Providing Resources to Equip and Inspire your Home School
The Homeschool Channel is an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) project of The American Family Association. As our Mission Statement indicates, we are devoted to encouraging parents with the day-to-day challenges of home education and family discipleship.
Negotiations with Sky Angel were suspended toward the end of 2009 as their representatives asked for an exclusive relationship with their company. Since our goal has always been to offer The Homeschool Channel to as many people as possible through as many avenues as possible, it did not make sense to attach our product to only one broadcast outlet. Among other things, we felt that such an arrangement would not serve the many homeschool families that did not want to purchase a package of TV channels to get homeschool programming. We expressed to them our desire to continue offering the channel on Sky Angel as well as through the Internet. This was not acceptable to Sky Angel and thus our talks have ended for the time being.
As mentioned, we have always considered Sky Angel as one of several ways to deliver programming to homeschool families. We will continue with our original plan of delivering programs on the Internet. In addition, we will make allowances for those families who have purchased Sky Angel hardware and subscriptions. We regret this decision was made on the part of Sky Angel and any inconveniences this has caused to our future customers.
The Homeschool Channel provides program streaming twenty-four hours per day. Currently, the video-on-demand portion of our website is under construction. When it is operational, viewers will be able to select from a wide variety of documentaries, movies and other educational programming at their convenience. This programming will be delivered in real-time streaming and will not be available for download to your hard drive.
We are always looking for experienced teachers with personal knowledge of the home education movement. You may contact us at info@thehomeschoolchannel.tv.
Initially, the programming on The Homeschool Channel will be supplementary in nature. We are, however moving quickly toward offering a variety of live classes taught interactively.
You know your children better than anyone else and have the deepest love and concern for them.You also have the most direct and long-term responsibility for your children before God, who commands parents to teach their children His Word, the most important thing they will learn (Deut. 6:6, 7). Educationally, one-to-one tutoring has many advantages over a classroom where one teacher tries to meet the needs of many children at different learning levels. You do not need to know everything in order to teach. Your example and enthusiasm in learning with your children will motivate and encourage them. Dr. Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute, conducted an analysis in 1994 of the standardized test results for 16,320 home-school children nationwide. He found these children to average at or above the 73rd percentile in all subject areas. (The national average is the 50th percentile.) A 1997 nationwide study, Strengths of Their Own, by Dr. Ray demonstrated that there is little relationship between the parents' education levels and their children's scores. He also found that whether the parent is a certified teacher or not has no bearing on a child's scores. Dr. Ray says, "The tutorial method of teaching has always been the superior method. Home education epitomizes this method, providing essentials for success—a close student/teacher relationship, family-consistent values, motivation, flexibility, and individualization. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him" (James 1:5-7)
Here are some suggestions to help you get started: Seek the Lord and agree as husband and wife on your decision to home school. Research home education by reading basic books on home education. Meet and visit with experienced home schoolers in your church or local support group and make an effort to attend your state's home-school convention. Contact your state home-school organization to learn of local support groups, events, and publications as well as your state's laws governing home education. HSLDA has state law summaries. Make arrangements to comply with the law according to your conscience and recommendations of state organizations and/or Home School Legal Defense Association. Consider joining HSLDA. Get your home and life in order by establishing discipline in child training and your use of time. Get rid of unnecessary or little-used possessions to make way for learning materials and study space. Choose methods and teaching materials that you feel comfortable in starting with and that would be appropriate to the age and number of your children. If you feel overwhelmed by the choices you must make, you may want to use a prepared curriculum from a textbook, worktext, or unit study publisher for your first year. Re-evaluate and experiment with different materials and methods and make adjustments as you gain experience. Throughout the educational process you will want to give priority to your children's spiritual and character development. Home schooling is a way of life in which the home is the center of life and learning. Through home education, parents can experience in a unique way their responsibility to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Home schooling requires a time commitment, but not as much as you might expect. One-to-one tutoring is more efficient than classroom instruction and thus takes less time. Time requirements vary according to the methods used, the ages of the children, and how many children are being taught. Academic instruction might begin with one-half to one hour for the early grades and work up to a few hours of instruction and/or independent study for upper grades. Most correspondence courses state that their work can be completed in four or five hours per day.
Each state sets its own laws governing home education. Meeting the requirements of these laws may be as simple as informing the school district of your intent to home school and having your children tested or as complex as fulfilling requirements to be a private school.Legislation is continually being proposed and considered in many states. It is important for you to work with your state and local Christian home-school organizations to aid the passage of favorable bills. Constitutional rights to liberty and privacy under the Fourteenth Amendment and the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment guarantee parents the right to educate their children according to their convictions. However, lower courts have ruled inconsistently in applying these rights to home schooling. We encourage you to comply with the law as far as your conscience will allow and then seek an acceptable alternative only if necessary. It is important to obtain a copy of your state's law pertaining to home education. Many problems can be avoided by being accurately informed and by using tact and respect in dealing with school authorities. For legal defense and assistance, contact Home School Legal Defense Association. To qualify for membership, apply before you are contacted by any authorities regarding school attendance laws. HSLDA offers a free summary of your state's home-school law. HSLDA advises members of their rights, deals with school officials, and advocates the right of parents to teach their children at home in the courts, in congress, in state legislatures, and in the media. Michael P. Farris, founder and president of HSLDA, says, "One of my life goals is to give every parent who wants to home school the necessary confidence to start and continue homeschooling."
A wealth of experiences outside the home can supplement and enrich home education. Unlimited possibilities abound for field trips that individual families or groups can take. These provide valuable in-the-field learning laboratories.Specialized classes are often available through parks, museums, art schools, or private teachers. Church and community teams offer various sports opportunities.There may actually be more enrichment activities and time in which to do them available for home-taught students than for those in school.
The issue of "socialization" is quite possibly the most misunderstood aspect of home schooling. Popular opinion assumes that children need periods of interaction with a group of peers to acquire social skills. By contrast, however, many believe that extensive peer contact during childhood can cause undesirable peer dependency. "Do not be deceived: 'Bad company corrupts good morals'" (I Cor. 15:33 NAS). Young children are more likely to be influenced by the majority than to be an influence on them. Children who receive their education outside the home are prone to accept their peers' and teachers' values over those of their parents. Some advantages of freedom from peer pressure can be self-confidence, independent thinking, the ability to relate to people of all ages, and better family relations. Godly principles of interaction can be taught, demonstrated, and reinforced at home by parents. Children can learn needed social skills by interacting with siblings or other children and adults under their parents' supervision. Young people who have had this type of training have adjusted very well to adult life. You can help your children build lasting Christian friendships with people of all ages as they interact with church and family friends.
There is no one "right" way to home school. There is no one right method or curriculum. As an artist has at his disposal an entire palette of colors to mix and use, so a home educator has a vast array of effective methods from which to choose.These choices may be based on:The ages of the children.The subject matter being taught.The number of children that you are teaching.The learning styles your children find most effective.The time you have available to prepare and teach material.The varying abilities or special needs of your children.The motivation that certain methods may provide to your individual children.The variety of methods is endless. As you choose and mix them, your home school will become uniquely fitted to your family.
Many Christian parents are committed to educating their children at home because of their conviction that this is God's will for their family. They are concerned for the spiritual training and character development as well as the social and academic welfare of their children. Specific advantages have been expressed as follows: parents can present all academic subjects from a biblical perspective and include spiritual training. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov. 9:10 NAS). Home schooling makes quality time available to train and influence children in all areas in an integrated way. Each child receives individual attention and has his unique needs met. Parents can control destructive influences such as various temptations, false teachings (including secular humanism and occult influences of the New Age movement), negative peer pressure, and unsafe environments. Children gain respect for their parents as teachers. The family experiences unity, closeness, and mutual enjoyment of one another as they spend more time working together. Children develop confidence and independent thinking away from the peer pressure to conform and in the security of their own home. Children have time to explore new interests and to think. Communication between different age groups is enhanced. Tutorial-style education helps each child achieve his full educational potential. Flexible scheduling can accommodate parents' work and vacation times and allow time for many activities.
© 2012 Created by The Homeschool Channel Admin.
