Homeschooling in North America Today -- What Is Homeschooling?: How did all this begin? Why should I do it? -- Homeschooling Facts and Figures: Understanding what the numbers mean -- Quick Answers to Beginners' Questions: Am I qualified to teach my children? -- First Things First: Getting Started -- Getting Legal: Alternatives to Compulsory Attendance: Understanding homeschool regulations.
Approaches to Home Education: You mean you don't sit around the kitchen table all day doing homework? -- Finding Support: Organizations, publications, and real live people -- Choosing/Planning a Curriculum -- So Much to Choose From: Where to begin? Consider your public library! -- Sixth Grade in a Box: Using a Full-Service Program: Finding a program that will work for you -- Out of the Box: Planning Your Own Curriculum: Stretching beyond school-at-home.
Taking the Plunge: What Do I Do Now? -- Learning at Home with Three- to Five-Year-Olds: Play, educational toys, learning from life, and reading out loud -- Home Educating Six- to Eight-Year-Olds: The basics and then some -- Homeschooling Nine- to Twelve-Year-Olds: Building on the basics, involving your kids in planning and curriculum, and selecting materials -- Teenagers in the Homeschool: Goal-setting, socialization, tackling difficult subjects, and involvement in the real world.
Homeschooling Kids with Special Needs: Denial, acceptance, resources, and adapting a program to fit your child -- Keeping Track: Testing/Assessments/Record-Keeping -- Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3: Pros and cons, alternatives, and other issues -- Other Assessments for Measuring Progress: Discussion, awards, journals, and portfolios -- Keeping Records: Piling or filing, commercial or do-it-yourself, official or private -- Burnout Prevention.
Getting a Grip: Keeping Burnout at Bay: Do you need a schedule or do you want to go with the flow? Integrate life's inevitable interruptions and distractions -- Self-Directed Learning: The Key to Motivation: Stave off burnout by helping your child develop techniques that worked for famous self-directed learners -- Dealing with Doubts: Are your doubts from within or without? Is self-doubt normal? You're on a learning curve, too!
Involvement in the Homeschooling Community: Reach out to others or organize the support you need to keep the burnout bug away -- Cyber Learning: Find online communities, distance-learning providers, and resources to make life simpler -- Curriculum Winners and Selected Resources, Including Dynamite Web Sites -- Homeschooling Support Organizations -- Independent Study Programs and Support Schools, Publications, and Vendors.
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