Reading: The Key To Homeschooling Success

One of the most important aspects ofonly help you as you prepare the lessons, etc but
homeschooling your child properly is reading, bothwill also benefit your child as they work to study
for the child and the parent. As the parent andeach subject. If you decide that you want to
teacher, it is imperative that you read extensivelylearn to speed read, it's important to consider that
on a wide variety of topics. Remember that youit's a learned skill. Just as swimming or riding a bike
are attempting to provide your children with ais a learned skill, speed-reading is the same. They
better education than you believe the public schoolall take practice. As the old saying goes, practice
system can provide and thus, you want yourmakes perfect.
knowledge on a broad range of subjects to beEven though you have the basic skill of reading
high.mastered, it takes more than just moving your
Although you will definitely want to read someeyes faster along the page to become good at
books on the subject of homeschooling itself, dospeed-reading. It takes concentration,
not rely entirely on these books alone. It'sdetermination and a set time each day devoted
important that you are knowledgeable not only onto practice.
how to teach, but on the subject matter itself.Pick a time during the day when you are alert and
You will find yourself in a more helpful positionnot too tired. Trying to speed read near the end
with a broad knowledge base from which toof a stressful day isn't wise. Many people find it
teach as opposed to a very specified knowledgeeasiest to practice their speed-reading either in
of a particular pedagogical style.the morning or at mid-day. At these times you
To begin, read general works on subjects likeare alert and are still not as fully immersed in the
history, science, literature, and philosophy. Think ofpressures of your day, as you are later.
the range of subjects your children wouldChoose a part of your day when you will have
encounter in the public school system, and gain afifteen minutes of uninterrupted time. Find a quiet
general knowledge of each. While all this readingspot and spend that fifteen minutes concentrating
may seem daunting, remember that you needn'ton your reading and on increasing your reading
become an expert in these subjects. What willspeed. If you do this each day, your reading
usually suffice is a general "history of" orspeed will naturally increase. It's much the same
"beginner's guide to" the various topics.principle as learning to play a musical instrument.
You want to avoid, of course, having yourTime regularly devoted to practicing ends up
knowledge of a given subject depend entirely onproducing high-quality music that is enjoyable to
one person's opinion or work, but at the samelisten to.
time be realistic: a few, short general works onTaking your speed reading seriously and practicing
the subjects should be sufficient to start. As youit will guarantee success. Before long you'll be able
and your children start exploring the subjects into work your way through a book in a fraction of
more depth, you may find new and differentthe time it took you in the past. In addition, you
areas that you become interested in, and at thatwill quickly find that the amount of time spent
time you may seek out other books that coverreading in order to prepare your homeschooling
the subjects in more depth. A good rule of thumblesson plans will drop and more time will be
(assuming your children are young) is to read atavailable to work on other things. As your children
least what a typical high school student wouldlearn and implement the speed-reading techniques,
have to read on the subjects you plan to teach.they too will have more time to engage in other
If you are just starting out and this task seemsactivities and spend less time reading their
overwhelming, you may want to consider the ideaschoolwork.
of speed-reading. Learning to speed read will not