how to talk to your students

There is a phenomenon that all public speakers encounter when they are addressing a crowd that if you thought about it very much, it would get to you. It is a phenomenon that any teacher who is trying to impart knowledge to a room full of students will experience as well. And if you think about it very much, it will get to you too. That phenomenon happens when you are talking along and you look out at those blank faces staring up at you and you realize that a few, some or maybe all of those minds behind those faces are paying absolutely no attention to you at all.



Whether or not that drives you crazy depends on whether you consider the act of teaching complete when you speak or when the student grasps and understands what you are saying. Very often when you see a teacher speaking you know that this teacher has absolutely no concern for whether the students are getting it or not. They do not consider it their job to make sure the students understand or interact with the material. They are a delivery vehicle and if they enunciate the lecture successfully, they have successfully "taught".



But just saying words into the air whether or not they are heard or understood really isn't teaching is it? Put it in the context of a chef. If you cook a wonderful meal that is delicious, prepare it with the finest of materials and present it with perfect ambiance, is it still a delightful meal if there is nobody at the table to appreciate it and nobody eats the meal? No, you are only a chef when the patron dines on your food and appreciates every nuance of the flavor and the experience of enjoying what you have done.



That distinction is what drives teachers crazy when they feel students are not listening. To a teacher who has a passion for the real act of teaching, their job is not done until the students grasp the material and interact with it, question it and finally grasp it and make that knowledge their own. A lecture not heard, not understood, not "taught" is not teaching at all, its just talking.



Preparing to become a teacher is about more than just knowing how to design a lesson plan and how to organize a class room and make a bulletin board. Becoming a teacher means you become one of those amazing people who can take students from uninformed to informed and from unenlightened to truly "taught". When it is your calling to become that kind of teacher to just talk at students with no knowledge of whether they know what you are saying at all is absolutely unacceptable.



This means that you will have to change your teaching style. It means that you won't be satisfied with just working through a lecture. In fact, it might spell the end of the lecture as a teaching device for you entirely. To really find out if those kids are listening and interacting with the material, you will have to change your approach to an interactive teaching style. You will have to start talking to students or with students and not AT them. But once you do that, the feed back you will get and the quality of your teaching will improve so dramatically, you will never want to go back.

how should a teacher get dressed

One of the keys of the business world is a book called Dress for Success. This book describes how to dress for the roll of a successful business person and that wardrobe will help you step into that role. In many ways the Dress for Success tells us that how we dress for work is somewhat our "costume" and that putting on that costume of a business professional, you naturally begin to play that role.



Most schools will have a dress code that you will have to abide by as a teacher much as they do for the students. That dress code assures that you will dress in a way that is not dangerous or districting or inappropriate to the job of teaching. And that dress code brings you in line with what the administration expects of the students. But aside from those general guidelines, there is a lot of leverage left to you in your dress so you can express your personality in the "costume" you wear to teach school.



The important thing to remember about the outfits you select is that they do send a message to the students. If you dress very formally, you are telling them to address you respectfully and that you are very much the adult here and they are not. Even if students don’t know they are getting your message, they are and even you don’t know you are sending a message, you are. So its a good idea to think about what message your outfits are sending and how you might customize your wardrobe so the students understand who you are and what your expectations are of them just from how you present yourself to them in class.



One big message to send with your costume is, "I am the teacher and you are the students here." This is not a message of superiority. It is a message of distance. First of all, be aware that this distance between you and the youth socially is necessary and must be part of your approach to your job if you want to be success long term. The classroom is no place for a midlife crisis. Even if you like dressing in a stylish or youthful way outside of class, in class dress like an adult and in a formal enough way that your clothing makes a clear demarcation between you and them.



This distinction actually makes your students feel more at ease with you. Students get uncomfortable when the adults over them try to blend in to youth culture too much and become "with it". Youth people like the authority figures in their lives to be clearly designated and for you to live up to your role as authority figure in your behavior, your language and your wardrobe. So dress for success by having your clothing say, I am the teacher and the students will respond in kind.



Your outfits also have to be practical. Sometimes teaching can become a physical event. You must be prepared to bend down to pick things up and to do some level of low key physical labor even with students in the classroom. This means no tight clothing that restricts your range of motion. It means no short skirts that has you worried about the hemline and your legs all day long and shoes that can keep you going for an entire day of very a very active teaching life.



Just as almost every profession has guidelines for how to dress, these hidden messages and quiet efficiencies you include in your wardrobe selection will go a long way toward making your teaching day successful and comfortable. When your wardrobe is right and you are dressing in the costume of a teacher, you will "become" a teacher and step into that role you were born to play.

do you know what do you want to teach

When a person introduces themselves to you as a teacher, the question that you invariably ask is "So what do you teach?" How the person answers that question can tell you a lot not only about how they feel about their calling as a teacher and how they feel about their students as well. Usually you get one of two answers. Either the answer is "Oh I teach the fifth grade" or "I teach Algebra". If the answer is a grade level, the teacher probably handles more than one topic. If the answer is a topic such as algebra, then the teacher is a specialist in that topic bringing that area of knowledge to any gathering of students who are assigned to his or her room.



If you are thinking about becoming a teacher, you might pose the question to yourself of, "So what do you want to teach?" Its a question that is loaded with meaning. Because how you answer that question may determine if you are a person who has a passion for a particular topic that is looking for an audience, any audience, to listen to it being taught or if you are a true teacher. Because if you ask a true teacher what they want to teach, the answer will come back, "I want to teach students."



That analysis may seem a bit snobby but the distinction is an important one. The distinction will tell the tale about how well that teacher will relate to his or her students and how long that such a teacher will last in an academic setting. You can tell when you have met a subject based teacher. They only speak with passion about the topic. They have an absolute fascination which may border on an obsession with the topic area. And they have very little tolerance for anyone who does not share that passion for the topic.



So is that person a teacher? Well in the most general sense of the word, yes he or she is because they do have the job of passing their specialized knowledge along to a student group. But it might be more apt to call such a teacher a lecturer or a recruiter because their real devotion is to the topic, not to the students. A subject based teacher is impatient with students who either are not showing talent and passion for their topic area or who interrupt their subject based monologue with questions which only break his stream of thought.



The root word of the term "teacher" is "teach". The definition of teaching then is to build knowledge and skills in a student. You may have found the use of the term we used "a true teacher" a bit elitist. But a teacher who is in the career field of teaching because they have an unquenchable passion for seeing students become educated and who takes delight from seeing students "light up" when they "get it" is indeed a true teacher.



A true teacher is far less obsessed with a perfect discussion and dialog about the topic at hand as they are obsessed with taking a body of young people and turning them from a random gathering of kids into "students". A true teacher is as much concerned with inspiring a desire to learn as he or she is with the topic being taught. And for a true teacher, the student's experience is more important the outline of the day and if they can take an hour and turn a disinterested youth into a passionate student of learning, that is an hour well spent.



We went through this exercise so you can apply some of these criteria to your own desire to become a teacher. Examine your motivations. If you are going into teaching to make converts to your love of your subject area, you will do some good no doubt. But because you will encounter frustrations and meet students who will never share you love of your topic, the danger of burn out is high and the possibility of a long career in teaching is low.



Be a "true teacher" and seek the good of your students. And if you go into the work to create students from disinterested young people, you are in the right line of work and will enjoy a long and rewarding career in teaching.

what to prepare for meeting the class for the first time

Preparing to become a teacher is a big undertaking. Its easy to get caught up in getting through college with a degree in teaching, passing your teachers certification exam, finding the kind of teaching position you want and getting through the interview that there is one more level of challenge that awaits you that you may not have put some thought into. That is the moment you walk into a classroom and face that sea of little faces looking up at you fearfully and you realize, perhaps with some terror that you really are a teacher and these students expect you to do the job.



Every teacher has a priority for what will happen in that first encounter with the class of students. For some teachers, its important to establish your authority and to let the kids know you are boss and they will be called up on top live up to your expectations. For another, the first goal in that first hour is to just get organized. But its a great idea to think through exactly how you are going to handle that first meeting so you establish a relationship with these kids that will result in a very productive and yet happy and peaceful class time experience each day.



As you look at those eyes staring at you, what do you suppose they are thinking? Well, it isn't really that much of a mystery. They are very curious about their new teacher and the things they want to know about you are not things they will ask you out loud including…



. Is this new teacher mean or nice?

. Will she make us work harder than our last teacher?

. Is the new teacher funny or too serious?

. Will she make us move our chairs

. Is this new teacher boring?



That last question is probably the one that weighs on the minds of most students the most. To a young mind the one crime that should be punishable by death is for you to be boring. They are also wondering what will be the first thing you will say to them to get the relationship started. They are very curious about you as a person and if you will make learning fun or, again that terrible word, boring.



It is a great idea if you take the time to think out in advance exactly what you want to accomplish in this initial meeting with your new class. One suggestion that has some real value is to seek to find a way to move from strangers to friends fairly quickly and to communicate to the students that you want to work with them as a team. If you and your students become one unit with the shared goal of learning what they have to learn to get good grades to take home to mom and dad and to do so without being boring, you will have created an educational setting that will be rich with learning potential.

One way to get that relationship off and running in great shape is to do something unexpected when you address them initially. Tell a joke, introduce yourself with a funny illustration from your childhood or in some other way surprise your new class in a fun and lighthearted way. This communicates to them that you are going to be a fun teacher and that they need to come to class paying attention because they never know what to expect. With that kind of rapport, you will have established a relationship that will only continue to open up and grow more trusting and more productive. And it all started because you refused to be that one thing that students hate. You refused to be boring

how to teach your children about time management

Are you a parent who is interested in teaching your children the importance of time management? If you are, good for you. Time management is a skill that all children should learn, as it may have a significant impact on their future. Unfortunately, many parents do not take the time to teach their children the importance of proper time use. In fact, some parents don't even realize the importance of time management themselves.

Despite the fact that you are certain that you want to teach your child the importance of time management and ways that they can manage their time, you may be unsure as to how you can go about doing so. The approach that you decide to take should depend on your child's age. Please continue reading on for a few helpful tips.

For toddlers and preschoolers, you can use a timer, like a kitchen timer. This is a fun approach to take, as you are essentially creating your own time management game. What you can do is time your child while they complete an easy task. These tasks can be anything from cleaning their room, getting ready for bed, getting washed up for dinner, and so froth. Just make sure that you set a timer with enough time for your child to reasonably do what you are asking of them.

With toddlers and preschoolers, it is important to remember that your child is still young. It isn't always a good idea to discipline them for taking longer than you expected them to take. Just be sure that you talk to your child about picking up their speed and give them easy to understand tips on how they can go about doing so. At this age, be sure to reward your child for beating the time. This reward can be a simple praise, a hug, or a sticker.

As for elementary school aged children, a timer can still be used, but some children do tend to outgrow this approach. Just be sure to talk to your children about time management, its importance, and the consequences for regularly being late. At around the age of eight or so, children are better able to understand what happens when they don't make proper use of their time.

For teenagers, it is important to talk to your child. You will also want to set a good example. Depending on the circumstances at hand, it may also be a good idea to discipline your child. This is actually important to do with schooling. For example, if your teenager isn't able to get their homework done or if they don't study for a test, they may end up with bad grades. After a few warnings, consider limiting the amount of time that your teenager is able to spend with their friends or the amount of television they are able to watch. Doing this, even just temporarily, is likely to teach your teenager an important lesson about time management and the elimination of distractions.

In keeping with teaching a teenager the importance of time management, it is important to not just take away privileges, but to also provide education. Make sure that your teenager understands the importance of time management. In college, your child will be responsible for studying, doing their homework, and other important tasks and they will not have you there to help guide them. The same will be true for the workplace. Unfortunately, this is where many young adults run into problems. Don't let your son or daughter fall victim to poor time management.

As you can see, there are a number of easy ways that you can go about teaching your child the importance of time management, as well as tips that you can share with them. Regardless of your children's ages, the lesson of managing time is one that should be taught. In fact, the sooner that you start teaching your children how to properly manage their time, the better the results will likely be in the long run.

why do you want to be a teacher?

When you think of career fields that call for courage, jobs that may call for loss of life are most often thought of. So the career fields of firemen, policemen or the military are jobs that involve a great deal of courage that we cannot discount. Teachers, by contract don’t really think of themselves as strong or brave individuals compared to these more obvious choices. But it takes a tremendous courage to be a teacher in ways that it is worthwhile to acknowledge as we are doing here today.



The courage of a teacher goes beyond just being willing to stand up in front of 20-30 wiggly children every day and try to guide them through their studies. Of course, standing up in front of that kind of crowd does take a lot of guts. Children are notoriously unpredictable crowd. And while the chances you will see physical harm speaking to a classroom of youngsters are small, it is a public speaking nightmare and facing that kind of nightmare takes a real courage not many need on a daily basis.



Going into teaching as a lifestyle choice is also a courageous decision. Teaching is well known to be both a low paying position and one that affords little thanks to the teacher. Teachers are often the target of attacks by parents all the while they are enduring considerable sacrifices just for the privilege of teaching young people. Many times budgets for schools are cut so that class sizes swell and a teacher who wants nothing more than to be able to mentor and love a small group of children finds a class room of twice that size put before him or her to teach. Or the supplies budget for schools gets slashed so many times teachers will go out with their own money and buy the classroom supplies they need so the young can be educated and the classroom can function despite these problems.



Three is an emotional risk that teachers openly embrace every year they take on a new class. A lot more goes on between a teacher and a class of students as that teacher puts out instruction to make those children better people. A bond and a love develops that is valuable to the educational process. This affection often carries on into childhood for the children who will speak with fondness of that favorite teacher decades ago. But for the teacher, as soon as that bond becomes mature at the end of a year of teaching, those children move on and they must prepare their hearts for a new set of kids in the fall. That emotional roller coaster is a wrenching experience that teachers embrace to be able to continue doing the one thing they love to do which is to teach.



This is not to say that there are no physical dangers or acts of heroism that teachers often exhibit when the need arises. In any urban schools, courageous teachers face injury or worse from students who are gang members who threaten them with dire injuries for being there to do the one thing they are called to do which is to teach. Further, we have documented cases where school shootings put students in danger that teachers put themselves in harms way and even lost their lives to protect their students. We saw this at Columbine and at other crisis situations as well. And that kind of willingness to become a martyr to save a student is a classic example of what it means to be courageous.



As you prepare your career path toward becoming a professional teacher, you may not have ever thought of yourself as courageous. But because of the sacrifices you are about to make and because the only real reward of being a teacher is the joy of imparting knowledge to young students, there is a nobility to what you are about to do that is worthy of recognition and honor. And while society will not necessarily take the time to give honor to the courage of teachers, its a good thing when we do that so it is documented here that teachers are truly a courageous lot and we can all be glad for their influence on our children's lives and on society in general.

application of internet in teaching and learning process

Becoming a teacher today is means learning to teach with new tools and resources that were unheard of only twenty years ago. There is almost no part of the education experience that is untouched by the computer or the internet. So the more you look to becoming a "cyber teacher", the more you will be tapping the great power cyberspace has given us to use for education.



A cyber teacher doesn’t mean that you will no longer interact with your students in class. "Going cyber" means that you will take advantage of the internet even during the course of a teaching day to tap the incredible information resources that are there to make your lessons so much more rich and meaningful.



It is almost unheard of any more for a class room to not be equipped with not one but many internet connections and computers as well as all of the popular software to support the use of computers in the classroom. In fact, more and more students are bringing laptops with wireless internet access to use at their desks which means that the computer is now becoming as common a student tool as the pencil or the protractor for your students.



Staying up to date the latest that is available on the internet is critical so you are offering your students the best teaching available in this modern time. Moreover, you have to stay up to date and "plugged in" to what is going on in cyberspace because your students are knowledgeable about what is happening in the internet world. So to stay up with them, you have to stay current too.



Along with in class research resources, the internet has set up tools for communication that were unheard of before. When you assign group projects, they won't just communicate by sitting around a table and working out the project. They can interact via internet "groupware" such as wikis or Google groups to share information, pool their resources and even split up the work to be done which all can be easily merged into their final project report to turn in to you when they are done.



This new age of communication can be used by you as a teacher to open up communications channels with the students at home and with their parents in ways never known before as well. No longer do you have to worry about laboriously writing out the daily assignments for your students to write down and take home. You can now post them to a class online bullion board or email them to the parents and to the student so every day when the child gets home, the excuse that "I lost my homework assignment" just wont cut it.



To make this work, you also have to make sure the parents are internet savvy. Don’t count on the child to give his or her mom and dad a seminar in cyber education because the speed of cyberspace makes the student life more accountable. But you can schedule computer classes with the parents to show them how to find the student's assignments as well as grades, notes from the teacher or special announcements right here on the class web page in cyberspace.



We are really just getting started tapping the internet to make communications and education more efficient and powerful. Other ways to use this technology includes having the students do their homework online so they cannot say "the dog ate my homework." And because young people are very internet savvy, by making their education life internet enabled, they will be better students. And you will be a better teacher because you took the time to learn to tap the power of the internet to become a cyber teacher for your students as well.

Adapting teaching style to new education system

The last two decades have taught us a great deal about how students work and think and the differences between different students and how those differences change the way those students process information and learn. On the surface, as a teacher, its easy to say, well I cannot change my curriculum to suit every possible learning disability or quirk of personality. That is the old model of teaching that has been in place for many decades. Students came to a centralized class and the way the lessons were presented was what they got and it was up to the student to adjust to be successful or a failure.

The problem with that model is that it puts the weight of the responsibility to be successful in education on the student. That is all well and good at the college level where the students are essentially adults and they are expected to be ready to bare a larger level of responsibility. But at the elementary level, the burden of assuring that the student not only hears the lesson but understands it lies with the teacher. So in the last few years, a teaching style called "differentiation" has come along that utilizes innovative classroom methods to help all students come away with a solid understanding of the material, not just the few who were able to adjust to the single approach the teaching of the old model.


Differentiation begs the question, "Who is responsible for the education of the children?" The system where the children were exposed to a lecture, given an assignment which may have been cryptic to understand and sent home for the hapless portents to decipher what was expected is at best ineffective and at worst just plain lazy.


Modern approaches to education see the job of the teacher as not just to present information and to correct papers. The job of the teacher is to teach and that teacher is not a success until every student in his or her class has learned the information well and can interact with it to demonstrate that the information has become knowledge which is useful and applicable in daily life. This is a high requirement on teachers but anything short skirts the objectives of the teaching profession entirely.


One difference between students that drastically effects how well the student learns is learning styles. Some students are visual learners meaning they do well when they learn by seeing. Others can absorb and process information audibly whereas others must physically interact with the material to truly grasp it. Differentiation changes the way class time is used so the same information is presented in a variety of teaching methods so all students can use each style to fully grasps the material.


Differentiation may not have been possible before we had so many new teaching tools available via the internet. But with online resources, we can tap the power of video online and utilize online activities so that learning is no longer just listen, write it down and repeat it on a test. Learning now is interactive and repetitive in many different ways to the same information is processed uniquely each time. The outcome is the student not only can learn through the learning style that fits his or her personality but that learning is deeper and longer lasting.

Adapting your teaching style to fully tap the power of differentiation will take some time. There are new technologies to learn to use and a new approach to the daily lesson plan to understand and learn to work with. But once you are simultaneously teaching many while addressing the individual learning styles and unique characteristics of each child, you will find the outcome of your teaching so much more effective that you will never want to go back.

Why do you want to be a teacher?

When you determine that you want to be a teacher of children or teenagers, that is much more than a career decision. It is a commitment to the future generation and an expression of a nobility in you that would not be seen in any other way. Unlike many other lines of work, people go into teaching for other reasons than just an interest in the career field or a way to make a paycheck.



Its sometimes difficult to put into words what your motivations are that drive you to pick teaching as your career. This is especially true if you are asked by friends why you made that choice. In many ways teaching is misunderstood and if you voiced what that inner calling to teach feels like, that urge to educate the young takes on the trappings of the calling of a missionary or a martyr. So you probably don’t voice your real motivations because they might sound corny to someone who is not carrying that special calling as you are.



Part of that urge to teach the young is a bond between you and the next coming up generation that makes you driven to offer your talents, your education and your life to teach the young important information and to model life skills for them as well. That bond with the very young may have originated in you when you had children yourself. But for a teacher who is called to the profession at a very deep level, that calling does not go away which is why so many teachers stay with the job decade after decade only willing to lay it down when health issues brought on by age forces the issues.



But the teaching calling is not entirely altruistic. There are some real rewards that also exist on the emotional and ethical level to being a teacher. Just seeing young people respond to knowledge and to your leadership as their teacher is deeply gratifying to one who is called to this profession. And when you are teaching a classroom of 20-30 kids, that gratification can become magnified many times over. It is a great experience of excitement when you see so many children do well and move on to their next grade all because of what you offered to them as their teacher.



Teaching young people is also a tremendous amount of fun. Yes, as their teacher it is your task to keep them on task to complete their lessons and keep moving toward their goal of finishing their educational objectives of the day and of the year. But along the way you become a friend of the child and the child a friend of yours. There are literally scores of moments of the sheer joy of play between teacher and student that is grounded in a pure form of friendship that is a hidden benefit to committing to a classroom of children to teach and mentor them to success.



The calling to teach is one that is buried deep in the soul of the teacher and for many, it goes unfulfilled. The difficulties of teaching or the rigorous training that society requires of teachers often keeps away many talented teachers who cannot make those kind of sacrifices. But for those that can, the sense of fulfillment of a mission and the pride and satisfaction of seeing your students do well is a reward for teaching that is impossible to describe and impossible to replace as well.

School as social laboratory for children

There is a fallacy in this image though and it lies in what will be actually going in the minds of those students you will try to teach each day. The fundamental flaw in this assumption is that when you are looking out at a group of a couple dozen kids that their minds are only on you because the class is all about you and the topic at hand in your lesson plan. The truth is that the class is all about each other and the social side of any classroom setting can come to totally dominate the classroom time for the kids.



If you are preparing to become a teacher with the anticipation of leading a group of 20 or more students into the process of academic discovery, it is easy to let most of your concentration be focused on academics and on focusing that class on the school work at hand. You envision yourself in front of a big group of fascinated youngsters who are all about paying attention to what you have to say.



If you do not recognize or don’t know how to diagnose what is going on socially in your classroom, you are working at a distinct disadvantage. Kids are learning a lot at school and not all of it is what you have prepared for them to learn. The social setting in that classroom is teaching them all kinds of lessons that you have no control over. Moreover, some of those lessons may not be wholesome or socially acceptable concepts.



The society of children and teenagers can be amazingly brutal. Kids are far more harsh on each other than adults would ever imagine and the harm that can be done to the heart and soul of someone who gets singled out to be victimized can be lifelong and devastating. So it is to your advantage if you learn to recognize the signs of unhealthy social interaction and jump in and change that group behavior before it goes too far. This will take some keen powers of observation on your part, an ability to spot social exchanges happening even as you teach and the psychology to know what is going on.



The good news is that as the leadership in the class room, you can effect change in how the kids influence each other socially. Because you know that social skills are being learned all the time around you as you teach, you also have the opportunity to create activities and opportunities for discussion that can change that social behavior for the better. You can literally teach those kids to get along and to treat each other in a civil fashion and do so without alarming the kids or losing any teaching time that you need to complete your academic goals.



One great way to begin to move the kids toward positive social models is to move from the traditional "teacher talks to big class" approach to teaching to one that uses small group activity, teamwork and competition to not only make learning a lot more fun but to encourage good social development that will help the kids develop socially as well as academically.



You should not feel that by trying to teach the kids good social skills you are abandoning your core principals as an educator. If you can also teach the kids good social skills while you have them in your class, that time could turn out to be the most valuable thing you have to offer your students. And when you see those positive social values begin to change lives in your young students, you will get a unique form of pride because it was you that made it happen.

when Mom is becoming a teacher

There is an army of teachers in this country and around the world that get no pay, do not show up at a classroom and get no recognition for the work they do. But they are doing the job of teaching young minds and getting them through a year of academic work. These are the minions of home school teachers who are quietly doing the job of education of the next generation. And we have learned from studies into home schooling, they are doing a pretty good job because home schooled students often rank high in college preparation exams.



If you are considering becoming a teacher in the limited scope of home schooling your own children, the task is not as intimidating as it seems. And the potential benefits to your children are great. Public schools are notorious for taking bright young minds and snuffing out that fire for learning that they were born with.



The reason this happens is simple. Public schools are mandated to teach a very large body of kids so because of the volume of kids they must pass through each grade, the emphasis much be on discipline and order and the priority for high quality academics has to slide so that every child can get through.



That is why the focused and specialized environment of a home school situation is perfect for a bright mind such as your child has because you can customize your curriculum to fit your child and to accelerate as fast as they show an aptitude to go. You don't have to put a big emphasis on being in their seat when the bell rings and being in school uniform down to their underwear. There are no bells in home school and they can come to school in their underwear if they want to. As long as they learn, that is the emphasis in a home school environment.



When you set out to becoming a home school teacher, you have a huge amount of flexibility in how you structure the learning environment. If you have a room you can set aside as the "classroom", that is a nice set up because you and your child know that when you go into that room, learning will happen here. But because the goal in that room is to complete one step along the way to finishing a curriculum, your young student knows that class will be over when they achieve their goals, not when the bell rings and that encourages productivity and focus.



It is also a myth that home schooling will become expensive. In fact, you can virtually set up a perfectly valid year long curriculum for very little cost. By logging into the public school's system, you can find the curriculum for the grade your child is in school and what must be learned to finish that grade. In many cases, local public schools and many private schools have programs to help you get started so that your child follows a similar educational path that is going on down the street in the public schools. This is an advantage to you and the school because should you decide to send your child back to public school the next year, they are not out of step with the program.



Materials can often be had for very little expense as well. Many times a textbook that is being used for a particular subject will come out with a new edition. When that happens, you can pick up copies of the previous edition, now out of date to the public schools, for very little cost and often for free. The topics in the text book are just as valid in the previous edition so you can conduct full year of classes using that textbook and not face any serious cost investment at all.



By looking for ways to take advantage of public facilities like the computers at the public library and of programs offered by churches, public schools and other institutions to help home school teachers like you be successful, you can set up a program at home that will help your child succeed as a student in this educational setting. It will be an adventure for you. And you will see a new appreciation come in to your child's eyes when he or she suddenly realizes that mom is still mom but she is also an outstanding teacher as well.

how to go into world of teaching jobs

In every college in the country, there are ambitious and starry eyed youngsters who are preparing for a career in teaching. At some point that army of graduates will hit the streets to find jobs in the field of teaching. What is not often taught in colleges are the real world skills of how to actually find and land a good teaching job right out of school. And while there is always a need for good teachers, the new graduate should develop some skills in finding the kind of teaching job that they always dreamed of so even from that first engagement, their career in teaching gets off on the right foot.



There is a lot you can do even before graduation day to get your job search moving and to make yourself desirable as a teacher so when school administrators get flooded with applications from newly graduated teachers, you stand out as the one they want to call in for an interview. One thing you can do at any time during you academic career is to intern as a teaching assistant and volunteer to teach in underprivileged schools.



You can teach just a few hours a day and work it around your academic work. By taking on the working world of teaching even before you have your degree, you will be able to present yourself to employers post graduation as someone who has real world experience in the classroom and "knows the ropes" of getting through an academic year with real live students. That is tremendously valuable to a school administrator with a spot to fill because it reduces the concern that a new graduate who has never faced a classroom full of restless children might wash out when the reality of what teaching is really like.



Another way to get a jump start on the market before students flood the schools for jobs is to start your search early in your last semester of school. Schools know by February or March if they will have jobs to fill for the next academic year. So if you begin your search for a teaching position in March or April, you can often land an interview or even secure a position for the fall long before many of your contemporaries in school begin their hunt for their first teaching job.



Becoming proactive like this always gives you the advantage in finding the job you really want rather than just "any job" in the teaching profession. Spend some time narrowing down exactly what kind of teaching position you want and at what level you feel your personality and teaching style will benefit students the most. You may do much better with young children than with teenagers or you may wish to focus on high schoolers because they are more intellectually equipped to grasp the subject matter with you. By knowing well in advance where you want to teach, you can target those kinds of positions in your job search and improve your chances of finding that perfect teaching job.



You should make the phrase "leave no stone unturned" your motto for hunting up the teaching jobs that are open in your community. First of all, be very proactive in your search. Just because you are graduating, even with honors, with your teaching degree, that doesn’t mean the schools will seek you out with jobs. So you take the search to them before someone else does. And in doing so it will be you that gets the premium teaching positions rather than have to take "what's left" after the good teaching positions are snatched up by more aggressive graduates.



There are lots of ways you can flush out those teaching jobs. Check the HR or employment offices at the schools you would like to be a part of and keep an eye on their employment bullion boards. Use the internet wisely, watch the newspaper and even get in touch with placement agencies who are known for placing new teachers.



But above all, network, network, network. Use every contact you have and forge new relationships to get the inside scoop on jobs before they even become public. Networking is the number one best way to find great teaching positions so you should use it extensively to find a position to get your teaching career off on a great start toward a great future of success in the field of teaching.

free drama script - the hidden treasure

The hidden treasure

Scene 1

Narator : In a small village lived a very hardworking farmer named Pak Benih. He has three sons,

Dul, Upik, and Ujang. All three were strong and healthy but they were all lazy. Pak

Benih was sad thinking about his sons and the future of his farmland.

Pak Benih : I have an Idea, Dul come here!

Dul : Oh, wait a moment, I am playing with my toy.

Pak Benih : I have something for you, come here and see!

Dul : Alright, what is it?

Pak Benih : Upik, Ujang? Where are you?

Upik : I’m here in the bedroom. I’m still sleepy.

Ujang : Oh Dad, it’s still cold.

Pak Benih : Upik, Ujang, I have something that wakes you up!

Upik and Ujang : What’s that?

Pak Benih : Come here and see!

All sons came to Pak Benih, then Pak Benih told to them.

Pak Benih : Dul, Upik, Ujang I want to tell you something. I have a hidden treasure in our

farmland, you search and share among you!

Dul : Are you sure Dad?

Pak Benih : Sure, I am.

Ujang : That’s great , Dul, Upik ! what are you waiting for? Get your spades and hoes, let’s go to

the treasure !

Dul and Upik : Let’s go!

Read more at free drama script for children

drama script animal story the crow and the fox

THE CROW AND THE FOX




MADAM CROW.

MISS CROW, her Daughter.

MASTER FOX.





MADAM CROW sits in the tree. Enter MISS CROW. She carries a large piece of cheese in her mouth.

MADAM. O joy! O joy! Come, dear daughter, come! We’ll dine as if we were queen and princess!

Miss Crow flies to Madam Crow. Enter MASTER FOX.

FOX. I bid you good morning, dear madam.

MADAM. Good morning to you, dear sir.

FOX (sitting under tree). With your permission, I’ll speak with your daughter.

MADAM. She’ll be pleased to listen, that she will—you are so clever.

FOX (modestly). Nay, madam, not so clever, only thoughtful.

He sighs deeply twice.

MADAM. You have something on your mind.

FOX (sighing). Yes, dear madam,--I am thinking of your daughter.

MADAM. Then speak! Speak now, sir!--at once, sir!

FOX. I speak. O sweet Miss Crow, how beautiful your wings are!

MADAM (pleased). Do you hear that, daughter?

Miss Crow nods, spreading her wings proudly.

FOX. I speak again. How bright your eye, dear maid! How graceful your neck!

MADAM. Bend your neck, child! Now bend it well that he may better see your grace.

Miss Crow bends neck twice.

FOX. But oh, that such a sweet bird should be dumb!--should be so utterly dumb!

He weeps gently in his little pocket handkerchief.

MADAM (indignantly). Do you think, sir, she cannot caw as well as the rest of us?
FOX. I must think so, dear madam. Alas!

Weeping again in his little pocket handkerchief.

MADAM. You shall think so, then, no longer! Caw, child, caw, as you have never cawed before!
MISS CROW (opening mouth; dropping cheese). Caw! Caw!

Fox quickly snaps up the cheese.

FOX (going). Thank you, Miss Crow. Remember, dear madam, that whatever I said of her beauty, I said nothing of her brains. He goes, waving the crows a farewell with his little pocket handkerchief

drama script - A grandson with his grandpa

Character

THE MAN.

HIS WIFE.

THEIR SON—LITTLE HANS.

THE GRANDFATHER.




The MAN, his WIFE, little HANS, and the GRANDFATHER sit at the table eating the noon meal.

MAN. Be careful, father! You are spilling the soup on your coat.

GRANDFATHER (trying to steady his trembling hand). Yes, yes, I’ll be careful.

Short pause.

WIFE (sharply). Grandfather! You have spilled the soup on my clean tablecloth!

GRANDFATHER (embarrassed). Dear me! Dear me!

Short pause.

MAN. Here, father, is your plate of meat.

The old man takes the plate, but lets it fall.

WIFE (angrily). There now! Just see what

you have done!



GRANDFATHER. My hand shook so—I’m sorry—so sorry!

WIFE. That won’t mend the plate!

MAN. Nor buy a new one!

WIFE (to her husband). He should eat from wooden dishes.

MAN (nodding, pointing to a wooden dish). Let him have that one for his meat.

The Grandfather sighs sadly. The Wife gets a wooden dish and fills it with meat. Little Hans leaves the table and plays with his blocks on the floor.

WIFE (handing the wooden dish to the Grandfather). Here’s one you can’t break. Go now and sit in the corner behind the oven. You shall eat there hereafter. I cannot have my tablecloths soiled—that I cannot!

The Grandfather takes his wooden plate and goes to the seat in the corner behind the oven. His eyes are filled with tears.

MAN. Come, little Hans, and finish your dinner.

WIFE (turning to Hans). Bless me! What are you making, child?

HANS. A wooden trough for you and father to eat out of when I grow big.

The Man and his Wife look at each other; there is a pause.

MAN (showing shame). He will treat us as we have treated father!

WIFE (weeping). ‘T will serve us right!

MAN (kindly). Father, throw that wooden dish out of the window. I am ashamed of what I have done; forgive me!

WIFE (kindly). Father, come back to the table. I too am ashamed. Forgive me, dear father.

short drama script- the traveller

THE TRAVELLERS AND THE HATCHET



TIME: last week.

PLACE: a high road.







FIRST TRAVELLER.

SECOND TRAVELLER.

THE CARPENTER.





The TWO TRAVELLERS journey along the road. A hatchet lies in the dust at one side.Footnote: The explanations in brackets may be read by the teacher.

FIRST TRAVELLER (seeing the hatchet, taking it up).Footnote: The words in parentheses are not intended to be read aloud; they will give the child the cue as to how the part should be rendered. Ah, see what I have found!

SECOND TRAVELLER. Do not say I, but rather, what we have found.

FIRST TRAVELLER. Nonsense! Did I not see the hatchet first? And did I not take it up?

SECOND TRAVELLER. Well, then, claim the hatchet, since that is plainly your wish.

Enter the CARPENTER.

CARPENTER (to First Traveller). Aha, thief! Now I have caught you!

He seizes the First Traveller.

FIRST TRAVELLER. No thief am I, sir!

Illustration: THE TRAVELLERS AND THE HATCHET

CARPENTER. But my own hatchet is in your hand, sir. Come along to the judge, sir!
FIRST TRAVELLER (to Second Traveller). Alas, we are undone!

SECOND TRAVELLER. Do not say we. You are undone, not I. You would not allow me to share the prize; you cannot expect me to share the danger. I bid you good day, sir.

can we teach students who have no talent arts?

When you set out to become a teacher, it isn't always enough just to teach a rote set of knowledge. You want to give your students an appreciation for the each knowledge area so they not only know things and how to do things, they also understand the history behind the knowledge they have and have an ability to appreciate the nuances of what they have learned. There may be no area of learning that this concept applies to more than art.



By art, we mean the arts which may include music, vocal interpretation, creative writing and the visual arts. Now in many schools, art programs have gone by the wayside due to budget cuts. This is even more of a reason that if you want to learn to teach the arts to your students, you should come to the task with enthusiasm and some creative thinking so you can take advantage of this time when you can offer lessons in artistic development and appreciation.



Perhaps the biggest challenge of offering art classes as part of the curriculum at the school where you teach is to get kids who may not think they have artistic talent to take the course. In most cases art classes are not required but you still want to be able to touch as much as the student body as possible with an appreciation of the arts and give everyone a chance to take a stab at making a bit of art themselves.



Much of the work that will go into letting kids know its ok to take art even if they do not feel they have artistic talent comes from the attitude of the teacher. Too often art teachers send the message that they expect every student to show noticeable artistic talent and that their grade may depend on their ability to produce art that can be judged as "good" by the teacher.



This creates huge stress in the students because nobody can just "become artistic." And sending that message defeats the purpose of offering a program in the arts to the students at your school in first place. But if you can encourage a spirit of play and exploration so that even students with no artistic talent at all are willing to take the class just to "give it a try", learning how art is made by making some of their own will be an enriching experience that may instill a love of art in the student that could last a lifetime.



In the movie The Music Man, the professor got two tone deaf children to sing "I love music mommy" as part of his effort to bring band music to a small town in Iowa. The pride those children and their parents showed more than offset that the song they offered to their portents was pretty unrecognizable as real music. But that scene is instructive in what you want to achieve in your students by giving them a chance to learn to create art with no regard for their talent one way or another. And don’t be surprised if a student takes home a perfectly hideous artwork with pride and that piece of art becoming a precious heirloom for that family not because it is good art but because it is an expression of artistic feeling from a child who wanted to try something new and did it.



Along with giving our students the basic instructions in how to create works of art, don’t miss out on the opportunity to give them a basic education in art history and art appreciation. This may be the greatest gift your art classes can give a child. If they come from your class with an awareness of why Michelangelo is one of the greatest artists of all time, that is a part of our cultural knowledge that will demonstrate that this child has been given a broad and well rounded education.



Teaching art and art approbation can be one of the most fulfilling forms of teaching that you can offer to the next generation. Not only will the children have a lot of fun discovering the artists inside them, you will have a great time showing that side to them as well. And all of that fun will make them better people which, after all, is the goal of being an educator in the first place.

getting old why not becoming a teacher

If you are just preparing to enter the ranks of professional teachers and you are not a recent college graduate, its easy to feel a bit insecure and ask that question, "Can you teach if you are old?" Its a fair question even if you are not so far along in life that you consider yourself to be "old". But it is easy to feel old if you are a middle aged or senior adult among 20 year olds in teacher college and if the competition for the teaching jobs are kids that could be your own sons or daughters.

There are a lot of jobs where there is a noticeable age bias against older workers. In the business world, sometimes companies prefer to hire younger workers because they work cheap and if they work out, there is such a longer career life ahead of them. But even in the business setting, many forward thinking employers are beginning to realize that the ranks of older workers contain a group of workers who are stable, hard working and devoted employees. So too schools are realizing more and more that hiring an older worker is not a disadvantage at all but that you bring a lot of good with you that the school should be thrilled to have.



If anything the profession of teaching is a perfect environment for someone who has seen a bit of life and who has matured and perhaps raised children of their own. Teaching full time while rewarding can be a huge challenge because it is sometimes hard to establish your authority in the class room and there are so many ways for a disruption to hurt the flow of teaching that is so important to accomplish your academic goals each day. An older worker is less prone to panic about disruptions or sudden problems that might come up as you teach and you have the experience and maturity to handle the problem efficiently without upsetting the rest of the class and get everyone back on task quickly.



It could be that one concern those who hire new teachers might have with an older worker is energy. Younger workers are able to keep up physically with children and they need to know that you won't tire during a long school day and that you have the physical stamina to get through a school day and come back for more tomorrow. There are a number of ways you can demonstrate that you are in shape and up to the challenge of teaching. You can put on a show of energy and enthusiasm during the interview. Or you could go so far as to offer to substitute teach or be a teacher assistant for a day so the administrator can witness first hand our energy and ability to "keep up" with those kiddos.



There is a good chance that not only will you encounter no age based bias or discrimination from school administrators, you will find that they already have a number of older teachers on staff so they know the value the school gets from that experience and wisdom. But the relationship that may give you more concern is whether the students can accept an older teacher and give you the same respect and regard that they would give to someone just out of college.



It may come as the biggest surprise of them all that children and even teenagers really do not mind older teachers or older people for that matter. After all, to a child, every adult is an older teacher so they may not even notice that you are 20 years older than their last teacher. To a kid, old is old so what's the difference? Moreover, children have relationships with parents, uncles and aunts and grandparents that are loving and respectful so if they lump you in with those role models, you have it made.



What students don't like are older people who try to deny that they are old, who are ashamed of their age or who try to act younger than they are. Youth crave honesty. And youth are also quite aware that older age awaits them down the road so the last thing they want to see is you showing shame or discomfort because of your age. By being honest about your age with the kids, they will embrace you easily and you will have no difficulty teaching them.

Teachers world of limitation and opportunity

In every college in the country, there are ambitious and starry eyed youngsters who are preparing for a career in teaching. At some point that army of graduates will hit the streets to find jobs in the field of teaching. What is not often taught in colleges are the real world skills of how to actually find and land a good teaching job right out of school. And while there is always a need for good teachers, the new graduate should develop some skills in finding the kind of teaching job that they always dreamed of so even from that first engagement, their career in teaching gets off on the right foot.



There is a lot you can do even before graduation day to get your job search moving and to make yourself desirable as a teacher so when school administrators get flooded with applications from newly graduated teachers, you stand out as the one they want to call in for an interview. One thing you can do at any time during you academic career is to intern as a teaching assistant and volunteer to teach in underprivileged schools.



You can teach just a few hours a day and work it around your academic work. By taking on the working world of teaching even before you have your degree, you will be able to present yourself to employers post graduation as someone who has real world experience in the classroom and "knows the ropes" of getting through an academic year with real live students. That is tremendously valuable to a school administrator with a spot to fill because it reduces the concern that a new graduate who has never faced a classroom full of restless children might wash out when the reality of what teaching is really like.



Another way to get a jump start on the market before students flood the schools for jobs is to start your search early in your last semester of school. Schools know by February or March if they will have jobs to fill for the next academic year. So if you begin your search for a teaching position in March or April, you can often land an interview or even secure a position for the fall long before many of your contemporaries in school begin their hunt for their first teaching job.



Becoming proactive like this always gives you the advantage in finding the job you really want rather than just "any job" in the teaching profession. Spend some time narrowing down exactly what kind of teaching position you want and at what level you feel your personality and teaching style will benefit students the most. You may do much better with young children than with teenagers or you may wish to focus on high schoolers because they are more intellectually equipped to grasp the subject matter with you. By knowing well in advance where you want to teach, you can target those kinds of positions in your job search and improve your chances of finding that perfect teaching job.



You should make the phrase "leave no stone unturned" your motto for hunting up the teaching jobs that are open in your community. First of all, be very proactive in your search. Just because you are graduating, even with honors, with your teaching degree, that doesn’t mean the schools will seek you out with jobs. So you take the search to them before someone else does. And in doing so it will be you that gets the premium teaching positions rather than have to take "what's left" after the good teaching positions are snatched up by more aggressive graduates.



There are lots of ways you can flush out those teaching jobs. Check the HR or employment offices at the schools you would like to be a part of and keep an eye on their employment bullion boards. Use the internet wisely, watch the newspaper and even get in touch with placement agencies who are known for placing new teachers.



But above all, network, network, network. Use every contact you have and forge new relationships to get the inside scoop on jobs before they even become public. Networking is the number one best way to find great teaching positions so you should use it extensively to find a position to get your teaching career off on a great start toward a great future of success in the field of teaching.

How to Be a Truly Professional Teacher

There is something so satisfying about working with a true professional in any line of work. When you have a professional on the job in any area of specialization watching that person in action is like watching a work of art. They exude the knowledge, the skill, the devotion to doing a top notch job and the confidence that they are the professional who can do the job that is missing in a lesser talent.



That is the level we all want to reach in the field of teaching if that is your calling. Not only do you want to be a true professional in your area of specialization which is teaching, you want your students to notice your professionalism and recognize that it makes a big difference having a professional running the class rather an a lesser talent.



When a professional is on the case, everybody relaxes because they know the job will be done right. In the movie, Pulp Fiction, when the gangsters needed help because of a killing, they called in Mr. Wolf. And Mr. Wolf was well known for being the man that always knows what to do, who moves fast but is as courteous as he is efficient and who knows how to get the job done right. When Mr. Wolf was on the scene, the problem was as good as solved. And even though that movie was a bit grisly and profane, Mr. Wolf is a great example of true professionalism at work.



So how do you show your professionalism as you go about your craft of teaching? For one thing, you dress the part. Take pride in your wardrobe and present to yourself to your class each day in a garment that says, I came ready to teach so you should come ready to learn. That is what happens when a professional is on the premises. Everybody wants to get on board with the program.



A professional always knows what to do both long range and right now. That means you come prepared. Your lesson plans are in order, your room is prepared and you paperwork is organized so at no time do you have to pause and get yourself together when you are into the process of teaching your students. This will take some time for you to get to that level of organization when you walk in the door of your classroom the next day. But putting in that hour or two each night so you are that organized not only makes you a better teacher, it lets the students know that this is a professional operation so be ready.



Students, particularly youth and children can tell the difference between someone who knows what they are doing and someone who is floundering. As the saying goes, they can smell fear. It gives young people confidence and a sense of security that you are organized and not only know what you are going to do each moment of the teaching day, you know what they are going to do as well. That is professionalism and it will make a world of difference in how your teaching goes.



A professional teacher also responds to interruptions and even disturbances calmly because you have seen it before and you know what to do. Of course developing a history in teaching to where you really do know what to do in each circumstance takes time. But if you are completely prepared in every other respect, interruptions won't throw you because you can address them and be right back to you lesson smoothly and calmly.



A byproduct of being consummately prepared and so well versed in what your lesson plans say and what you are teaching is that it gives you a calm confidence that frees you up to be relaxed and even humorous with your students. When your students see you smile because everything is going exactly the way you want it to go, they will respond and open up to you because they sense your confidence and they want to see where you are going to take them. And because you are relaxed and at ease, your students are at ease as well and they can ask you questions and interact with you as you teach. And that kind of interactive dialog is what makes the difference in the lives of students and makes you a true professional teacher.

A contemporary system to Start Your Career in Teaching

Not everybody goes into teaching by getting a degree right out of high school and making it a profession from there on out.  Many wonderful teachers take on the profession as a second career.  There are a lot of reasons it happens like that.  Perhaps you are unhappy in your current career but you keep doing a certain job because it pays the bills.  It is very easy in youth to just fall into a job niche because it happened to be a job you got,  Then  after you developed a resume and got additional training, you found it difficult to leave that job to pursue your passion.

Teaching is as much a calling as it is a profession.  As a profession, its often a career that does not attract the best and the brightest to become teachers because the pay is low and the frustrations and demands are high.  So many people who may at heart be "born teachers" spend some of their adult life in other professions. If this is your story, you may be coming to a place in your life when that inner teacher is struggling to get out and get you into the career you of teaching young people full time.

The good news is that in this modern time, much progress has been made to offer you a way to get the degree, the education and the certification to make that transition from your current career to a life of a teacher with little disruption to your life.  One such way is to get your teaching degree from an online university as a remote student  In that way, you step through all of the requirements for your degree using the internet and eventually get that degree so you can easily transition into a life of a full time teacher.

It used to be considered far fetched to get an entire degree online.  But almost every university in the country now offers a remote study program so you can satisfy every aspect of a degree plan on your own schedule using the internet as your classroom and your teacher.  The lectures can be presented as video files and you can even participate in group projects and discussions via chat, message boards and wikis that the instructor can set up to bring you along through each class.

The good of this kind of program is that you can go about getting your teaching degree while continuing to hold down your full time job.  Because the "classes" you take are online and recorded, except for live events such as team meetings, you can take each session when you get home from work and even pause them to deal with family issues and then continue when things quite down.  This is an ideal situation for adult education when quitting your job to get another degree is just not practical.

The hard part about getting your degree online is that, like study by mail programs, the discipline to keep up, to "attend" class and to do your reading and homework is entirely put on you to stay with. Its very easy for life's demands to draw you away from your degree plan and to slow or stop you which then makes getting the momentum going even more difficult.

But if you enlist the aid of your family and establish times when dad or mom are "in class" even if you are just locked in your study doing your online coursework, that regimen can help you get through your classes and successfully graduate ready to start a career in teaching.  And when you are finally doing the job you feel is your calling to do teaching youth, the hard work of taking that degree from an online program will pay off.

pros and cons of home schooling

Pros and cons of home schooling. Making decision to home school will cause pros and cons. Those pros and cons sometime can be very difficult to overcome. However, you can’t take to much time to stay at this situation. Time goes on meanwhile your child need to start his study. While others children have attended schools, your child remain uneducated. I think you won’t get any problems with this hard circumstances. You should make decision quickly. This lists of pros and cons can be beneficial for you.

Think of the following when making your inventory:

Pros:

· Parents know their child better than any other teacher could. Because of this, parents can custom-tailor the learning experience. Your children's interests, abilities and learning styles can be accommodated.



· Home schooling gives a family more time-- to be together, to strengthen relationships, and to share values and ideas. Many families find that learning at home takes less time than learning at school.

There are some school activities that take away learning time from children. When you regain that time by schooling at home, this allows your child to learn more and pursue personal interests. Plus, they can move at a quicker pace than in the traditional classroom. Simple but life enriching activities such as reading can be reclaimed and put to educational use.



· Many children who are publicly schooled sometimes find the noisy, crowded environment in a classroom stressful. Recurring stomachaches, headaches, and anxiety may all improve in a happy, peaceful home environment.



· Beyond the traditional subjects taught in school, children can obtain life skills, such as managing money, cooking, and carpentry, by participating in real activities required at home.



· Contrary to what many opponents feel, home schooled children can become better socialized than their peers. They are not confined to the same-age-only relationships of the school setting, so they have more experience in getting along with people of all ages.



· Finally, and the bottom line for many prospective home schoolers is that home offers a degree of safety that no school system can provide. Drugs, alcohol, violence, peer pressure are all absent in the home setting as opposed to the school setting.

Cons:

· The awesome responsibility for education rests squarely where most home schoolers believe it should: on the family's shoulders. Many people may be unwilling or unable to assume the responsibility, and would prefer that it be left to others.


· The increased "togetherness" is a bitter pill to swallow for some. Fortunately, many find that home schooling is a positive, relationship-healing process. Over time, both the children and parents change, relax, and come to enjoy being together in a way that is not possible for those families who are able to only spend leftover snippets of time together.


· Home schooling takes more effort than sending children to school. In addition to basic subjects, energy is required to stay informed about and engaged in activities and opportunities, legislation, and home schooling methods and ideas.


Your home will look very different when you home school. Some people find this to be much more difficult than they expect – especially when they are used to “a place for everything and everything in its place” mentality.


You could be subject to some intense criticism from family, friends, and society in general. Be prepared for this and arm yourself with information. Remember why you want to home school and remain committed to your decision.


So, you’ve decided to go ahead and dive into home schooling. There’s a lot to take care of now and many people wonder just where should they start?

Hard decision to home school for your children

Deciding to home school for your children is not easy. You should consider a lot of things. For many people, home schooling is impossible but for some others is possible. When you decide to home school you should provide with basic needs of school facilities. This barrier cause many families don’t want to home school. The home environment also influences to the success of home schooling.





However, when you do find yourself in the position to be able to make the choice, there are many things you need to know about before deciding to accept responsibility for your child’s education.



First and foremost, you need to know that home schooling tends to take up a lot of time in your day. It is more than just sitting down with books for a couple of hours. There are experiments and projects to be done, lessons to prepare, papers to grade, field trips, park days, music lessons, and the list goes on.



It can be much like a full-time job, but this is your child’s education, so making that kind of commitment needs to be fully understood in order for them to actually benefit. Having a set schedule helps manage the time you do have, and we’ll cover possible schedules for you to consider in a later chapter.



Home schooling does require a certain amount of personal sacrifice for the parent. The home school parent has little personal time or time alone. If care is not taken to set aside time for yourself, it is easy to never have time alone. Parent and child are together nearly all the time. That can be extremely stressful, so make sure you’ll be able to schedule time for yourself.



There is a bit of financial strain on the family unit as well. Home schooling can be accomplished very inexpensively; however, it usually requires that the teaching parent will not be working out of the home. Some sacrifices will need to be made if the family is used to two incomes.



Because school will be at home, your child will not have as many opportunities to make friends and develop socially. More attention will need to be given to getting your children together with others. The beauty of home schooling is being able to have more control of the social contacts your child makes. This is where the home school support group can become a lifeline.



Life requires a certain amount of mundane work in order to maintain an orderly household. Housework and laundry still have to be done, but it probably won't get done first thing in the morning. If you are a stickler for a spotless house, you might be in for a surprise. Not only does housework need to be let go at times, but home schooling creates messes and clutter in itself. Relax your expectations and make school the first priority and housework a later one.



All family members should be included in the decision to home school. Some authoritarian parents may disagree with this concept, but when you have everyone in the household’s support, your job as teacher will be much easier.



It is important that both parents agree to try home schooling. It is very difficult to home school if one parent is against it. If your spouse is against it at this time, try doing more research and talking to more people so that you will be armed with as much information as possible to bring your spouse around to your thinking.



A willing student is also always helpful. Ask your child how he or she feels about being schooled at home. Ultimately, the decision is the parent’s to make, but if your child is dead against it, you might have a hard time being effective.