Homeschool Question: Transitional Homeschoolingby Andrea Hermitt | More from this Blogger 03 Apr 2008 12:03 PM Question: Have you ever heard of a transitional home school curriculum? One that is designed to take a child who's just out of traditional school setting and slowly or directs learning to get them in the place where the parents want them to go such as from Traditional to Classical, from Traditional to C. Mason Method, etc? Actually, I have not heard of transitional homeschooling per se, but that should not be a surprise because homeschooling is growing at an amazing rate and new philosophies and methods are introduced and labeled every day. While I have not heard of the phrase transitional homeschooling, that does not mean I have not experienced transitional homeschooling myself. I actually have been through a transitional homeschooling period twice, but as far as I knew, it did not have a label or name. Our first homeschooling transition happened when my kids moved from public school to homeschooling. We never went through a de-schooling period where homeschoolers take the time to de-stress from their public school experiences so they can start homeschooling fresh. Instead, we pretty much moved right into homeschooling, but we did it gradually and slowly. I began homeschooling the children using educational computer games over the summer and slowly moved towards an internet curriculum so that by the time it was officially time to start homeschooling, they had changed their idea of what learning involved. As I mentioned in Knowing You have Found the Right Curriculum part one and part two, our second transition was from an online interactive computer based program to taking classes twice a week. I do not necessarily believe that transitional homeschooling needs to be a purposeful planned step in the process of homeschooling, but a natural organic transformation as a part of a child's overall life. If you are homeschooling your children and are worried about getting them to move their mindset from one kind of schooling to another, remember to always try to make the process as smooth and natural as possible. Learn more about Andrea Hermitt  Andrea Hermitt is a native New Yorker currently residing in GA. She has been married for over 16 years and has two teenage children. Relevanthomeschooling tags User Comments jeannieisnew (75) 03 Apr 2008 01:47 PMAndrea, Thank you! I am really excited about beginning our homeschool journey in the next school year, but our front yard IS the bus stop! I plan to take my kids on a field trip on the first day of school, and do some creative things to make sure they are happy with the decision, but I know that the question of "Why do they go and I don't?" will arise. My middle child is in K this year, and I know that it will be a challenge to make it feel okay to not go with the other kids. I have No doubt that we will be happier academically, but I need to make sure the kids don't feel isolated from other children. Did you run into this when you began homeschooling? I will make every effort to keep my kids in cub scouts, church choir, etc., but were there other areas where you would have done things differently? Discuss this article
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