Relax! You’re home schooling, not just providing "school at home." This does not require a classroom equipped with desks, blackboards and a teacher who stands in front of a class 6 hours a day. Homeschooling is much more fun.

First of all, you know your child or children. Use their interests to make them want to learn. Also, read all you can about learning styles. Once you figure out what makes learning easiest for your child, teaching them will be much easier for you! One child may be a visual learner who learns by watching and reading; another may be an auditory learner who needs to hear the directions or listen to a book rather than read it; still another child may be a kinesthetic learner, who needs to touch and handle things to understand them.

Visual learners do well with workbooks, books and reading matter; auditory learners need you to explain things to them and do well with books on tape (or CD). Kinesthetic learners do well with hands-on activities - puzzles, model kits, cooking, nature walks.

A simple example: When you teach math to a beginning visual learner, you can usually hand them a workbook and a pencil - and walk away. Visual learners take one look and dive in, as it makes sense to them when they see the pictures even before they learn to read. An auditory learner will need you to explain what the page is all about. (For example, "See those two bars? If you add two more bars, how many do you have?") A kinesthetic learner will need you to find four identical objects - pennies work - and say, "See these two pennies? If I give you two more, how many do you have?" Then, let them touch the pennies and count them.

Kinesthetic learners often have problems putting things on paper. Some people suggest letting them start with a computer, but I think they need to learn to walk before they run! Computers are often used for the wrong things. There are some excellent computer learning games; experiment with them yourself before you turn a small child loose with them. Even still, some children get more frustrated with computer games than they do with "hands on learning." A young kinesthetic learner will do better with games like Chinese checkers, checkers, Battleship, etc., with pieces that they can physically touch than with computer or other electronic games.

The other tip that will make homeschooling easier is to realize that children learn best by example. If you love to read, your children will be more interested in reading than if you spend all your time watching TV. If you provide interesting things for them to do, they will learn. You don't need textbooks to teach subject matter, either! I know many public school children who can't find Afghanistan on a map. Provide your children with an atlas and a globe. Show

them the basics. Continents. Oceans. Rivers. Countries. Capitals. Then use these as tools. On the news, there is an earthquake in Turkey. Send the kids to find out where the earthquake happened. Make it a game, if there are several children. I once found a yard of fabric with a globe printed on it that you could make into a ball. My grandchildren came up with their own game. When you caught the ball, you had to name the country your right hand (or whatever) was touching. Pretty soon, they knew geography!

No, it isn't all fun, but neither is life. In fact, life experiences often work as excellent learning experiences. Cooking is a great way to teach math and nutrition. Construction projects are also good math lessons. Need to buy a rug or curtains? Let the kids measure and figure out what size to buy. Take them to the grocery store and let them add up prices as you go through the store, explaining how much money you intend to spend. Show them how to compare prices of different brands.

If a child is interested in nothing but motorcycles or fire trucks, go to the library and get books on motorcycles or fire trucks! The best way to encourage reading is to let the child read about topics he or she is interested in. Some children are interested in dinosaurs; others may be interested in art or football. The subject isn't important; the desire to learn about a subject is what matters.

If a child is interested in plants and flowers, let that child plant a garden or grow plants indoors. This child will probably be interested in learning about how plants grow from seeds and learn to recognize the seeds and leaves of different plants. From there, teach the rudiments of Botany: how plants "breathe" in carbon dioxide and "exhale" oxygen. From this, go on in teaching more science: the difference between plants and animals. Just remember, you can hand a book to your visual learner, but you'd better explain all this to the auditory and kinesthetic learners.

Homeschooling is part of family life. There are many ways that people homeschool, ranging from the parent who uses the school curriculum and textbooks to the unschooler who does it all based on the interests of the child. No matter what method you choose, the interests of the child will make the difference in how well the child understands what he reads and hears.

The object of education is for the child to have the ability to learn what he or she needs to know, no matter if that child wants to be a farmer or a neurosurgeon. Yes, there are basics that matter. The method of teaching those basics varies with each child. Children learn because curiosity is basic human nature. If they are encouraged, they become even more interested in learning new things. Yes, there are children with learning problems, disabilities, and crisis situations that may make learning more difficult than it would be for most people. But homeschooling can work for any child whose family is willing to learn how to work with that child.