Moms Talk Network

This is Part 1 of a series by guest blogger, Deb Gallardo from The Story Ideas Virtuoso.

Since families decide to home educate their children for nearly as many reasons as there are homeschooling families, it’s not always easy to write a one-size-fits-all article on any topic. When it comes to family dynamics, it’s even more of a challenge.

In this series we will focus on building your child’s character and enhancing his/her learning from a unique perspective — the combination of: your particular family dynamics, how you structure your school days, what type of curriculum you use, your commitment to helping your child/ren reach maximum potential.

If you have a young family and your children have never been to school, pre-school or day-care, about the only time you may have encountered time pressure is when the household routine changes. Sunday morning preparation for church is an example. Holiday gatherings or house guests is another.

But many families that decide to home educate have at least one child who previously attended school. These households are familiar with the morning mayhem associated with getting everyone up, washed, clothed, fed, and out the door, armed with lunches, homework, library books and gym clothes. Avoiding such morning stress may have been a determining factor in your decision to homeschool your child/ren. So now what?

Firstly, take a look at how your family functions, based on personality and learning styles, age and maturity of child/ren, health issues (mental, emotional or physical), parental obligations and schedules, family priorities, curriculum choice, expectations, and motivation for choosing to homeschool. The list at the end of this article will help you assess these criteria.

Why do you need such an assessment of your family members?

One of many important decisions you must make is “when will the school day begin?” Everything else will revolve around that, just the same as the family breadwinner’s day job determines what time s/he gets up, when to leave for work, etc.

While this decision may seem at first glance to be a no-brainer, it’s not all that easy. If you, as the home instructor, are an orderly, disciplined morning person, your preference will likely be to begin school early, at the same time each day, with a highly-structured schedule.

If you are a free-spirited artistic-type who likes to awaken without an alarm and feels boxed in by deadlines and schedules, then you will likely prefer school to begin “whenever,” depending on how everyone feels any particular day, and your curriculum will likely reflect this as well.

Highly successful homeschooling situations can come out of both scenarios. But this is only half the equation. Enter: the children.

If you and your child/ren have similar personality traits, your life will be a lot easier than if your personalities differ. Imagine, though, that you are like the first type I mentioned and your child is more like the second.

The reverse is less of a problem. If your child is orderly and disciplined, be grateful, even if s/he is a total mystery to you. Just trust me on this one.

Typically the most difficult scenario is multiple children with contrasting personalities, and you and your spouse at opposite ends of the spectrum as well. What do you do?

Evaluate how you already interact as a family. Each of us has strengths and weaknesses. It’s important to know what these are for every member of your family, and that each member plays to his/her strengths.

Use this printable chart to help you think through who and what and how you each function within your household. When you’ve completed that assessment, you’ll be ready to decide how best to structure your days, the subject of the next article in this series.

Note: Be careful about personality labels. Nothing is meant to be a pigeon hole for life. For more help with this, a Google search or Amazon book query for Meyers-Briggs will give you more information. Their 16 personality types are fascinating and it’s almost eerie how such accurate profiles are produced by answering certain questions. A number of similar tests online are free.

Deb Gallardo is a published author for adults and children, an educator, and former home instructor for her daughter (now in college). She hosts a blog, “The Story Ideas Virtuoso,” where she helps fiction writers find story ideas, and offers creative writing tips, advice and inspiration. In her spare time, Deb performs in semi-professional musical theatre productions and dinner theatre venues in and around Central Ohio. You can tweet with her too.

To learn more, check out the Mom’s Talk Guide to Raising Happy & Healthy Kids – Tips and resources address nutrition, exercise, sleep, routines, and much more.