Compass Charter Schools (CCS) is a public charter school that offers two flexible independent study programs for families throughout California. Our Options Program is a homeschooling program that is dedicated to serving families that want to choose the curriculum that best meets their child’s needs, interests and preferences.
Homeschooling is a great option for families that want to take a leading role in their child’s education. It allows parents to create exciting and personalized learning experiences for their children. Parents who are new to homeschooling or even seasoned homeschoolers have questions about their journey and their child’s learning experience. That’s why we’ve gathered our eight most commonly asked questions about homeschooling and asked the Educational Facilitators who support our homeschooling families to share their thoughts. Check them out below:
How can I create an immersive and engaging learning experience while homeschooling my children?
Get out and about with your scholars! Rich learning takes place through field trips, attending community events and programs, and spending time in nature. We encourage families that homeschool to explore, observe, discuss, learn from passionate people, ask questions, and enjoy new life experiences. By doing so, parents can help their children build a connection between academic and real-world learning with exposure to new technology, hobbies, professions, wildlife, art, history, community service – the list is endless. It also enables parents and scholars to learn together within and beyond their local community.
As a homeschooler, how can I ensure that my children are gaining real-world knowledge that will help them succeed in the future?
Homeschooling parents can make learning practical for their children! We encourage parents to give their children real-world examples during each lesson to help their children make sense of the world around them. For example, parents can help their children make their favorite treats and then double or triple the recipe to demonstrate multiplying fractions. Or, parents could help their children make a bath bomb or homemade soap to learn about chemical reactions. For children who are learning about revolutions in Social Studies, we suggest that families take the time to have conversations about the things that their children would like to see changed in the world. We believe that when scholars understand the “why” behind the learning, they are more likely to have a deeper, more meaningful and authentic understanding of their academics.
How can I help my homeschooled children develop healthy social skills?
Socialization is something that many homeschooling parents are concerned about for their children. But, helping homeschooled children develop healthy social skills isn’t as scary as some may think! In fact, in many cases, developing social skills happens naturally for homeschooled children. We encourage parents to join local homeschooling groups to help their children make friends. We also recommend that homeschoolers who are part of an independent study program, like CCS, attend school field trips and enrichment activities. CCS hosts several field trips each month to help homeschooling families build friendships and create support groups. Facebook and other online communities are great places to find other homeschoolers and homeschool groups. To help with socialization, we suggest that homeschooling parents ask questions, get involved, attend local events and enroll their children in extracurricular activities like sports, acting, music lessons and much more!
What is a learning style and how I can find my child’s learning style while homeschooling?
A learning style is often referred to as a person’s preferred way of learning new information based on personal strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Research shows that different learning styles use different parts of the brain. When parents find their child’s learning style, they can adjust their teaching methods to ensure that their child is processing information and learning as much as possible. For example, if a child is a visual learner they most likely learn best with visual cues such as pictures, images, and spatial understanding. Homeschooling parents can help their visual learners by teaching their children using more imagery. There are seven known learning styles. Parents can use this learning style inventory to discover their child’s learning style.
While homeschooling, how can I create learning experiences outside of our “classroom” at home?
Consider a family road trip! One of the best things about homeschooling is that children don’t actually have to learn at home. They can learn at a museum, national park, or even in another country. We encourage parents to make learning engaging by taking it on the road and utilizing the flexibility of homeschooling to make education come alive. Parents can consider stopping at a museum during a long drive to visit relatives and give their children a chance to learn something new and exciting! We also suggest that homeschooling families travel during the “off-season” to avoid large crowds at popular, educational attractions across the country.
How can I make reading fun for my homeschoolers?
Read out loud! We encourage homeschooling parents to help their children read aloud as often as possible. Parents and children can take turns reading aloud to keep things interesting. We believe that reading together as a family, can help children fall in love with reading. Books can often help parents connect with their children in meaningful ways as they learn about new places, people, and stories. Reading aloud also forces everyone to slow down and relax – and how wonderful to do it together! Making read fun by asking children to use their imagination. What will happen next? Why did that character do that? What was your favorite part of the story?
What is one important, non-academic skill that I can teach my homeschooled children?
We encourage homeschooling parents to help their children focus on kindness. The flexibility of homeschooling allows parents and their children to volunteer together in their local community, or even on a national scale. Volunteering is an activity outside of the traditional academics that homeschooling parents can enjoy with their children. It can help children learn important life skills like kindness, charity, gratitude, teamwork and so much more. The skills that children can learn through volunteering will most likely help them succeed in the future. We suggest that homeschooling families take time each week for meaningful acts of kindness!
While homeschooling, how can I keep learning interesting and enjoyable for my children?
This is a very common question among homeschooling parents at all levels of experience. We believe one of the best ways that parents can keep learning interesting while homeschooling their children is with varied learning experiences. We encourage parents to embrace change! If a homeschooling parent feels like their tactic isn’t working, we encourage them to make changes. Change can be intimidating, but we believe it’s worth the challenge to help create an enjoyable learning experience for homeschooled children. Occasionally a parent may notice that their child is not enthusiastic about using a specific curriculum. In this case, we suggest that parents consider making a change and using a different curriculum that may be a better fit for their child. Other homeschooling parents may notice that their learning schedule doesn’t seem to be a good fit for their child. Rather than fearing change, we encourage homeschooling parents to embrace change and make adjustments to their daily learning schedule to help their child succeed. Flexibility and change can help make learning fun and enjoyable for homeschooling families!
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Compass Charter Schools (CCS) is a WASC-accredited virtual charter school that serves families throughout California. Interested in learning more about CCS’ flexible academic programs? Visit our website, or contact our enrollment team at enrollment@compasscharters.org or (877) 506-8631.