference. For a majority of families, homeschooling clearly allows them to spend quality time with the children. Also, they consider homeschooling to be a smart way to offset a bunch of pressures.
Also, families homeschool in order to fit into work schedules of parents; to travel; to accommodate various special needs plus learning disabilities; to offer several gifted kids with highly challenging material or allow them to work at a quicker pace.
What Are The Common Homeschooling Requirements In The U.S.?
In general, homeschooling comes under the authority of individual states. Every state has various requirements. In certain parts of the country, parents are required to notify the school district that they are educating their children themselves. In certain states, parents are required to submit lesson plans for approval, send in daily reports, make a portfolio for the district/peer review, allow home visits by district employees and have their children take a series of standardized tests.
There are many states that enable competent parents or adults to homeschool a child. However, it calls for teaching certification. For some new homeschoolers, the major thing that you should know is that irrespective of the set of local requirements, families have worked within them to attain their personal set of goals.
Homeschooling FAQ
● What are the advantages of homeschooling?
Certainly, flexibility is one of the most prominent benefits of homeschooling. The set of instructions that your child gets is not really confined by any rigid schedule or time or place. You can pretty much take your lessons into the real world to apply concepts. Thus, your child can experience wholesome learning. If your child requires some extra time with a certain lesson, you can offer it. There is no need to rush on to the next subject. Thus, your child entirely learns the material that he/she is studying.
There is another major benefit of homeschooling. It is personalization. If a child is given the freedom to learn as per his/her own learning schedule and pace, he/she is likely to reach his/her full potential. Thus, parents should avail the opportunity to tailor each lesson to match his/her child’s learning objectives, patterns, and interests. You can relate various concepts to their world when it comes to deepening their overall understanding. Also, your child will be able to have their queries addressed and questions answered. After all, there would not be any limitations of a rigid classroom schedule.
● Is homeschooling legal?
This is dependent on your personal set of choices. There are various resources that are available. Some are free and some are chargeable. Thus, you can access to devise the best possible homeschool curriculum for your child. In general, libraries, the internet, and museums can offer various learning experiences for free or reasonable costs. Textbooks and workbooks tend to differ in costs. There are various options that will enable you to pick a bundled curriculum or get your curriculum customized. The latter can be done by purchasing each subject individually. Generally, elementary programs are less expensive than those that are meant for middle and high school.
Above all, make sure to devise a budget. Try to plan your homeschool curriculum for the year. Make sure to budget for extra-curricular activities as well. These include music lessons, sports lessons, art classes or dance classes.
● Can I homeschool my children?
As far as the required qualifications are concerned, you do not really have to be a trained teacher to manage your child’s homeschool. However, you need to be prepared to do your job perfectly. A good deal of hard work and time will be required.
● Are homeschooled students accepted by colleges?
Even when the homeschooled student has no standardized test scores or proper transcripts to submit, most colleges tend to accept their application. If your homeschooled child wants to go to college, you should focus on starting when they are in their early teens to look into colleges that are homeschool-friendly. Make sure to talk with admissions counselors at different colleges. Some of these are mainly assigned to work with various homeschooled applicants. You need to be completely sure that your child has gone through all the required application materials and pre-requisite classes that the college of your choice might need.
● Which homeschool curriculum should I go for?
Picking the right homeschool curriculum is important to new homeschooling parents. Also, it is important for those who wish to enhance homeschooling or adjust to a certain new phase. In order to pick the right homeschool curriculum that befits your family, you need to consider your children, your self and your situation.
You will want to choose a homeschool curriculum that addresses all of these three. In present times, online homeschooling has become the number one choice for many families. Also, the number of students who are taking classes online is expected to grow over a course of time. When it comes to choosing between homeschool and online school, you need to do a good deal of careful consideration of various unique needs plus circumstances. However, there are certain common benefits when it comes to opting for an online school for parents.
Student Life
All students want to avail of an opportunity to socialize with their peers. At Forest Trail Academy, students can avail of various opportunities for student socialization which conventional homeschool systems fail to offer. At FTA, teachers and administrators take the task of developing personal relationships with their students and families seriously. They take every possible step to create a culture that is neighborly as well as personal. They make sure to make their interactions with students relational as well as fun.
Parents do not have to take up the task of teaching their students. However, they get the opportunity to act as a Learning Coach. Most Learning Coaches opt to help keep kids on track by structuring the regular schedule, by looking over the schoolwork completion, and by offering reminders, and motivation whenever required. Now, the level of involvement differs by family. Still, online school parents can afford to be involved as well as informed just like homeschool parents.
Teachers
Graduation
Now, many homeschooled students end up achieving great things. Still, it is highly important to keep in mind that they may need to take the GED exam in order to earn a credential. This credential might be recognized in higher education or by the workforce. Students who are graduating from an online school can earn an official high school diploma without any extra step. In the context of education, results might be defined in various ways. However, the best possible measure of success is a graduate who is prepared for college, career, and life, in general.
Curriculum
Often times, homeschool parents tend to research and develop their own curriculum. It can take a lot of time to search for and buy books and materials for the subjects of a student. Also, it can turn out to be highly expensive. Certain other homeschool students tend to buy an existing curriculum. However, they still need to map out a learning schedule and devise customized lesson plans for the year. Along with these demands, there is a lot of anxiety involved.
At a quality online school, students tend to learn using a comprehensive curriculum that is planned by well-experienced professionals and experts in the relevant subjective areas. This set of educators tend to develop various objectives for the knowledge and skills that students need to learn. At Forest Trail Academy, students can choose from a vast selection of courses.
While you research the suitable educational choice for your child, make sure to consider online school by Forest Trail Academy. Here are the major five vital things to consider in looking for the right online school. These include regionally accredited curriculum, mastery-based and self-paced curriculum, highly qualified teachers who are trained in online learning, parents who are highly rated by parents and customized learning-plan for every student, etc.
At Forest Trail Academy there are some added advantages as well:
- Personalized instruction with a qualified and encouraging teacher in all subjects.
- A flexible school schedule that is open year-round.
- Students who work at a comfortable pace.
- An engaging curriculum that is developed by highly experienced professionals.
- A Guidance Counselor who will work with your kid to create a Personal Graduation Plan. Also, he/she would monitor your child’s overall progress every step of the way.
- No bullies are involved. They try to understand the significance of having an emotionally as well as physically safe learning environment.
- Our high school diploma is accepted by colleges across the world.
Know more about online home school programs.
Make sure to contact us if you would genuinely want to learn more about Forest Trail Academy.
