What Will We Do all Day?

This was one of the questions that kept me lying awake at night when we first began to home school. I knew we wouldn't study all day long and all I could think of was that the TV was going to be a major player in the time schedule. I was determined that wasn't going to happen, but it took some strong-willed planning to be sure it didn't.

In our home, TV is a part of our life. Some of you may have chosen to have no TV. Others may not know what you would do without it. Whatever the case, if you're home schooling it is strongly advised that you decide ahead of time exactly how much TV your children are going to watch and how much control they have over what they watch.

We've talked about the importance of socialization and social skills--that's a big topic of discussion. But little is said about the teaching of children to play alone, occupy their time productively, and independently decide what to do when they have free time. And yet, I feel this is at least as important, if not more so, than the socialization issue.

Electronic Entertainment: TV, Computers, Video Games

When children are home most of the day, these distractions are more tempting than when they are gone the majority of the day. Our solution when we started home schooling was to ban these items completely between the hours of 9 and 4. My son was horrified! I stood firm--he adjusted--I was amazed.

This allows about two hours of electronic entertainment a day when everything is said and done. Based on the controls we put on what our son can watch and play, we're comfortable with this. At least half of that, if not much more, is educational programming.

This may suit your family, it may horrify your family, or it may simply act as an example of one way to set a standard. I hope it is the latter!

One of the great advantages of limiting electronic entertainment is that your children will find something else to do. This may take a while if they're not experienced at entertaining themselves, but if you strictly enforce your limits, you'll be amazed at what they come up with. I won't bore you with the stories of science experiments, art projects, and role playing that I've seen in the last year, but it was far more than I expected. We make sure that our son has at least an hour or two a day for independent activity (supervised...mind you, but independent). Sometimes, I'm not sure I can keep up!

If teaching social skills, the value of independent play and the detriments of television are unfamiliar to you, you may find the following articles (a small sampling of what's available) interesting reading:

There are several options available to families who want to screen or limit their TV viewing. I'll mention two here that we use and have found very helpful.

• Hard Disk Recorder -- This is a device that attaches to the television like a VCR or cable box. You can program it to record hours of TV shows. It will automatically record favorite shows, movies, topics, and so forth. Your family can, at any time that meets your schedule, then watch the recorded shows from a menu. The advantage of a system of this sort is that there is no monthly fee.

  You can watch one show while another is recording. It's easily programmed, allows you to fast forward through commercials, stop or pause a show when interrupted, and have a practical way to limit your children to shows that you choose. I especially found it freed us from the panic that ensued when we were out doing errands when a favorite show was on. Now, it doesn't matter when it's on, we'll see it when we're ready.

  Search for "hard disk recorder" and take a peek at the ones Amazon.com has to offer:

• Monthly Fee Recording Boxes -- This is a similar option that does the same type of recording, but has a monthly fee. These may be available from TiVo or your local cable company. These cost far less to get into, but the monthly fee adds up. It's a great way to try the system and see if it works for your family.

With either of these systems, be sure to take advantage of the Parental Controls offered by most cable companies and Internet Service Providers.

Summary

This will conclude Lesson 2. I hope you've enjoyed this lesson and the new concepts it's given you to consider.

In review, you should be comfortable with the following:

• The Socialization issues and what they really involve
• The many oppoortunities available for home school students to socialize
• The difference between socialization and social skills and that you can teach social skills
• The importance of teaching children to spend time alone and developing independent play habits