If you home school your children, which subjects do you teach them?

Question

how many children do you teach?

how many hours a day do you teach?

does the state provide the tests?

are your teaching methods directed toward training them for a specific career?

Answer 1

I have two children that are very young (almost 2 and almost 5).  I  only do 30 minutes of sit-down work with the almost 5-year-old, and I only plan to focus on math and reading/vocabulary until she is ten.  We do read aloud every day, but any other learning will be led by her interests or learning opportunities that occur naturally.  At age 10 I plan to add formal grammar and science, and at age 12 we'll add formal social studies/history gradually increasing the amount of time we spend doing organized work each day.  I don't want to do more than three hours a day before high school.

Our state doesn't require testing, but I eventually plan to test just so they can learn how to take standardized tests.  We don't teach towards a specific career.  I homeschool so they can have more time to see where their interests lead and if that coincides with a career path.  We do plan to prepare for college, though.

Answer 2

I homeschooled my daughter for awhile when she had social anxiety. I had her learn the average stuff but increased her arts and cultural education. It did her a world of good that she still benefits from!

Answer 3

I have always taught---

the branches of education taught to children of corresponding age and grade in public school including:

Language Arts

Mathematics

Physical and Biological Science

Social Science

Fine Arts

In fact on my logs and records those are the exact subjects listed because that is what the law says, and I fit what we do into one of them. Bible reading goes under Language Arts as literature. Walking the dogs is Physical Education. Cooking,sewing, etc. goes under fine arts.  We also do textbook work too, but I always fit it under one of those subjects just be safe from a nasty superintendent trying to boss us around.

And yes I tried to teach each child what they would want to do with their lives.  My oldest son loved medical things.  So we did lots of research on different animal medical issues.  He did a big research project on BSE (mad cow disease) that allowed him to talk to people very experienced with that (back in the 90s) when it was first publicized.  My second son loved carpentry, so we let him work on lots of projects with his hands.  My third son loved computer programming.  That was listed under math in our log.  He also created lots of software that he put out as freeware or shareware. A couple of the boys also were very musical, so we did a lot of that, playing at nursing homes and churches. My daughter is mommy/wife material.  She isn't interested in Math or Writing so much, but loves children.  We study alot about child development, nutrition, housekeeping, finances and things a Mom needs to know.  And you can fit all those topics under different subjects.  Research can always go under Language Arts.  Finances are math. Nutrition is health, etc.

I do test over material covered in textbooks we use.  But we just go over it and correct any errors.  We make sure they know what they need to know to live in society.  

Now we send our kids to college when they are still homeschooling.  It allows them to earn some credit hours before they reach college age. My three boys are adults now, but my daughter just finished a class this summer at a jr college.

Answer 4

Our children cover all the needed academics over time, some go further in certain subjects than others, and they will add specific classes to their list that are career specific when they are ready.

Often these will be taken at a coop, or community college when they are finishing up their high school program, or through local programs that may offer practical experience in that field.

We have no set hours, or days that we teach, home schooling is much more than simply sitting down, and doing "school work", it is a way of life.

Learning happens through many media, and other daily experiences; these do not always happen at scheduled time, but rather in the moment.

Our schedules give us the flexibility to not have to pass up a good opportunity for them to learn something when that chance comes along.

Home schooling cannot be compared with the conventional method of schooling, there is very little, other than maybe the basic academics that would be the same.

Home schooling tailors the educational experience to the individual, with one on one instruction, it's goal being to have the students become self motivated, and independent in their studies, with the parents role reduced to the level of an adviser rather than the director.

Our state does not require yearly testing.

Testing is really not an accurate picture of any child's abilities, and measures little that is of real consequence.

Each child may not be on the same level at the same time, this does not however imply they are learning disabled, or gifted, only that they may need more time.

At the ages of 10 to 12 most will have caught up with each other and are pretty much on the same level, some just arrive a bit faster than others, but they do level out.

We see what they are capable of doing, and if they need more practice we provide both the time, and opportunity to do so.

We do not grade, give report cards, or assign grade levels either.

They can work on multiple levels at the same time depending on the subject area.

Come college they can take a placement test, and the SAT/ACT; that's all they need.

We do not feel the need to compare our children with anyone else during their formative years, it is more important for them to learn to trust their own abilities, and not feel that they need to measure up to artificial standards set by someone who has no clue who they are, and what their talents are.

See 2 Corinthians 10:12

Oh do not worry; we wouldn't dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are, but they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as a standard of measurement. How ignorant!

(Bible NLT).

Answer 5

unschooling isn't divided into subjects, but we cover art, language arts (reading, spelling, grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, writing, penmanship, and later foreign languages, literature and poetry, persuasive writing, composition, creative writing) social studies (history, geography, government, community, economy) math, science, music, art, and health

one, for the time being

short structured sit down sessions (he's only four), but learning isn't something confined by watching a clock, it happens all day

my future state mandates yearly testing, unfortunately

no, nor will they be in the future, although course of study will be geared toward his interest

Answer 6

My children cover language arts, math, science, social studies, phys. ed, art, music, health and foreign language. Except for the foreign language, we are required to cover the other subjects where I live in Canada.

I have two children.

We have our main work time from roughly 8:30 to 11:30, but I don't necessarily 'teach' them during that time. It's the main academic work time is all. They may or may not need me to show them something or help with something. Other than that, other learning happens at other times of the day, including evenings and weekends.

"The tests". Which tests? If you mean general subjects tests, that's up to the parents. If you mean some sort of year-end standardized assessment, depends on where you live. Some places don't even require testing.

No, I'm not trying to train my kids for a specific career. I don't know a single person who is. They'll decide upon their careers when they are able. My job is to provide them with a well-rounded education so that they have a fair understanding of the world, know how to live in it, know how to think and learn.

Answer 7

I teach grammar, lit, spelling, writing, math, science, history, geography, current events, logic, art, P.E, Bible, Bible memory, & Spanish.

I have 2 kids, grades 8 & 9.

We average probably 3.5 hrs/day for the older one and 4 hrs/day for the younger, but we have lots of time off so it's honestly hard to tell you hours.

My kids take the Iowa Test every 2 years; I pay for it myself. It is about $40.

My teaching methods are not directed towards training them for a specific career, although we are trying to leave space for an advance science course or two their senior years, if they still want to be an engineer and a pharmacist.

Answer 8

2

4 to 6 (without recess, just lunch break, also depends upon the subject and how badly they want to get it done.)

State does not and even so, the state doesn't want anything to do with home schooling parents.)

No specific career.

Subjects we teach: Automotive, U.S. History, world history, Chinese philosophy, math, english. spelling, geology, geography, home-economics, biology, pre-history, social studies, social sciences, science and the universe.

Answer 9

I make sure my 2 boys cover English (grammar, writing, phonics/spelling/vocabulary, and literature), Bible, and Math everyday.  We usually do some type of science experiment every week (usually on our 1/2 day).  I make sure we include at least 2 books each in science and history every week (this is done during our reading time).  We have (in the past) included a foreign language, but we're not doing that right now.  This usually takes 3-4 hours, depending on how motivated they are (if I say we're going to the pool after school, they can be done in about 2 hours).

We generally have classical music playing while we work (we pick one composer each month and try to fit in some biographies during reading time, too).  The boys have music lessons and/or sports teams/lessons most weeks, as well.

Our states doesn't require any standardized testing, but we do it anyway, as a measure of where we are lacking, what we need to spend more time on.

When one of my children shows an interest in a particular "career", I try to find ways for them to test it out.  For example, when my older son was interested in becoming a chef, I looked for cooking classes at the local culinary academy.  However, I am NOT trying to guide them into a particular field.  I want them to have a broad exposure to what's out there so when it comes time to specialize (late high school or college), they will (hopefully) already know what they want to do.

Answer 10

I homeschool my only child, a 9.5yo in 5th grade.  He is one of those "always-going" kids and would go into the wee hours if I let him :-), most days we school about 6-8 hours.  This isn't hard and fast, but it's our average.  If he's really tired one day, we may do 3-4; I think his record (completed during the non-sleeping phase of a growth spurt) was 12 or so.

We currently cover: Bible, Language Arts (spelling, reading, writing, grammar, copywork, dictation), Math, Science, History, Geography (both physical and cultural), Spanish, Greek, Art History, P.E., and we also do various unit studies each month.  These are on things that he's interested in but don't really "fit" with our specific curriculum, like a geography or science fair, a lit study, or researching an interest.  (He's also had a couple years of Latin.)

He also participates actively in Scouts, AWANA, and various programs (leadership development, plays, etc.) at church.

Our state doesn't require testing, so I've chosen not to as of now; his scope and sequence is so different from the public schools where I live that it wouldn't really be testing his knowledge anyway.  I have specific goals and benchmarks for him, and since I work with him one-on-one several hours per day, I know exactly what he can and can't do.  His assignments include various projects that make him deal with the information, and I can easily tell by what he does on them and by our conversations whether or not he understands.  That said, I will begin testing him by the end of 7th grade (at the latest, perhaps the end of 6th) to prepare him for his ACT/SAT/CLEP/AP testing.

My teaching methods are somewhat prepared toward specific training, but only being 5th grade, he still has plenty of time to figure out exactly what he wants to do.  He knows he wants to be a scientist of some sort - he's wanted to do that since he was 3, and nothing's changed - so his curriculum is heavy in science.  It's likely that he'll be working with people of various backgrounds, ethnicities, and beliefs, so I integrate history and geography fairly heavily as well.  He'll be most able to work with people if he is able to really understand their viewpoint, and he'll be able to communicate with them more effectively working from the viewpoint.

Other than that, my teaching methods are largely directed toward his needs.  My goal is to train both his character and his academics, and since I can fully tailor his curriculum, I take every opportunity to do so.

Hope that helps!