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When the child stays at home all day, and mommy is the teacher,



there are certain issues of discipline at stake. It is easy for he



child to misconstrue the freedom he has at home and feel that



homeschooling is just a long summer holiday. This is a potential



landmine and children need to be disciplined right at the start.





Homeschooling gives you and your child a truly immense amount of



flexibility. You and your child decide where to learn, how much to



learn and when to learn. But,these should be decisions made at



the beginning stages. If your child is too little to take an



active part in the decision, chart out a few hours of the day for



the various activities, and stick to it. When there is no outside



agency to supervise and no exams to answer, it is easy to get



sidetracked. If your child is old enough, consult him and find out



when he wants to learn. Apply your parental discretion and come up



with a timetable.





Homework is also a part of homeschooling. What this means is that



once lessons have been taught, the child should be asked to do



some part of the course work by himself without your guidance. You



will need to make sure that your child sits willingly and finishes



his work.





Courtesy, manners and punctuality are some of the various facets



of discipline that a child has to imbibe in the early years of his



life. The school where he interacts with his peers, his seniors



and juniors and his teachers mould these values quite



automatically. At homeschool, the child should be taught the



importance of speaking and behaving in a proper manner and



appropriate corrections need to be meted out if behavior is



unsatisfactory.





It is advisable to keep aside a particular room or a part of the



room for your homeschool. The child should be expected to reach



his desk at the appointed time, in proper attire with all the



necessary material. It is easy to allow the school to become an



extension of play if these ground rules are not laid out and



followed. As the teacher, supervisor, principal and janitor rolled



into one, you should also approach the study area with a cool



professionalism.





Homeschooling is doomed to fail without patience. In spite of all



the precautions and steps one takes, it is easy for a child to get



familiar' at homeschool. At such times, it may be difficult to



discipline the child and get him to listen to you attentively.



When this happens, switch to something new. Allow the child to



take a breather and enjoy a break yourself.





Homeschooling is not easy. It requires a lot of hard work and



patience. The very informality of the whole procedure sometimes



works against it by making it too easy. If you take steps to



establish rules at the very beginning and adhere to these rules,



your homeschooling experience will be a huge success.