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The Complete Guide to Homeschooling Your Neopets


by zippo92740

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How many Neopets out there actually go to school each day? Fifty percent? Twenty percent? Five? It is very probable that most of those reading this article have never sent their pets to neoschool. Why?

The stationary was too expensive, you didn't want your pets learning bad habits, you couldn't be bothered to, you didn't know that a neoschool existed, they're all the same excuses. Well, if you are not sending your pets to neoschool, ponder on this question a moment: how are they going to learn? Fear not, fellow Neopians, for I have here a complete guide for homeschooling Neopets.

Homeschooling is not difficult, trust me; I myself am homeschooled and I ought to know. In fact, it can be great fun, depending on the way you look at it. Also, if you happen to live in a more remote place like Maraqua or Kreludor, it is much cheaper and less tiring for your pets to homeschool them, and depending on when your pets finish their work, they can have much longer weekends than they ever would at neoschool. Watch in amazement as their painful Mondayitis/schoolphobia disappear before your very eyes.

Let's start with the basic question: How do I homeschool? Like I said before, it's not hard. In fact, you don't have to do much at all to begin with, since you don't need much stationary at first. Just grab a few books, and some old second hand desk (or let your pets make one themselves for woodwork) and you're ready to begin! Depending on the pets you have, you can homeschool them in a few different ways:

#1. If you only have one or two pets and they are very close in age, you can set up one of the rooms in your Neohome into a classroom, and teach like a teacher (is there any other way to teach?). This will consume much of your time, though, and your pets may, at young ages, keep wandering into the kitchen every five minutes to grab something to munch.

#2. Another way of homeschooling is by taking your pets somewhere new every day, and let them observe their natural surroundings. Let them take sketch books every time you go someplace and always remember to ask them questions and make a big deal about small things like how leaves photosynthesise and how a peo eats. As well as this, consider taking a few notebooks and buying a few new plushies; you and your pets can have "Observation Skills contests" by sitting on the ground and recording what you see; whoever writes the most before the day ends gets a plushie or treat!

#3. This is a much more suitable solution if your pets vary greatly in age and you don't have much time to teach them. Simply late on Sunday night or early on Monday morning write up a list of everything your pet has to do each week. They can then sit up in their rooms and do all the work themselves, only coming to you to do oral tests and spelling. Smart pets will soon learn that they can wake up as early as they like, get all the day's work done in a couple of hours, and then they have the rest of the day off. It is also a good idea to squish everything down into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so your pet can have Friday off. Let's face it: we all want three-day-weekends.

And why don't I put in a list of how a normal day would go for a homeschooled pet:

7:30 am NST ~ He/she wakes up and plods over to their desk to check what the day's work is. Then the pet comes down to the kitchen and does the day's reading while munching on cereal or omelettes.

7:45 am NST ~ The pet finishes brekkie, leaves the book on the table for you to put away (how nice of them!), and trots back upstairs to their bedroom or study. They work on maths for the next half hour, and then move onto writing for the NT, history of Terror Mountain, and other subjects.

10:00 am NST ~ You sleep in till ten o' clock for the first time in years, and have breakfast, while reading some article in the Neopian Times for how to homeschool your Neopets. Then you put away the reading book that your pet has kindly left on the table for you and race to the marketplace to stock up on food.

1:30 pm NST ~ You come home with your arms full of bags and boxes of groceries, and your pet(s) run out of the house to help you bring them inside. You ask them how their work is going and they answer that they finished an hour before except for their spelling lesson which they were supposed to wait for you to do. Then you ask them what they did for the past hour and the pet answers that they were doing tomorrow's work.

1:45 pm NST ~ Your take your pet(s) to Tyrannia, Mystery Island, or to try and figure out how to get to Lutari Island, etc.

8:30 pm NST ~ You and your pet(s) arrive back home exhausted, have a quick dinner, and then go to sleep.

Well, now that you know how to homeschool, let's move onto some frequently asked questions.

My pet hates reading, and shouts at the teacher when she tries to make him/her read. I don't want to homeschool in case my pet does the same to me.

Actually, homeschooling is the best, if not the only way to cure this hate for certain subjects. Homeschooling has shown both me and some other people I know to take pride in drawing and art. My own sister hating reading so badly, but being homeschooled, it is now one of her favourite hobbies.

I homeschool and my pet won't stop eating while doing his/her schoolwork. Is there a cure?

Unfortunately, no. It's impossible to concentrate on work when you know there's a pantry full of food close by. Simply learn to live with this and buy your pet large packets of mushrooms. Brain food!

I've been homeschooling my four pets for almost two years and they are driving me out of my mind! Literally!

Yes, it is a lot more stressful having them at home, but don't send them back yet! They may seem to be lazy slobs that just want to go and play all the time but really this happens a lot around the two-year-point of homeschooling. Wait until you've been homeschooling for at least four years before coming to a definite decision.

My pets keep "forgetting" to clean their rooms.

Be creative in all that you do! Try organising a weekly competition; every Saturday, two thousand Neopoints can be awarded to the pet with the cleanest room. Try to also do weekly/monthly contests for the largest amount of stories written, the healthiest petpet, the tidiest portion of the garden belonging to the pets, and other various contests.

My pets are lonely! No other pets like them live around here.

I have the same problem, but don't worry. You'll find other nice Neopets living close by. Maybe even try starting a Homeschooled Pets guild!

My pet is homeschooled at the moment, but he/she really wants to go back to school. Should I do what they want?

That all depends. If your pet is gentle by nature and is under three feet high, you should reasoning with them, asking them to try it for just a little longer and see what they think. On the other hand, if this pet is taller than twelve feet high, by all means, send it away!

Well, now that you know all about homeschooling your pet(s), go ahead! Most will really appreciate it, and will have a lot less stress and worry on their minds. Good luck in homeschooling your Neopets!

 
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