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Attendance and Scheduling |
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When taking that giant step into homeschooling we usually are thinking, "what do I do now? or, what comes next? I have found that what works best for me is setting up my children's schedules and attendance records.
In preparing for this task I first consulted the educational laws in New Jersey, where I live, which states that children between the ages of 6 and 16 must attend public school, private, or receive equivalent instruction elsewhere than school (N.J.S.A 18:38-25 NJ Statutes Annotated). As I read that passage and took notice to the word equivalent I became a little worried. As I researched what equivalent meant I found out I was obligated to teach them the same content that is taught in the Public School system(i.e.; spelling, math, reading, science ,etc...). However, the guidelines I found did not dictate the quality of said instruction.
Keeping this in mind I began to start writing a rough draft of my schedule.Here are some tips that worked for me, when planning your schedule/attendance make sure it works good with your family's daily routine, while keeping in mind that you have to meet the requirements, goals, and objectives of your child/children's education. When deciding to set your attendance and schedules for the year you should define:
- Your goals and objectives for the school year.
- Factor in the requirements for your state, if this applies to you.
- Give thought to the type of person you are. Are you an early riser, or are you the type that can't pull the covers back until 10 (smile)? Regardless of the type of person you are, you can successfully homeschool your children early in the morning, or after 10.
- If you work you will have to come up with a suitable schedule that will allow you to homeschool around your work schedule.
- Take into consideration your life style and what works best for you and your family. However, keep in mind that your new job is to educate your child /children. Note, that some life style changes may have to be made in order to achieve this goal.
Furthermore, as you ponder over the task of homeschooling take into consideration the following:
1. How long will your school year be? It is a good idea to establish when and if you will be breaking the year into terms/semesters; if so, what will be their beginning and ending dates, as well as the duration of each term?
2. Decide on whether or not you will have a traditional five day school week or a four day week. Will it be Monday through Friday or Saturday through Wednesday? How many hours a day will you spend teaching? Naturally the amount of children you are homeschooling will be the determining factor in setting your teaching time. Overall make a schedule that works for you.
3. Set up a calendar for your scheduled days off.
4. Also, you might consider what I call "lag time". Lag time is missed days because of unexpected things that tend to happen. I have found that this is necessary for me to implement. It helps to ensure that you don't fall too far behind in your goal for the year.
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Umm Anisa |
| About the author: |
| Umm Anisa has been homeschooling her four daughters for the past nine years, mashaallah.
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