With the growing popularity of home schooling, more and more styles and packages of Home School systems are entering the market. The upside is that parents who have decided to home school their children now have a lot more options and support material to choose from. The down side is that there is almost too much material for parents to go through and understanding the complexities of each option is difficult and makes deciding what course to follow more of a challenge. One popular choice is the A Beka home school which has developed by the Pensacola Christian College in Florida.

The Home Schooling A Beka is Christian based with the aim of educating children in the values of the faith. It is very comprehensive in nature and very highly structured and is best for families who want the home schooling to be done around a formally structured framework. There are three different program options available.

1. The A Beka Academy DVD program is a set of workbooks and accompanying DVDs that contain class room lectures that, as in regular classroom lectures, expand and clarify the material contained in the workbooks. This Program offers two options. This Program is completely accredited and is aimed at preparing students for college all work done by the student is sent to A Beka which maintains all records of a students work for purposes of grading, certification etc. The other option offers the same material but in this case all records are kept by the parents and it is a non accredited program. Since A Beka is not involved in record keeping, the second option costs less.
2. The A Beka Academy Traditional Parent-Directed option is the same, but minus the DVDs. This is also a college preparatory program that is wholly accredited and that replaces the DVDs with detailed guides that explain to the parents how approach the syllabus. This allows more flexibility to the parents in how they approach various subjects. The parents send in all the work done by the children to A Beka who does the grading and also issues report cards – that are quite like a regular school, only everything happens from the home. The program operates on an academic year basis and parents are provided with regular updates on the children’s progress.
3. The Text Books and Materials for Home Schooling provides only the curriculum and A Beka has no further role to play. All records are kept by the parents who evaluate the children’s performance and progress and since there is no academic year, parents can allow the children to learn at a pace that meets their individual requirements. Parents are free to order just parts of the program covering specific subject and combine what A Beka provides with other curricula from other sources.

If you are looking for a Christian based way of education, the A Beka Home School program offers a well structured program that creates a strong foundation in subjects like reading, writing and mathematics and sets highs standards for children to meet through their schooling years. Although the A Beka system is more expensive that many other Christian home school programs, its popularity attests the standards it sets.

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The benefits of home schooling are today well known. Among the foremost of them is being able to allow your children to learn not just at their own pace, but also focus on the subjects that will help them met their life goals. The classical home school is one such option. The classical home school is a secular method of instruction and should not be confused with the Classical Christian home school which a religious based system of teaching.

What we call the “classical” education began in Europe in the Middle Ages and produced some to the greatest minds in history. Classical education is dedicated to the idea that the aim of education is to provide children the tools they need to learn for themselves. This system is divided up into five tools of learning, called the Trivium, which are reason, record, research, relate and rhetoric. These tools are used in four specific stages in the education of a child. Children begin at the preparatory stage where they learn reading, writing and basic maths. The next stage is the grammar stage where composition and the basics of conveying ideas, along with more advances maths and other subjects like science, history and geography are taught. The third stage is the dialectic stage where all these subjects are studied in more detail and students are encouraged to question ideas and concepts. The fourth and final stage of the classical education is the rhetoric stage where the main focus in on communications and children are encouraged to express their understandings, beliefs and doubts.

This process can be easily and effectively incorporated into home education, making it a classical home school. The classical home school follows the same pattern with the idea not of teaching children everything they need to know but of creating an enquiring intellect that understand the value of knowledge and how to acquire it. This is an attitude of mind that stays with the adult, long after the memories of school have faded.

The classical home education is meant for parents who are willing to step outside the ordinary and look at educating their children in terms of their ability to use a systematic thought process to understand issues and a creative approach to resolve them, rather than focusing on grades and marks.

The question often asked of the Home Schooling Classical system is what is the need for children to study ancient languages like Latin and Greek or other such subject that are seemingly irrelevant in the modern world. The answer is that they do not need to, unless their bent of mind takes them that way. Classical home schooling is not bound by the subjects of the past. It is the concepts of learning and the ability to think independently that define a classical education.

For whom is the Home Schooling Classical best suited? It is for those parents who want their children to have a wide perspective of the world they live in and understand that what is around them today is not the result of a few hundred years of progress and invention but is just a stage in the development of mankind. This kind of understanding will give children educated in a classical home school a sense of their place in the complex modern world and with this understanding, be able maximize their own potential.

Classical Home Schooling is not the best option for everyone. It does not guarantee success in life. But for parents who want to encourage individuality and the creative process in their children, it is one worth considering.

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Among the Catholic Home School programs, the SHome Schooling Seaton stand out as being one of the most popular. It is also one of the most controversial, being steeped in church dogma. While it is for parents to sort out this contentious issue and decide whether the Seton home school is right for them, it is acknowledged that this program is effective in promoting Catholic values not just among the children who study within this system, but in the family as a whole.

Seaton Home School is a concept promoted by Dr. Anne Carroll. She founded a regular middle school that became popular both for its religious teaching and the academic results it produced. As its fame grew, so did the demand for admissions, which was beyond the school’s capacity. Although branches were set up, the demand could still not be met. Also, as the schools were quite expensive, there was a demand for education that was more affordable but which still imparted the same values and offered the same high standards. The outcome was the Seaton home school program, which Dr. Carroll promoted in 1980 and which has steadily grown in popularity.

The Seaton home school philosophy is that the parents are not just the primary care givers but also the primary educators of their children. The curriculum is based on the thoughts of the Magisterium or the official teaching authority of the Catholic Church. The idea is to provide the children and their families with a form of education based exclusively on the Catholic dogma and it either excludes or militates against that which is not acceptable to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Within these parameters, the standards are quite high and match and often exceed the standards of regular schools, both Catholic and non denominational. It has been found to be extremely effective in its college preparatory syllabus. The curriculum requires a great deal of parent participation as the religious aspect of the teachings, which begins from a very young age, requires that parents are involved, not just as mentors and guides but as living examples of these values propagated. Seton home school believes that without this the fundamental concept of home and family values cannot be successfully inculcated in the children’s minds.

An example of this is the reading texts that are part of the syllabus. The family is portrayed and a large one, based on the traditional concepts with both a mother and father present, frequently visiting grandparents and joy at the arrival of a new child, irrespective of the size and financial means of the family. Single parent families (other than in the case of widows and widowers) are rarely if ever mentioned and when they are, are treated as aberrations.

Family life as portrayed in the syllabus revolves around prayer and church attendance and contains many references to Jesus and the Saints.

While the fundamentalist approach to the Catholic religion has caused controversy, even among some Catholic families who feel that it is out of step with modern times, the parents who do use the Seton home school programs are happy with the values it promotes and the academic results it achieves.

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While many people think that home schooling is a new phenomenon, it has been around since the founding of this country. The only form of education the first settlers could give their children was home education and the only educational material available was often the Bible. The Bible was used not just a religious text but as a tool for teaching reading and writing. Along with this children leaned the practical necessities and values of life from their families and the acquired wisdom of their communities. Thus came into being the Christian home school.

It was only in 1852 that Massachusetts first mandated compulsory schooling for all children. While the law was good in theory, in practice many children from outlying areas were to far from schools to be able to attend schools and education in the house continued. Things slowly changed and by 1918 every state had its own laws on the compulsory education of children. With the spread of schools, formal education became a reality and by the middle of the 20th century, education provided by the school system was accepted as the norm. By the 1960s however, parents began to have doubts about the standard of formal school education, the values it taught and the harmful influences their children were being exposed to. Looking for an alternative, people started educating their children at home and today home schooling is legal in all 50 states and an estimated 2 million children are being homeschooled today. Among the various options for home schooling available today is the Christian home school.

There are no hard and fast rules in regard to what constitutes a Home Schooling Christian. Some families create the formal school environment at home with a room reserved as a class room, fixed study times, recesses and even home work for the children to do on their own. Others integrate schooling into their Christian life style and place less emphasis on a formal education environment and more on the teaching of life skills and values through example and the active participation of their children.

A search of the internet will reveal a variety of Home School Christian programs that parents can adopt. All these are designed around the idea that an important part of education is providing children with a strong foundation of Christian values, ethics and morals. But it is not necessary to use these programs in a Christian home school. Many parents use non religion based home school programs and add their own religious teaching to these. That’s the advantage of home schooling – the curriculum can be adjusted (within the applicable state laws) to provide the kind of education that parents want their children to have.

The basis of a Christian home school is that Christian values are passed on to the children, either in a formal structure manner of a specific program or in a way and by using methods that parents feel are more suitable for their families.

There is no right or wrong way to create a Christian Home Schooling. As long as part of the education encompasses teaching the children the Christian values that the parents believe in, the home school becomes a Christian home school.

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Many Catholic parents are uncomfortable with the current school education system. Besides the approach to various subjects with may be contrary to their religious beliefs, many parents feel that the actual importance of religion in life is undervalued. This may even happen at Catholic school where the pressure to produce academic results often forces religious teaching to take second place. One option that parents with these misgiving have before them is the Catholic home school.

Besides the other acknowledged benefits of home school – no long bus rides, learning at the child’s own pace, focus on areas that parents deem important keeping the child’s life goals in mind, Catholic hole school provides 3 more – the opportunity to teach religious values as desired by the parents, keeping their children away from subjects like sex education and birth control and protecting them from undesirable external influences.

There are e few things to keep in mind when setting up a Home Schooling Catholic:

· There are a variety of Catholic Home School curricula available. Research them and find one that suits your family. Some are accredited programs that require the students to submit their work regularly and receives grades along with regular report cards and progress reports. These are usually structured around an academic year and require the student to stick to a daily schedule of study. The other option is where lesson plans and course material is provided and it is left to the parents to teach the children at their own pace and their own times. These allow the parents flexibility in their teaching procedure but keep challenging the students. This type of Catholic home school program is better for parents who want to design their own religious teachings with their own focus.
· Once you have shortlisted a few options, contact them for more information – most will have catalogs and information packs available for sale. This is money well spent as it will help you refine your choice.
· Visit home school fairs if possible and spend time with the Catholic Home Schooling representatives. Do not hesitate to ask as many questions as you want. Your child’s education is not something you can take lightly.
· There are consultancy services available that will help you to choose the right kind of Catholic home school for your children.
· If you want, you can even design your own Catholic home school curriculum. There are books and other resources available on the internet that will help you in doing this. A word of caution – please check your state home schooling laws to ensure that whatever you do in compatible with them.

A Catholic home school will also protect your children from peer and other external influences to indulge in sex, drugs, alcohol and other vices or inappropriate behavior. While this is one of the main reasons for parents deciding to go in for a Catholic home school, care should be taken to ensure that the children are also given enough opportunity to socialize with others of their age group. Parents often tend to over look that fact that later on in life the children will be exposed to much that is negative in life. While a Catholic home school will give them the fundamental to withstand this pressure, it should not come as a sudden assault on their sensibilities. A gradual conditioning to external influences, both positive and negative, it the best solution for children educated in a Catholic home school.

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The majority of parents who opt for Home Schooling do so because of either their dissatisfaction with the way education is imparted in regular schools, the unpalatable influences a child is subject to or because of their children’s special needs. There are a vast variety of home school programs available for parents to choose from. Most are based on specific religious principles – Christian (and more specifically Catholic), Jewish and other faiths.

But there are a growing number of parents who want to give their children a secular education away from all religious dogma and are looking at the secular home school option. This does not necessarily mean that they do not subscribe to religious beliefs. They may just feel that religion and education are separate issues and that they will educate their children about religion away from the schooling process.

While there are a number of non religious or secular home school programs available, the problem with them is that since they are not bound by any specific religious codes of conduct, the material that comprises the programs may often be controversial and possibly objectionable. Also because of their open approach to education many of these secular home schooling programs are very loosely structured. While home schooling is all about allowing the parents to educate children in their own way and at their own pace, many families find that a structured program works as a guide and signpost that allows them to better evaluate their children’s progress.

Secular Home School is popular even among those with strong religious beliefs. These people often feel that while religion is a dominant factor in their lives, allowing it to influence their children’s education may affect them in the pursuit of their life goals. For example, a Catholic family will not accept the theory if evolution or any form of Darwinism, but feel that their children should be exposed to this school of thought and to other such issues. The children need not subscribe to these views but they will be better off by having an unbiased appreciation of contrary viewpoints.

Although Home Schooling Secular programs like the Calvert home school are growing in popularity, families going in for secular home schooling are still in the minority in this country and face the problems of all minorities - lack of support because of a limited number of support groups and other institutions and prejudice from the majority of home school parents who use religion based education.

There are some things parents opting for a secular home school need to keep in mind to ensure that their children get the best possible education. Since there are no fixed parameters for what may be conveyed to children in a secular home school program, parents need to go through all the course material themselves or get advice from like minded parents, on what matter should or should not be used. Those opting for internet based home schooling should monitor what is being taught in the internet classes. The same applies to home school DVDs which may contain concepts that parents are uncomfortable with.
Having said this, secular home schooling is achieving greater acceptance as the most progressive form of home education and one that perhaps best equips children for adult life. The best secular home school programs are designed to allow parents to teach their children about religion, either as part of the syllabus or in a separate context, with affecting the basic integrity of the secular home school.

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The advent of the internet has brought about a revolution in the way homes schooling is conducted. The main advantages of home schooling online are:

· Children who are Home Schooling online are given access to a huge amount of resources and support material they would not otherwise have.
· Home schooling online teaching modules can supplement the efforts of the parent, especially in academic areas where the parent herself may lack competence.
· Children are exposed to other teaching personalities, concepts and philosophies. This will provide them with better perceptions and multiple viewpoints that one parent teach in one environment will not be able to provide.
· In home schooling online, the online classes are conducted at a fixed time which forces time discipline on both the student and parent. Home schooling may at times be affected by irregular schedules due to the parent’s need to juggle both the schoolwork and domestic duties.
· With regular home schooling, evaluation of work is done by the parent who may be both subjective and perhaps over sympathetic to reasons for poor performance (domestic issues). This will not be the case with home schooling online where the teachers will evaluate work purely on it own merits. This is better for the child who will not find the levels of sympathy a parent may have when he or she enters the job market or college.

This does not mean that Home School Online is a perfect combination of regular and home schooling. There are disadvantages which the parents must recognize before contemplating going in for home schooling online.

· Online school standards vary. Make sure that the one you opt for has the right credentials and reputation.
· On line schools have different teaching methods and philosophies. Parents need to ensure that the online school they choose matches their own concepts and ideas, failing which the children will become confused by the different approaches to the same subject.
· Home schooling online does not mean that the parents can take a hands off approach to the children’s’ studies. What the child does while online has to be monitored – it is easy to be lured into gaming or chatting or other distractions.
· Online schools suffer from the same major disadvantage that regular schools do – the pace of learning is fixed and will not take into account individual difficulties.
· Home School Online requires inputs and supports from the parents. Make sure that the inputs an online school requires of you are those you are both comfortable with and in a position to provide.

Home schooling online provides a more varied learning experience than a parent can provide at home. It brings the elements of external interaction and time bound study into a home school environment. But before parents decide to try it, they must understand the reasons why they have decided on home schooling in the first place. If it is because the child has special problems that would have made going to a regular school either difficult or down right impossible, bringing these elements into the home via home schooling online may defeat the very purpose of the home school.

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Home schooling has a growing number of supporters, but it would be unwise to ignore the many home school disadvantages, not just of the children but also for the parents.

Home School requires a lot of sacrifice on the part of the parents in physical, financial and emotional and social terms. Parents have to devote time to learning the matter they will be teaching, teach it, organize future schedules, arrange for field trips and other outside activities and then arrange for some social inter action for their children with their peers. That’s a full day job.

Another of the many Home Schooling DisAdvantages is the cost when the expense of all the inputs required for home schooling are weighed against that of sending a child to a public school. Additionally one parent may have given up a lucrative job to stay at home and this loss of income should be treated as an expense, especially for families that were used to a double income.

Home schooling means that parents are constantly with their children and have not time to themselves which can be emotionally demanding and may cause emotional traumas in the family.

Another of the many home school disadvantages is that parents’ social circles are often made up of their children’s’ friends parents. Home school parents are cut off from this and, especially if there are no support groups available, get trapped into an inward looking lifestyle.

There are many home school disadvantages for the children, the chief among them being limited or no opportunities to develop social skills. Home schooled children are often awkward in social situations and have limited opportunities for making friends. Even when the opportunities come their way, they often have little in common with the majority of children who attend regular schools and so have nothing to talk about or activities they can indulge in together. Many communities have home school support groups but these are artificial social units and the children associate only with families with the same values and beliefs. They are deprived of the opportunity to meet with children of varied backgrounds and beliefs. While such interactions may sometimes be painful and lead to arguments and fights, it is an essential part of the growing up process that enables a child to be able to function in a varied and culturally complex society.

One of the home school disadvantages that many home schooling parents also recognize is that their children cannot take part in extra curricular activities and sports. Things like debating, dramatics, camping, school excursions and sports are important to developing a child’s character and self confidence.

Sports are not just about physical exercise but about understanding and working with a team. Home school parents often feel that their family is a team and if their children can work with this team they are fine. What they overlook is that the family is a team with strong emotional bonds. What the children are being deprived of is the ability to learn how to function in a team where people will have different priorities, attitudes and goals.

Home School Disadvantages for children are not in the quality of the education they receive, but in their social development and ability to function effectively in a complex society.

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With all the advances in education and teaching methods over the last hundred years, are there really any good reasons why children should not be sent to school but be taught at home? Are there any Home School advantages? After all home schooling is as old as mankind – till a few hundred years ago most children never went to school and learned everything they needed from their parent at home. Is there a sound reason why some parents should choose the turn their backs on the modern system of education and stick with something that has been around for thousands of years? The answer is first that parent who choose home school for their children are not turning their backs on modern education, they are simply choosing to impart it in their own way and secondly, that home schooling today has little relation with the informal home education given in the past.

Even the best of teachers are limited by the size of the classes they teach. They have to work to the average requirements of the children and do not have the time to focus on the special needs of each child. Parents understand their children and their special requirements and so are able to tailor the teaching they do so to the child is able to perform to his or her best.

School curricula does offer choices in the subjects student takes but these are limited and based on popular demand. One of the many Advantages for Home School is that parents can focus on the specific talents of their children and provide them education to develop their special skills, some thing that a school cannot do for one or two children. Additionally, there are important life skills that are best taught by active participation, such as shopping for healthy foods or home repair that schools cannot provide but which can be learned home.

Much of the time spent in school is not on learning, but in waiting. Children sit in the bus, sometimes for hours to get to and from school. In school itself they wait for a teacher to finish a subject they have already completed, wait for other students to finish their work, wait for lunch and wait in lines for just about everything. Among the other home school advantages is the fact that children educated at home do not have to waste time in this manner and even while working at their own pace, can finish a day’s worth of study in about half the time it takes in a normal school environment. This gives them time to other things that may not be part of a school curriculum but are still import for their futures.

Many people regard the extended time a family spends together as the most important of all Home School Advantages. The more time a family spends together, the strong are the bonds that develop. These bonds and the greater influence that the parents exert make it easier for the children to absorb the values the parent hold important and reduces the chance of negative peer pressure having a harmful influence on them.

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Parents opt for Home School because they believe that this will offer their children a better education than that which they would receive in a regular school. It is most unlikely that parents would opt for home schooling as a means of saving money, although the presumption that it will be cheaper than a regular school is something that enters the minds of most parents. Unfortunately, this is a wrong assumption. If there is a savings on the cost of education a child by opting for home schooling, it will be minor.

Giving your child the best education at home means high home schooling costs. Top quality education needs top quality equipment – up to date text books and course material, a library, computers and accessories, lighting, special furniture etc. Remember you are buying at retail what a school buy much cheaper in bulk.

One factor often over looked is not the additional direct expense but the loss of income that should be added to home schooling costs. One parent, usually the mother, will stay at home to teach the children. One the assumption that she has a level of education that makes her competent to teach the children, she could have been working and bringing money home. As an example look at a parent who has a college degree but stays at home to teach. What could the earnings from a job have been? A good amount.

Also there will be areas which the parents can’t cover, like perhaps physics or chemistry. Getting a tutor for these subjects can be very expensive.

However, this does not mean that Home Schooling Costs need be unreasonable. The size of the family is an important consideration. If material can be reused for younger children, the costs drop substantially. Home school support groups often circulate and reuse material. Online discount home school suppliers are another cost effective option, as are buying used books, if you are sure of what you are getting.

Membership to public libraries, and taking children to reduced price shows (home schoolers can easily go for weekday matinees) at theatres, operas and ballets are another money saving option.

Money that would have been spent on tutors, as mentioned above, can sometimes be saved by a barter system. For instance, the mother of a 9 year old may teach anther child English along with hers. In return the other child’s parent will teach both the children maths.

While home schooling is not about saving money, Costs for Home School should be taken into account before a decision to go ahead is taken. And remember , the costs are only in material terms. When you are able to decide what your child should be taught, when he or she should learn it, how they will learn and are able to focus the home school experience on building a better life for your child than he or she could have received from a regular school education, you are profiting in ways that cannot be measured in money terms.

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