Almost all parents are capable of homeschooling, but homeschooling is not for every parent or every child. There are many factors to consider when deciding whether to educate your child at home or put them in a classroom. Lifestyle, career, health, and time all play a role in homeschool success. In this article, I will discuss some questions to ask yourself when deciding if homeschooling is for you. Do you or your family have special circumstances that may interfere with your ability to make the most of homeschooling? Although there are various online or text book curriculums and programs available for all different abilities and learning styles, situations will arise when your child needs some sort of help. If you are not equipped or able to tend to their needs due to an illness, disability, or home disruptions, your child can fall behind. Perhaps your child has a disability that requires resources or special training that you don’t possess. In unique cases such as these, homeschooling may not be the best option for your family. Do you have the patience, flexibility, and time to educate your child at home? Do you enjoy spending time with your kids? All of these are necessary for homeschool success If you have a career outside of the home, a busy social schedule, or other factors that do not allow you the flexibility to homeschool, a traditional school setting may be a better option. Additionally, people who do not enjoy spending a great deal of time with their kids or are not in a financial, mental, or emotional position to spend time at home while their children learn are likely better off sending their kids to school.  For me it was all about the investment I was putting in my children so that they could be my sadaqa jariya after I pass away.  Ask yourself why you want to homeschool.  If you think you have what it takes to homeschool, take the tips I discuss in the next article, and go for it! 

If you have chosen to homeschool online then you most likely have decided to use one of the free online schools. The online schools take a lot of the parent work out of homeschooling. For example when the child logs into school each day the schools website keeps track of his attendance. You do not have to decide on the program you want because the school already has one in place. All you have to do is help your child with the daily lessons and send in his work for a teacher to see. This way is very good if you want less involvement. But there are some other things that may be drawbacks to online homeschooling.
First you have to have a computer. I know in today’s society there are many households that have a computer or more than one computers so this may not be a problem but if you do not have a computer you will have to purchase one or rent one from the school. Renting a computer is never a good idea in case something happens to it while you have it then you will have to replace it, it is better just to purchase the computer and get it over with.
You have to have a reliable internet connection. Also is not a problem in most cases nearly everyone has one. It has to be reliable because your child will have to log on to the school website so that he can get his lessons and attendance can be counted. If your internet connection goes out then your child will miss a day of school. This will put him behind and he will have to catch up.
The days are fully planned. When you log on you will see a daily and weekly planner. Each day has 5-8 lessons that you should teach that day. If you get them all done early that is good but this many lessons can take a while leaving less time for any other activities to be planned. Your child will spend most in not all of his day in front of the computer and if your child is older the lessons will be longer.
Online homeschooling has its advantages and disadvantages just as pretty much everything else. If you are a parent that works at home and use the computer then you will need two computers or you and your child will have to share the computer. You can also choose one of the schools that are online but can be taught offline. The only time the child will have to be online is to take the daily test and record attendance. There are a variety of ways you can choose to do homeschooling if you choose online homeschooling.
You and your family have to sit down and decide if you want to homeschool online or offline there are a lot of advantages and disadvantages to weigh and homeschooling online is not right for every family especially if you are homeschooling more than one child and if you only have one computer. Discuss it to see if it is right for you.

When looking for a homeschool program that is right for your family you will discover that there are dozens to choose from. Many parents that have been homeschooling for many years will choose the ones that they like best from each program. For example if they like the math program from one publisher but the English from another you can mix and match to create the right program for you and your children. There are a few guidelines that you need to consider when choosing your homeschool program. For me it is about does it fit in our way of life. Is the material teaching good things or not.
Identify your child’s learning style each child learn differently and if you are homeschooling more than one child they will all learn differently than the other. Is your child one that can learn from reading out of a book, by listening to the lesson taught by you reading or on a DVD or is your child more hands on and learns by doing? When choosing a homeschool program this is the first thing you need to decide.
What is your teaching style? The next step is to decide which way you like to teach. Are you a more hands on teacher and like to be by your child’s side at all times teaching or are you a parent that likes to get things started and allow the child to work on their own. Your teaching style is as important as your child’s learning style when you are trying to decide on which homeschool program to use. If you and the child are not happy then homeschooling will not be a happy experience. Also if you find a program you do not like you can always choose to pick another one next year.
Create a budget unless you are going with one of the free online schools then you will need a budget. If you are one a single income where you have to make a budget then you need to make a place in your budget for your home school materials. They can be expensive if you want your child to learn a lot of different things. Be careful there are a lot of homeschool parents that overspend on things they don’t need. When you first start out everything will look good and you will say well that will be good to learn but remember your child will be in homeschool for 13 years and that is plenty of time to get it all in. You do not have to overwork your child with things you want them to know.
Choose your program Now that you know your child’s learning style, your teaching style, and you have added homeschool into your budget it is time to choose your program. This is not an easy task because there are so many. Remember that you may not choose the right one first because there are so many but by knowing what you are looking for gives you a better chance of getting it right the first time and making homeschool a positive experience for your whole family. May Allaah make this journey easy for you and accept your sacrifices. Ameen

Homeschooling requirements vary from state to state and from online to offline schools. If you choose to use an online school check with that school to find out what the requirements are and if you choose to use an offline school so that you can be in more control of what you are teaching check with your state’s homeschooling association. Here are some of the basic homeschooling requirements throughout all the states. Continue reading →

With more and more parents considering homeschooling their children it is important that we take a look at some of the pros and cons of homeschooling.
Some pros of homeschooling are: Continue reading →

Depending on whom you ask you will get different responses. I will uncover some of the things that will help you decide if homeschool is better or worse than public schools.
First let’s talk about the classroom. In a public school you have a room full of students every one different than the rest. This means that there will be times a lesson has to be taught more than one time so that the teacher makes sure every child understands the lesson. Continue reading →

When you are deciding on homeschooling your children there are a lot of research to do. There is no more important information that the numbers from the children that have been homeschooled in the past. How did they do? Here are a few homeschool statistics that can help in your decision making process. Continue reading →