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Home Schooling: Grandparents Can Help

When grandparents discover their grandchildren are going to be home schooled, many react in much the same way as Barbara and Martin Epp did when their son and his wife decided to home school their children.

"We were a little concerned," says Barbara.  Their main worry had to do with the size of their son’s family, which was larger than average.  

The Epps knew that home schooling required a lot of time, discipline and organization, and they weren’t sure how their daughter-in-law was going to manage it in addition to all of her other duties. Like all grandparents, they wanted their grandchildren to have the best possible education, and they weren’t sure if the home schooling option could deliver.

The Epps were also concerned about their grandchildren’s social life. How would home schooling affect this aspect of their development? Would their grandchildren become shy and withdrawn, unable to relate to other children?

Positive Outcome
Thankfully, none of the Epps’ fears have born any fruit.

Not only have their grandchildren done well academically (the oldest is set to begin training as an engineer next year), they have also adjusted well socially. This is due in large part to the children’s participation in sports, music and other community recreational and educational programs. This involvement ensured that their grandchildren interacted on a regular basis with children outside the home schooling world.

"They’re a wonderful family, an absolutely amazing family, really," Barb says.

The Epps regret the fact that their own work hasn’t allowed them much time to participate in their granchildren’s home school activities. Nevertheless, they have had some involvement, most notably going to special events, such as the symphony, with their grandchildren, helping them out on crafts and other school projects and filling in as "teacher" when their children have gone on vacation.

The Epps are confident now that their children made the right decision; however, they still don’t think home schooling is for everyone. As the Epps have come to recognize, grandparents can be a special blessing and influence on their home-schooled grandchildren. Home schooling creates many unique opportunities to develop close relationships with your grandchildren as you share interests and experiences together.

Grandchildren can gain a number of things from your involvement in their home school experience:

• positive socialization with elders,
  
  
• heroes to emulate,
  
  
• adults who value and love them,
  
  
• wisdom that can only come through a lifetime of experience,
  
  
• information, knowledge, and skills from your field of expertise,
  
  
• a wealth of personal stories and family history and
  
  
• access to educational items that the family could not otherwise afford.

Your grandchildren aren’t the only ones who will benefit when you take an active role in their home-school program. As a grandparent, you will also be blessed in a number of ways. For example, you will:

• form a closer bond with your grandchildren through shared knowledge and experiences,
  
  
• find an outlet (and an eager audience) for all of the wisdom and knowledge you have gained over the years,
  
  
• discover unique opportunities to share your faith with your grandchildren and
  
  
• learn new things as you immerse yourself in your granchildren’s lessons.

Ask

• for books on home-schooling so you can be informed,
  
  
• what the grandchildren are studying so you can be on the lookout for items to add to the subject and
  
  
• if you can attend field trips and outings.

Teach

• foreign languages
• art
• typing
• writing
• sewing
• music
• woodworking
• computers
• cooking
• sports
• another specialized skill you possess

Do

• Show an interest in what your grandchildren are learning.
  
  
• Ask to see schoolbooks, homework assignments, research papers, journals, and so on.
  
  
•  Read to the grandchildren and offer to take them to the library or pick up books for them.
  
  
• Pass on your professional expertise, if possible. Take grandchildren to your place of employment for a day.
  
  
• Watch the newspapers for interesting places to visit and offer to take the kids on field trips.
  
  
• Develop a new hobby together related to what your grandchildren are learning in their studies.
  
  
• Provide transportation to art lessons, swimming lessons and other special activities.
  
  
• Display their artwork and other school projects in your home.
  
  
• Take grandchildren to places where you volunteer time.
  
  
• Offer to help with housework, laundry, dishes, housecleaning and babysitting so parents have more time to prepare lessons.

Buy

• educational games,
• a globe, atlas, or wall map,
• encyclopedias (either on CD or in print form),
• dictionary and/or thesaurus,
• scientific materials, such as a magnifying glass, butterfly net, telescope, microscope, chemistry set, and so forth,
• books, including curriculum books and supplementary materials,
• chalkboard or dry-erase board,
• posters,
• bible study materials and
• educational CDs, videos or DVDs

At a Distance

• Be a pen pal for your grandchildren.
  
  
• Write letters or send e-mails (this is a great way for your grandchildren to develop writing skills).
  
  
• Send interesting magazine articles and other items in the mail or send them as attachments to your e-mails.
  
  
• Keep in regular phone contact with your grandchildren and make sure you inquire about what they are learning in their studies.
  
  
• Send books on tape to your grandchildren who are pre-school age. A good idea is to buy them a book and then make a tape of you reading it for them (this is a great way to "be there" without actually being there).
  
  
• Plan your next visit so you get to spend at least half the day in class with your grandchildren so you can observe and/or get involved in what they’re learning.

Related Reading:
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Need advice? Ask us.

Barbara Epp. For many years she was the director of Mothers Who Care which is a prayer ministry that enlists moms to pray for their children’s teachers and schools. She is now working with Retirement With a Purpose, writing articles and continuing to mentor young women by e-mail.