In homeschooling, the only person who matters is the child being homeschooled. The objective of the homeschooling parent is not to create a clone who could have passed any regular public school, but a special person who has a well rounded personality with an education that was structured to take their interests into consideration.
Finding Out What Interests Your Child
Anything that interests your homeschool student will bring in its wake a number of questions. A good way to find out if the interest is genuine is to begin answering these question trails. Some interests get easily satisfied with a couple of answers, while others may require days to fulfill. Figure out an interest that can serve your child well in the future and then ensure that you keep it alive. This does not have to be limited to a single specific interest, but can encompass as many things that the child really seems to enjoy.
Feeding Those Interests in a Productive Manner
If your child enjoys reading about a specific subject such as gemstones, dinosaurs, or fast trains, ensure that you find related reading material for them to peruse. Have them head to the library and check out books that can be found on the subject. Pick up information about trade fairs or exhibitions where more can be learned about the subject. Have the child do physical projects involving the interest. Ensure that some free time is devoted to this interest each week. Don’t worry if some topics fall by the way, just move on and encourage the new interests that the child has developed over the academic session.
End Product of the Game
By ensuring that the child learns more about the subject of interest you are giving them a firm foundation to build on later in life. The idea is to ensure that the child gets an education, not just what you want them to learn but also about what they want to learn. The end product of this game is that your child learns how to ask questions and follow their interests, this being a life skill that will always come in handy throughout life.
