Homeschooling — The Village

So you want to home school?

Congratulations! It’s a wonderful journey.

Be mindful that while it is rewarding, it will be a journey . Not everyone will agree with your choice to home school and that is ok. Most people who are in disagreement for their family members homeschooling their children is because of the social aspect of school. But rest assured , there are many activities your students can be enrolled in to get him/her busy outside of academic instruction.

Organization:

While you prepare your home school journey we recommend that you increase your organization. Especially if you are homeschooling multiple students. Keep all records for at least 3 years before you move them to a storage or off site office. Some great tips are to:

Keep a separate file folder and binder for each student
Make sure you keep accurate attendance. Most state want your student to be active in academic instruction for at least 4 -6.5 hours daily .
Keep tabs organized by either courses, general subjects or semester courses.
Keep all work. Even if they complete work online- PRINT IT OUT AND KEEP IT.
Test your student. Now this is a tricky one because us home school teachers would have to administer state test more frequently that what is currently recommended. Now most Colleges enroll home schooled students and the process is less strenuous than in the past. With that being said we still recommend you give your students an exit level exit at least.
Give yourself room to learn and see what works for you and your students. Breathe , it will all come together. Trust me .
Make a Blue Print for your child. What do you want to get from their educational plan?
Add extra curricular activities
You are the “ all in all " . Work with the Village Scholar Academy and we can help you assemble a great team for your students.
Start Early. Plan and connect all the dots for your students.
Think of how much time you can allot out for your students daily and per each subject matter. How will you manage household / family business and homeschooling?

What kind of Learning Styles are there?

The Linguistic Learner

The linguistic learner is one who learns best through linguistic skills including reading, writing, listening, or speaking.

Sometimes, it’s a combination of these methods. So, for example, if a linguistic learner wanted to tackle a new skill, their best method of learning would be to read about it, then listen to an audio recording and take notes on it. Finally, concretizing it would require speaking about it and, possibly, writing about it extensively.

Not surprisingly, some of the best teachers and professors are linguistic learners. It’s in the nature of the profession.

The Naturalist

The naturalist learns by working with, and experiencing, nature.

If this sounds a lot like a scientist, it’s because that’s how scientists learn. The naturalist loves experiences, loves observing the world around them, and captures the best information or knowledge through experimentation.

The Musical or Rhythmic Learner

The musical or rhythmic learner is one who learns using melody or rhythm.

This would be like a musician learning how to play by listening to a piece of music or a drummer who hears beats in his head and on the street from arbitrary sources before putting it together in the studio. But it can also be a person who learns best while humming, whistling, toe-tapping, tapping their pencil on the desk, wiggling, or listening to music in the background. For this person, music isn’t a distraction but instead actually helps the learning process.

Some people also think better with background noise, so you may often notice that some people think best when they hum, whistle, bounce a ball off the wall, or make some other noise or move (pace) while thinking.

The Kinesthetic Learner

The Kinesthetic learner is a person that learns best by actually doing something.

These people are also scientific in nature and must interact with objects in order to learn about them (or learn about them in the best way possible).

According to FamilyEducation.com, some of the most common kinesthetic-based jobs are those in the arts, manufacturing or creative fields like physical therapy, dancing, acting, farming, carpentry, surgery, and jewelry-making.

None of these careers could be done without “hands-on experience.” Many of these jobs, with rare exception, are also trade professions that require an apprenticeship or shadowing.

The Visual or Spatial Learner

A visual or spatial learner is a person who learns best if there are visual aids around to guide the learning process.

For example, someone who can learn best from diagrams, pictures, graphs would be a visual or spatial learner. These people tend to be technically-oriented and enter engineering fields.

An example of this type of learner would be a person who becomes a computer engineer or programmer. In fact, according to the educational organization Simplilearn, there are over 20,000 professionals who have been trained in programs like the CompTIA Strata training program.

But, the best students are those that are visual or spatial learners. Why? Because being proficient in programming and IT requires that you be a strong visual or spatial learner.

Almost everything having to do with computers is conceptual and so it relies on graphical or visual representations of components that can’t actually be seen (e.g. bytes).

The Logical or Mathematical Learner

The logical or mathematical learner must classify or categorize things.

They also tend to understand relationships or patterns, numbers and equations, better than others. These are obviously engineers, scientists, mathematicians, and other technical professions.

The Interpersonal Learner

The interpersonal learner is someone who learns by relating to others.

Often, these people share stories, work best in teams, and compare their ideas to the ideas of others. In a sense, others help them think of new ideas of their own. They are often naturally good leaders as well as team players. You often see these people in various fields of psychology or social sciences.

The Intrapersonal Learner

The intrapersonal, as opposed to interpersonal, learner is someone who works and learns best when they are alone.

They set individual goals that are challenging, but not impossible. They are also motivated by internal forces, rather than external ones. They are often introverted individuals, but not always. These people often enter creative fields, become entrepreneurs, and sometimes small business owners. But, they are usually in fields or industries that allow them to work without direct supervision

Most Educators use these learning styles that students fall into which are:

1. Visual learners

How to recognize visual learners in your class: Someone with a preference for visual learning is partial to seeing and observing things, including pictures, diagrams, written directions and more. This is also referred to as the “spatial” learning style. Students who learn through sight understand information better when it’s presented in a visual way. These are your doodling students, your list makers and your students who take notes.

How to cater to visual learners: The whiteboard is your best friend when teaching visual learners! Teachers should create opportunities to draw pictures and diagrams on the board, or ask students to doodle examples based on the topic they’re learning. Teachers catering to visual learners should regularly make handouts and use presentations. Visual learners may also need more time to process material, as they observe the visual cues before them. So be sure to give students a little time and space to work through the information.

2. Auditory learners

How to recognize auditory learners in your class: Auditory learners tend to learn better when the subject matter is reinforced by sound. These students would much rather listen to a lecture than read written notes, and they often use their own voices to reinforce new concepts and ideas. These are the students who like to read out loud to themselves, aren’t afraid to speak up in class and are great at verbally explaining things. Additionally, they may be slower at reading and may repeat things a teacher tells them.

How to cater to auditory learners: Since these students can sometimes find it hard to keep quiet for long periods of time, get your auditory learners involved in the lecture by asking them to repeat back new concepts to you. Ask questions and let them answer. Invoke group discussions so your auditory and verbal processors can properly take in and understand the information they’re being presented with. Watching videos and using music or audiotapes are also helpful ways to engage with auditory learners.

3. Kinesthetic learners

How to recognize kinesthetic learners in your class: Kinesthetic learners or “tactile” learners learn through experiencing or doing things. They like to get right in the thick of things by acting out events or using their hands to touch and handle in order to understand concepts. These are the students who might struggle to sit still, might be good at sports or like to dance, need to take breaks when studying and might not have great handwriting.

How to cater to kinesthetic learners: The best way teachers can help these students learn is by getting them moving. Teachers should instruct students to act out a certain scene from a history lesson they’re teaching. Additionally they should encourage these students by incorporating movement into lessons: pacing to help memorize, learning games that involve moving around the classroom or having students write on the whiteboard as part of an activity.

Once these students can physically sense what they’re studying, abstract ideas and difficult concepts will be easier to understand.

4. Reading/writing learners

How to recognize reading/writing learners in your class: According to the VARK Modalities theory developed by Fleming and Mills in 1992, reading/writing learners prefer to learn through written words. While there is some overlap with visual learning, these types of learners are drawn to expression through writing, reading articles on the internet, writing in diaries, looking up words in the dictionary and searching the internet for just about everything.

How to cater to reading/writing learners: This is probably the easiest learning style to cater to since most of the educational system provides lots of opportunities for writing essays, doing research online and reading books. Allow plenty of time for these students to absorb information through the written word, and give them opportunities to get their words out on paper as well.

Work with your liaison and team to find out what kind of learning style your student has because this will allow the instructors to teach and assign course work that navigates form a learning styles your student understands most.

Homeschooling in Various States

California General Homeschooling Info

California Types of Homeschool Options and forms Needed

Nevada Homeschooling Requirements

Oregon Homeschooling Requirements

Washington Homeschooling Requirements

Arizona

Utah

Idaho Basic Homeschool Guidelines

Idaho Clear Overview of Homeschool Rules and Forms

Montana Homeschool Informational Packet

Wyoming Homeschool Rules