When a child is homeschooled between the ages of nine and twelve, there is a lot of peer pressure. Keep in mind that not all children experience this pressure to be with and like their peers while at the same time distancing themselves from their parents. These youngsters still need lots of attention, eye contact, positive reinforcement and praise, personal communication, and good interaction with their parents. Believe it or not, kids this age still enjoy being read to. Maintain a positive attitude towards learning; Focus on making learning interesting and engaging. Make sure to offer positive, constructive criticism with as little academic pressure as possible. Focus on providing a safe learning environment that fosters love, acceptance, and validation. This will increase their self-esteem over time and help them understand where their values lie.
In this tender age of hormones, mixed feelings, changing feelings, group planning is recommended in the curriculum. Preteens prefer learning skills that have a real-life reason or purpose. For example, instead of offering a diligent job in language arts, ask your child to write a letter for you to a production company regarding a defective household product. Not only would this make the child feel important, but the learning task would be a skill that is much needed in real life. When learning math, use real-life examples involving money and budgeting, maybe even a checkbook. Use graphs and charts to set goals with money earned and savings. Reading about science from a textbook is one way to learn the subject, but conducting experiments or identifying specimens in nature is much more exciting. Daily and weekly chores are necessary to learn responsibility and accountability as an integral part of family life.
Remember to always model what you want to teach. Get to know new topics together. Dissect a grasshopper for science, work together on the family budget, etc. Homeschooling allows parents to design a curriculum that will benefit their children. Find out where your child has strengths and weaknesses and plan your curriculum accordingly.
Homeschooling and Socialization:
When parents talk about homeschooling their children, the most common topic is socialization. Parents are concerned that their children will not learn to adapt to social situations. Unless homeschooling parents choose to completely isolate their children from the outside world, this is impossible. In fact, homeschooled children have more interaction with people of all ages, not just their age group. The average homeschooled child takes part in more educational field trips during the year than the non-homeschooled child. In addition, homeschooled children have more opportunities for extracurricular activities, such as music lessons, sports, and hobbies.
Homeschooled children are equally at ease with younger children, their peers and adults of all ages. Children who are homeschooled have daily social interactions with family, the neighborhood, and the community. Because of this, studies have shown that children who are homeschooled have higher self-esteem. Kids who attend school don’t experience real-world situations, while homeschoolers are definitely better prepared for the real world.
The type of socialization experienced in schools is often negative. Large school environments harbor conformity, teasing, bullying, defiant behavior, popularity contests, and competition. No wonder homeschooled children have higher self-esteem; Children at home learn kindness, patience, sharing, respect and understanding. These homeschooled children are not exposed to peer influences that encourage peer dependency. Peer-dependent children show reduced positive socialization, such as self-esteem, self-confidence, reverence for their parents, and trust in their peers. Although homeschooled children may play with other children in the neighborhood and experience this dependency on their peers, strong morals and values are taught in the home that override these negative experiences.
Children who are homeschooled learn to listen to their own instincts and use them to make their own decisions. Adjusting to a peer social group that does not value individuality does not foster the independent thinking necessary for successful living.
Thanks to Brian MC