Home schooling direct instruction is when the parent directly teaches the child. Direct instruction is required in some states in order to qualify as a home school. In other states home schooling direct instruction must be provided by a certified teacher in order to qualify as a school.

So what does this mean to you as a home school parent? Direct instruction is where a child or children receives instruction directly from either a teacher or parent as opposed to independent study where a child researches and learns on their own.

All prepackaged home school curriculum requires a degree of direct instruction. One cannot homeschool with out providing some form of direct instruction as it would be impossible for a child to completely go through an entire grade without some form of instruction from an adult.

So how do you provide home schooling direct instruction that meets your states requirements? The best way to accomplish this task is to find out exactly what your state home school law requires.

You can go to the HSLDA’s website and view your states requirements there. Once you know what the law states, then you will be able to comply.

If you are in one of the states that require your child to either receive direct instruction form a certified teacher or to be supervises by a certified teacher then you may want to look into an online school such as The Grace Academy or The Calvert School.

These schools offer guidance and direct instructions from certified teachers and their curriculum is accredited by a national accrediting association. This is important for you if you live in a state that is restrictive to home schoolers such as California.

Even if your state does not require home schooling direct instruction, it needs to be provided. A child cannot simply do nothing but complete worksheets all day. This may be convenient for you, but it is not beneficial to the child. Direct instruction need not be you telling and the child listening in a traditional school situation.

It can be taking a nature walk and you discover the different types of animal homes together or you go to a museum and discover the secrets of dinosaurs as a family. As long as the adult responsible for the education of the children is providing guidance within the learning environment, then you are providing direct instruction.

For a wonderful view of how unobtrusive direct instruction can be, research into the Charlotte Mason or Montessori style of home schooling should be investigated.

Both of these methods provide child centered learning within limits so that direct instruction is given but not in the form of teacher lecturing and student sitting at a desk “listening”.This type of instruction involves the child so that they learn to love learning instead of seeing it as a boring and mundane task.

There are a lot of ways to interpret home schooling direct instruction. As long as what you are providing meets or exceeds what your state law requires then you should be fine.

References:
http://www.hslda.org
http://www.thecalvertschool.com
http://www.thegraceacademy.com

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