Tips for Combining Homeschool and Sports

Tips for Combining Homeschool and Sports

One of the strongest arguments against homeschooling stems from lack of social interaction and the loss of opportunity in the field of sports. Various studies have shown that such an argument is baseless. Home schooling is a concept where parents /guardians decide to impart academic education to their children at home as opposed to sending them to a public school.

To imagine that these homeschooled children fall behind in confidence or activities is far from the truth. On the contrary studies prove that not only are home schooled children at par with their public school counterparts they also have lesser behavioral problems due to lack of peer pressure. Parents who do decide in favor of homeschooling are aware of the problems faced by these children in public schools and so are obviously attentive parents who would take care to maintain a high standard of the extra curricular activities for the child. Homeschooling a child does not mean that the child is confined to the four walls of the house and cannot enjoy the same level of activities that the public school children do. All the same, if certain ground rules are followed parents could expose their homeschooled children to a great sports environment too.

1) Organize play dates that involve outdoor activities like camping or hiking with other homeschooled children. These extra curricular activities help expose the child to a sporty environment and interaction with peers provides the competitive spirit required for most sports activities. Since home schooled children rarely have others to compete with it is very important to develop their competitive streak by using such means.

2) Introduce several age appropriate games. Since public schools expose the students to many games before they finally decide which one to pursue further, it is essential for the homeschooled child to also try their hand at a few games before finally settling in on one or even two of them. Unless a child has tried out say swimming, horseback riding, baseball and other such games it is not going to be possible to judge which games are best suited to the child's temperament.

3) Enroll in a sports activity, which agrees with the child. Once the parent and the child have picked a sport or two, which they feel, are in accordance with their natural abilities regular exposure to the sport should be arranged. Joining say swimming classes or a junior local football team can take care of regular practice.

4) Do not hesitate to pick a team game over an individual sport or vice versa. Since practicing the game involves a lot of interaction with peers there is no need to favor a team game over an individual one. Similarly, one can find enough practice and play room on various teams for a home schooled child. Not all teams are bound to schools there are some that are area sensitive or community teams and home schooled children can easily find a place there.

5) There are many sports programs for home schooling children. In fact, many a time's athletes actually choose to home school in order to be able to pack in more time of practice into their schedules. These programs can be easily found on the net in home schooling directories such as eLearningYellowPages.com. These programs provide detailed and well thought out exercises for those interested in sports.

Academic development as well as extracurricular activities goes hand in hand for the all over growth of a child. A homeschooling program that includes tips for sports and other extra curricular activities should be favored over one, which is completely dedicated to an academic syllabus. Those who attend regular public schools mostly need to slot their sporty activities for after school hours thus a home schooled child does not miss out on that aspect. All sports require a fair amount of practice, which needs time. Parents who opt for educating their children at home should take care to combine homeschooling with an acceptable level of sports activities.

Home schooling and sports are in no way two concepts, which are poles apart. On the contrary, the two go so well together that most athletes who are still going through their basic education process choose to drop out of regular public schools and opt for academic achievements at home to be able to juggle their timetable in a manner most suitable to them.

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