A Homeschooling Story From California

Arthur Grove shares his homeschooling story from California. He gives us some tips on how to achieve success.

Arthur Grove: Some Tips For Parents Who are New to Homeschooling

I have three adorable kids - Alan who is 13, James who is 11 and little Martha who just turned 7 in April 2010.

If four years ago you had asked me whether I would be homeschooling my kids, I would have laughed at you. Why take the risk, I would have said. We have school teachers for that, don't we?

It was my wife, Helen, who one fine morning suggested that we should be homeschooling our kids. I was taken aback by her suggestion at first. But she eventually convinced me saying that if things didn't work out we could always enrol them in school again. It took her a longer time to convince our parents who still believed in doing things the old-fashioned way.

My wife gave up her full-time job and became a full-time mom so to speak. She worked really hard and now all three of our kids are at least two years ahead of their peers at school. I am so proud of her.

I can't really say that I helped out in homeschooling our kids. I had to work extra-long hours to bring home the bacon. We are not wealthy and my wife quitting her job did hit us hard financially. But it was really worth it. My kids are growing up to be smart, well-adjusted and well-behaved. And they are also active in tennis and football. They are a delight to everyone who meets them, or so I believe.

Over the years, I have learned a few things that I would like to share with everyone who is new to homeschooling.

1. It is important to set a daily timetable and stick to it religiously. We printed out timetables with all the subjects and activities for our three kids just like a school timetable. It took a few months for our children to get used to it but now it almost seems as if we are running on auto-pilot. Our children are so disciplined that we don't even have to remind them what to do - they consult their timetables and do what they have to do themselves.

2. It is easy for parents who are homeschooling their kids to be under stress and take it out on their kids. Our kids had different strengths and weaknesses when we first started homeschooling. Alan, our eldest boy, was strong in English but weak in Math. James, our second boy, was more interested in outdoor games than studies. Martha, our youngest child, didn't seem to want to study at all. She was just too playful. Helen, my wife, had a tough time in the beginning learning how to control her temper whenever our kids were not studying well. I have to admit that she ended up yelling at them. This made our kids lose their self-esteem. It took her a few months to realize her mistake. She is now more encouraging and patient and thankfully our kids have regained their self-confidence.

3. Reading is the key to academic success. We take our kids to the library every Friday. Our children spend at least two hours a day reading their storybooks. As a result, their English is really good and they can write very well too.

4. We learned that molding a child is hard work. We want our children to grow up to become morally responsible adults. We have to be vigilant and ensure that our children are going in the right direction rather than picking up bad habits. We spend a lot of time teaching them important values such as honesty, generosity, compassion, empathy, diligence, perseverance, open-mindedness and so on.

5. Children learn best when they are happy. We never shout at our kids nowadays. We make them feel good about themselves. We have lots of family time together where we joke and laugh and play games. And, of course, we give our kids unconditional love.

I hope this helps you. Have faith in yourself and everything will go as planned.

Best wishes!
Arthur Grove

Kris, Our Editor, Replies.

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