If you decide to try the option of homeschooling your child within the safe and secure environment of your home. So that you can inculcate in him all those personal values that you believe an educational organization fails to impart. Then you should also realize the importance of mentoring in homeschooling. Rather than just tutoring your child, you need to act as his mentor.



While a tutor and a mentor have the same responsibility of imparting knowledge, each is a distinctive role. A tutor merely shares a one-on-one, teacher-student relationship with his disciple, but a mentor shares a bond at a more personal level. A tutor educates and communicates through a question and answer series. A mentor on the other hand aspires to contribute by building an intimate relationship and instilling skills and values by becoming a role model. Besides providing aid on educational subjects, a mentor guides and counsels on other issues in life as well. Hence, a tutor differs a great deal from a mentor, in the sense that they use and implement different methods of teaching. Unlike teachers, mentors encourage logical reasoning with practical thinking and not just memorization.

Parents are the first mentors of their children and thus natural role models. Parents not only nurture their children but also play a key role in molding their character. Children are greatly influenced by their parents and thus it becomes all the more necessary to play your part as a mentor responsibly. Parents as mentors, inevitably share a very close and intimate relationship with their children. It is easy for parents to gain the trust and confidence of their children easily, and it is important to be careful not to lose it due to carelessness or negligence. As parents and mentors it is important to help the homeschooling children to develop skills and attributes that will help them to achieve their professional and personal goals. By sharing our experiences with our children, we can prepare them to face the challenges in life ahead.

Parents can perform a satisfactory job of mentoring only if they succeed in building a strong bond with their children. There should be a secure comfort level between the both, so that both of them can communicate their problems and solve them together. This way, parents can provide their children valuable lessons of life. Children look up to their parents for everything. In the present fast- paced world, while parents struggle to make ends meet, children thirst to spend quality time with their parents. Parents can quench their childs thirst and satisfy their hunger for a relationship with them, simply by being a friend to their children instead of a dictating parent. This is also useful for strengthening family ties.

As mentors, parents should also provide their children correct guidelines and appropriate directions in life. Wise counseling and continuous advice from time to time is essential to keep your child from going astray in life. Mentors infuse personal values and skills by challenging the mental and physical capabilities of their wards. Parents can boost the morale of their children by appreciating and applauding their childs accomplishments. They can not only shape the character of their child, but also encourage them to form personal views and frame opinions of their own.

Homeschooling aids should only be used as supplements because they cannot replace mentoring. Homeschooling provides parents the perfect opportunity to guide and counsel their children successfully.Hence parents should not rely solely on the Internet, videos and tutors as tools of homeschooling.