Homeschooling Parents: What is the most important things I should teach my son?

Question

My son is 12. Currently going to public school in 5th grade. He is a little emotionaly/socially delayed and I am planning on home schooling him next year.I do not fully believe that everything they need to know is what the schools teach. I want to raise him to be self sufficient, creative, succesful and to be able to run his own business + skills he can use to fall back on for income if he needs to.

The things I have down so far as important are:

Letter writing - business and personal with proper punctuation etc.

Typing - 40 wpm by the time he "graduates"

Computer skills: word, excel, photoshop,frontpage - the key and high use programs.

Spelling

Extended vocabulary words

Writing: articles and short stories

Accounting & money mgmt.

Time mgmt skills

Bookkeeping(?)

How to sell

How to market and advertise (My area)

I also want him to either learn from me or trade school: business Mgmt.

+ all the life stuff like cooking, shopping, cleaning etc

What else? Can you help add to the list?

Answer 1

Life skills (cooking, money management, household maintenance, growing your own veggies etc) although I personally reckon they're lessons that ALL parents should be teaching their kids, boys as well as girls, regardless of whether they homeschool or not!

Organisational skills.

You might also think about teaching him 'resource management' and, of course, sufficient maths to work out business ratios, ROCE etc.

Also I'd advise you to teach him study skills and make sure he knows how to research material and teach it to himself just in case, at some time in the next 50 years or so, he changes his mind about what he wants to do, or is forced to consider other careers as circumstances change.

My family has its own businesses and Dad always tells us that we'll never learn everything we need to know to successfully run them by ourselves, but we do need to learn enough to know when we'd need to call on outside specialist help...and we need to know enough about all aspects of the businesses so we can tell if that 'outside help' is trying to take us for a ride!

Answer 2

Grammar.

He'd be ready to start learning basic essays.

Don't neglect science, history, geography. Especially learning about people from the past--how they got going, how their determination got them where they got to, etc. It could be very inspirational to him. It doesn't matter if it's not part of hsi future career. Part of education is to be generally knowledgeable.

Math: You need to know at least some basic algebra to know how to get the formulas you need in Excel to do many business calculations. But there's no need to limit him to just the stuff you think right now he needs to know--he can go beyond that as everything he learns helps expand his general knowledge and his ability to think and learn.

Answer 3

Don't worry about what he should learn-- teach him how to learn.

If you're teaching him how to ask questions and seek answers, how to research and utilize tools at his disposal such as reference books or the internet, teaching him to think outside of the box and look at things from another perspective and exhaust options, you're doing fine.

It won't matter what you leave out because, when he needs it, he'll know how to find it.

Answer 4

1. To love learning

2. Not to fear failure

Answer 5

Your list looks very good, but I would do some "regular" subjects as well,

Math,

History,

writing,

science,

Also I would go to the library every week and get lots of literature and non fiction books for him to read, he can learn SO much this way. But you should let him pick is books, so he can pick things that look interesting to him, and you won't have to force him to read.

Answer 6

The best thing you could do in this situation is to let him start a business and learn from RUNNING it, instead of all the intangibles you are starting with. At the age of 12, he's not dependent on it for survival, so if he loses business because of a poor letter, or accounting, that will be a much better learning device than homework and grades that you're offering.

I think you should add some literature, history and current events, because well-rounded people generally feel more confident and have more opportunity to connect to others on different levels, which is better for business.

Bookkeeping is important and is a great way to fit in basic math, but I'd also do algebra, which broadens the mind in mathematics...it also will be beneficial in business, although many people naturally figure out the basics of that when saying "I have 120 customers, and I need x number of thneeds, and y amount of truffula trees"

What's *his* long-range goal? Does he want a degree from college for business or marketing? Because if so, he will need to learn minimum standards for basic subjects like science. Easily done, I assure you. Good luck.

Answer 7

Well as far as shopping, & Cooking you will have to spend more time with him as much as you can.  Cause he is almost a teenager.

With cleaning you can work with him and show him how to do it, BUT he will learn better if he can experience it himself. Believe me, I learned how to wash dishes with using my own experience. NOW I WASN'T PERFECT cause I broke dishes accidental when washing and I missed some spots and I had to rewash them.

As for cooking he is going to have go to a public school, he may learn how to read a cook book.

He is going to have go to a public school, cause they have a better way for kids to learn now days. So that he can learn how to Spell, Read, Do his math count money and tell time, He may need to learn his Social Studies, and his Science.

If you want him to have a good College education you are going to have to put your foot down ASAP.

You don't want him to start from Rock Bottom, cause it is so Rock Bottomie.  I'm afraid that's the place you're going to need to get to.

You are going to need to keep him in a public school.  Cause you have waisted half of his childhood life being Home Schooled, and he hasn't hardly learned a thing yet.  

Please keep him in a public school,  you will help him a lot more better.  And he will love you a lot more in the long run.  And he can meet more friends, and maybe get him a girlfriend.

I hope this helps.

Happy New Year

Answer 8

How successful do you expect him to be?

Answer 9

The most important things are curiosity and good literacy skills. By that I mean reading, writing, research and critical thinking skills.

I suspect he'll steer his own ship when it comes to business stuff, so help him find whatever info either you or he thinks he needs. This may be your (his) focus, but remember he is only 12 and should be experiencing a variety of subjects.

I personally think everyone should study nutrition. The "Healthy Food Pyramid" is not nearly sufficient. Biology is important. Skip the plant stuff if he isn't interested, but he should know how his body works. If he doesn't, he won't know what to do when it isn't. Psychology may be a good thing to include at some stage. Maybe in a few years time. That probably ties into your marketing and advertising studies though. Politics is important. Not now, but when he is approaching voting age. He ought to know who is who and what they stand for. He needs to know how to vote, so his vote will go where he wants it to go. If you are in the US, this year may be a good time to introduce the basics. It is a current issue, and therefore easy to show him the relevence. Perhaps he should study ethics? A businessman ought to have ethics. Encourage him to pick a few books from the library each week on completely random topics. He may discover a new hobby or area of interest. To be a successful business man, he will have to be able to relate to many types of people. He won't be able to do that without having a broad general knowledge. 12 is too early to specialise to the exclusion of everything else, as I'm sure you realise.

If he becomes resistant to delving into any other topics, you can always go back to reading bedtime stories. That way you can introduce all sorts of different ideas that he wouldn't find for himself. I read of a grade 6 teacher reading Les Miserables to her class. That's well beyond their reading level, but they loved hearing it. If he is really resistant, try reading the originals of movies and musicals you've watched together. Phantom of the Opera would probably appeal to a chap of his age. Historical novels are usually enjoyed too.

Hmm. How about linguistics? I studied a subject called "Cross Cultural Communication" at uni. That could be a handy thing to think about for a businessman.

Answer 10

recreational reading

Answer 11

you are obviously quite focused on business, which is fine but not my thing and don't forget that it may not be your son's either... but anyway, in addition i would find it important that he becomes aware of his role as a global citizen, both about relating to people from other places with other cultures, and caring for the environment. developing a sense of social responsibility is important. both of these relate closely to his future business sucess as well. dramatic play could help increase his confidence.

finally, at your son's age he is going to begin searching for his sense of self and place in the world. he needs to learn how to make sensible, balanced life decisions and be exposed to lots of options, such as the arts and using communications technologies. good luck, i am also homeschooling my family and i wish you well.

Answer 12

Starting late, aren't we.

My mother homeschooled in in touch typing at age 6, I was doing 45 WPM by age 8.  Got me an A in public school typing 1 in 8th grade!

You're list is pretty good.

Why don't the two of you figure out a home business, maybe an internet business or swap meets and let the kid run it and you audit and supervise.

Be neat if you could give the kid a home based business making $25K when he turns 18!

Answer 13

Ok, so you have your/his interests listed. The things you want to teach him .. so just go for it. You can focus his reading, writing, math, history, etc around what his interests are.

Answer 14

I do something similar with my 14yo son.

He works with me on our family owned business.

Here are some ideas:

- Apprenticeship work

- Join or start a Future Business Leaders of America chapter (they do allow homeschool groups to start / run a chapter)

- Junior Achievement

- Public speaking skills

- Creating and following a business plan

- Computer skills beyond office / secretarial: web development, graphics, programming

- Contact SCORE (SBA) which is a network of retired business executives that provide mentoring to new business entities for free.  I bet they'd be happy to spend a little time with your son.

Answer 15

It sounds to me like you have a very great plan. Focused education is wonderful when both the parent and child have an interest in the area. It also is what helps get into a great college!

One of the things I am seeing is that you are missing out on a few great things. Current events is one of them - any successful business man needs to know what is going on in the world and how to comment in a way to spark a conversation and not inflame people on politics.

Don't forget to help him learn how to write press releases, a business plan, and how to find financial aid for businesses.

You could also contact your local chamber of commerce and find out what is out there for small businesses. They may have some great info on things for you to teach him and you could get a field trip there.

I'd also contact your local librarian - many times they know great resources for homeschoolers!

Don't forget the basics like math and social studies. There are lots of great curriculums out there - I'd buy one for his grade level and supplement that with the focused path.

You could also work on finding other homeschool teens in your area (there may already be a support group - try searching yahoogroups).

We have an event that goes on here each year too where students have to write a business plan and run a business for a day. It gives them hand on experience that only life can.

GOOD LUCK to you!!!