Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Michael Farris:
There are obviously many advantages for parents who begin homeschooling from the very beginning, when their child is 5 or 6. Children who have never been to an institutional school are much less likely to give a parent a difficult time.

But can a successful transition be made with children who have already attended school? Bringing a 7- or 8-year-old home for school for the first time is usually a fairly painless process, but for students who are 9 or 10 or older, it would be even more important to make sure that you have properly prepared your child for your decision to teach him at home. Talk with your child about the decision. Help him to understand your reasons for choosing a new form of education, and seek to gain his approval and cooperation. One of the strongest objections any child will raise is he doesn't want to feel strange or alone. Homeschoolers are everywhere these days.

Let's take the special case of teenagers. Yes, there have been many families that have found success homeschooling a child for the first time at 14, 15, or even 16 years old, but it's my opinion that, for most families, homeschooling a teenager for the first time is only realistically possible when your teen enthusiastically approves. If you believe that God is directing you to begin now, pray in earnest that your child's heart would be moved as well.

I'm Michael Farris.