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My intent is to teach parents to home school their children. I believe in keeping it simple. Having a basic plan with just four steps is about as simple as I am able to make it.

The idea is to give parents some orientation and make it easy for them to make the decision to home school their children. Once they make that decision, it is important to encourage them get started right away.

The four steps I present are for those that have already made the decision to home school their children. The steps are briefly as follows:

  1. Decide on a teaching method,
  2. Purchase the books and materials needed
  3. Set a schedule and get started
  4. Get involved in your local support group.
That is essentially it.

Before choosing the curriculum or teaching method it is important to have an understanding of what works best with each child. There are different learning abilities and the curriculum and teaching method should match the child's learning style.

For the parent that is unsure of their child's learning tendencies,

it can help to experiment with a few methods and see what happens. It will give the parent a better feel for what works before investing in costly curriculum.

Some children have good reading habits. They read quickly and also absorb or comprehend what they read. Those with good reading comprehension are usually able to read a chapter of the textbook and answer the questions at the end of the chapter with little or no assistance from the parent.

For others children teaching them the material using visual aids and a chalkboard (or whiteboard) may work better. Once the parent feels confident that the child understands the lesson they can have the child do exercises in worktexts and score the answers.

When it comes to mathematics and the sciences, hands on activities using blocks, number rods, chemistry sets, etcetera really helps them grasp the concepts.

Games like Monopoly are excellent activities for teaching mathematics and economics. It is easy to buy or create games for the sake of reinforcing what they have learned.

Learning can and should be fun, not dull and boring!