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Starting Home Education The first days and weeks of home education can be scary as you are just starting out. Knowing what types of materials are available, knowing how to manage your time with your child, and how to deal with the public school system and meeting the legal requirements in your state can all be overwhelming, and taken together with an ill child can even send a parent into shock and inaction!. Lets take these issues one at a time and address them. Knowledge is power. Below you will find my personal recommendations based on my experiences and observations of other home education families. Your mileage may vary. Materials for teaching The curricula options are endless, which is fortunate, since each child and each family will have different needs and desires which will change over time. Most home educators obsess about finding the right materials and have a difficult time making choices among the many possibilities. An interesting article on this subject is Curriculum Dependent No More by Cyndy Sherer. After they have chosen a program, parents usually find that what they have doesn't fit their needs as well as they thought it would, but since they paid for it they feel they must "finish the book". Public schools almost never "finish the book" and what's the point of trying to finish something that isn't working? My strong encouragement is that if what you are doing isn't working after reasonable effort, CHANGE IT! It is not necessary to use materials according to the publisher's directions if that is not what works for your family. If materials are not working for you find something else and try that instead. For this reason I find expensive programs that you haven't tried before are usually a waste of time and money. There are so many inexpensive or free resources it is better to dabble a bit in different styles until you get a feel for what will work for your family. My personal favorites can be found on the following pages:
Managing your time with your child First thing you need to do when deciding how to manage your time is to decide if you want to replicate the public or private school experience. In this case you will need a schedule, alarm clocks, desks for each child, and a series of books and materials for each subject. You will need detailed lessons plans for the school year and most likely need rewards and consequences for when your child does not keep to the schedule. Although this works for some people, this is not what I recommend from my experience and observations. You can get more information on the "how tos" of home education on our home education methods page. One of the benefits of home education is the freedom to educate when the child is most able to absorb the information and lessons. Many children with Bipolar have difficulties waking in the morning and going to sleep at night. While the school bell may ring at 8 o'clock, it may be most conducive to learning for your child to sleep until 9AM or even later and not start book work until 11. For some children breaking up the school time into hour blocks may be most helpful. These children might do math right after breakfast, watch a show on the history channel for an hour, go outside and play basketball for another hour, eat lunch, dictate a story that the parent transcribes, and do reading snuggled up with their parent right before bed, taking turns reading paragraphs to get through a chapter book. The point is to make the learning time when your child is most awake, aware and able to process the information. Stress can trigger Bipolar episodes, so reducing stress should be a priority. Home education is a lifestyle, not something you do from 8 to 4 Monday through Friday. In general, most children, especially Bipolar children find that short lessons are better absorbed and reduce the frustration factor. Another challenge is getting other household chores done. Grocery shopping can be a wonderful way to make the lessons real for your children. Learning to cook, clean, and fold laundry are all life skills they need to learn to be successful adults. Don't pass by those opportunities thinking it is easier to just do it yourself. Most importantly, find ways for you as a parent and educator to get the rest and time away that you need. Home educating a bipolar child is a tremendous challenge. Make sure you get the rest you need to do the job right. See our article on Caregiver Stress for more information. Dealing with the school system and meeting the legal requirements I have found the best way to know how to approach the local school system and be sure you are meeting the requirements for your state is to find a local home school support group and get their advice. Some groups have requirements for membership and they may not fit for your family, but many are willing to share their knowledge of the local conditions or point you to a group that may fit better for your family. Occasionally you may encounter a group that is intolerant of your methods or the manifestations of your child's illness. Please don't let this discourage you. We can only educate others to the truth behind brain disorders if we are willing to be open and honest with them. Some people are not willing to accept the situation we find ourselves in, and in these cases it is better to move on than argue. While I have enjoyed contact with local home educators, I have found the best support and information online. With time and education, perhaps you will not find yourself so limited. Below you will find resources to help you find out about your state laws and local support groups.
Education is not the filling of a
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