Homeschooling success means a lot of different things. While one part of that is academics and teaching, the other part is making certain that you’re doing what you can to prepare your homeschooled child for the real world. When it comes down to it, it’s a lot of responsibility to handle.
Homeschooling comes with a stigma that homeschooled children are, well, different, odd, and somehow out of place in the real world. Do they have what it takes to navigate the outside world on their own? How can you ensure that your children are ready for the real world but still homeschool them?
The good news? There are things that you can do to help prepare your child for the future while ensuring their homeschooling success.
How to prepare your homeschooled children for the real world
Homeschooling your children is a choice you made to provide them with the best education possible. The reasons for homeschooling vary from family to family and from child to child, but each homeschooling parent will probably tell you that it was the best choice for their children.
Here are some quick tips on how to prepare your homeschooled children for the real world.
-
Provide regular, extended extracurricular opportunities for your children.
Sign them up for karate, gymnastics, music class, or art class through your local co-op or another extracurricular service provider. Make sure the class has other students in it as well. Private classes are important at times, yes, but one of the main points of putting your children in an actual class for a couple of hours a week or more is to ensure that they learn how to cope in a structured environment.
-
Ensure that your children get some socialization.
Schedule play dates with cousins or other kids in your co-op. Make it a regular date. Learning social skills like sharing, voicing hurt, apologizing, forgiving, and cooperation are best learned in environments where kids are in a situation in which they can work their problems out together.
-
Expose your child to real-world situations as often as possible.
In your state, your child may have to take a standardized test periodically, for example, to ensure he is making adequate academic progress. Make your child take practice tests to get ready for this exam. Take your child with you to work so she can see what goes on in an adult work environment.
Have your children do chores around the house to get used to daily tasks. Open a savings account with your child, and help her deposit her earnings from doing chores periodically.
Remember that your classroom goes beyond the walls of your house. Prepare your children for the real world by bringing them into it as often as possible. Have them practice how to live in it long before they are adults and they will be able to navigate the outside world on their own.
And keep in mind that homeschooling success varies for each family. What one family is searching for in terms of outcome just might be different than other families.
Are homeschooling students more successful?
This is going to vary on different outcomes and what you’re trying to measure. If your child goes on to become successful and socialized as you intended and hoped for, then it’s safe to say that you did a great job at preparing your homeschool child for the real world.
How do you measure homeschool success?
What do you do to help prepare your children for adult life? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! 🙂
