Enjoying Homeschooling? Maybe You Want to Make It a Permanent Thing

With the coronavirus quarantine still in effect, parents all over the country are learning just how difficult it can be to homeschool their children. In fact, many parents are ready to tap out altogether. However, on the other hand, there are parents out there that are finding out that they actually enjoy homeschooling their children and would like to find out more information about it. They are realizing that they may just want to make homeschooling a permanent thing in their household!

But before you decide to make homeschooling a regular thing even after the quarantine ends, there are things to take into consideration.

Benefits of Homeschooling

There are countless benefits that are associated with homeschooling to be aware of. For one, you will be making a closer connection with your children. Family time will be happening early and often every single day of the week.

In addition, your children get to avoid all of the peer pressures, bullying, school violence, drugs, and the other troubling issues that occur daily in a regular school environment. Avoiding all of these negatives and homeschooling instead is definitely something to consider.

Furthermore, the curriculum will move at the pace suitable for your children. If they are gifted in one area, then you can put them on a fast track to accelerated learning. On the other hand, if they are struggling with a certain subject, more time can be spent on it to ensure they are grasping the concepts.

There Are Some Basic Requirements to Follow for Homeschooling

It may surprise you, but the actual requirements to allow parents to homeschool are not all of that difficult to follow. While each state has its own requirements, they really do not differ all of that much from one region to the other.

For instance, the state of Illinois does not require you to contact state and local officials if you are deciding to homeschool your children. Parents can basically operate their homeschool like a small private school that needs no guidance from the state. There is no education requirement needed by the parent either, so even those adults that only have a high school education can homeschool their kids. Furthermore, there are not even any special assessments needed by the state of Illinois to demonstrate what your children have learned from homeschooling. However, it would be wise to have them take some of the popular assessments just to determine how well their abilities are lining up with other kids their age.

Subjects Required to Be Taught

In Illinois, homeschooled children are to be educated in the same subjects that would be covered in public schools. They are to be “taught the branches of education taught to children of corresponding age and grade in the public schools.” This includes the basics such as reading, mathematics, science, physical education, health, fine arts, and the such.

However, don’t stop there. The parent can build the curriculum around certain interests as well. They can teach life skills, auto-mechanics, cooking skills, woodworking, technology, and other areas that the children themselves want to learn.

How Many Hours Are Required For Homeschooling in Illinois Every Day?

It may surprise you, but there is no set number of hours required by Illinois for homeschooling. But as an example, as an educator, I had my students in the classroom learning for about four hours a day or so. The rest of the time was spent on recess, lunch, traveling to and from class, extracurriculars, and things such as that. The number of hours your children would learn during homeschooling every day would be placed entirely in your hands.

Resources

Parents could go out and purchase homeschooling kits on their own if they would like, but there are numerous free homeschooling resources available that will provide you lessons, videos, and assessments. In addition, they will act as a sort of curriculum map by detailing what the child should learn at each grade level.

Doubt Your Abilities?

Perhaps you struggled at math when you were a kid back in the day and doubt your teaching ability to help your child learn math as well. Don’t be so hard on yourself. When you have to teach the topic, you begin to learn it much better. But if you still think your child is not getting it, you can always turn to iAchieve. We have tutoring available in all subjects and grade levels that will get your child back on track in no time.

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