Along the Way….
What I’ve Learned on
my Homeschooling Journey
By: Teresa Burnett
1. Start
your day with some quiet time, even if it’s just a few minutes, with prayer and
reflection.
2. Keep
an open mind about how you expect your day to go. Be flexible. Be willing to
change your plans and go with the flow which may mean abandoning what you have
planned for the day to chase a learning opportunity or just simply to adjust a
situation because of stress. Feeling stressed? Stop what you’re doing and take
a break, go on a nature walk, turn on music, or put on an educational video to
help you and your child/children get back on track.
3. Lesson
plans are great and help keep you on track but don’t get too tied to them; you
may miss out on some great learning opportunities if you’re not willing to take
advantage of unexpected learning opportunities. It’s helpful to have several
educational videos, games, color pages, toys, computer games such as typing, foreign
language, etc. on hand as a back-up plan or time filler.
4. Don’t
try to recreate a “public school” classroom. Keep your learning environment
causal and comfortable. There may be some days your child/children will whiz
through math or some other subject and other days extra time is necessary.
5. Having
a bad, unproductive school day? Remember, as a general rule your worst day of
homeschooling is still better than a good day in public school. You will easily
spend more one-on-one time teaching and tutoring in a day then what your child
would get in public school in a week.
6. About
grading... it’s not necessary to keep grades (particularly for younger
children) but instead focus on achieving skills and making sure a concept has
been adequately learned before moving on. This is particularly important in
math and writing. To meet the home school requirements for high school,
students will need to follow the states’ high school requirements which can be
found online.
7. How
do you deal with younger siblings? Time subjects (like math) that need mom’s
time for teaching and tutoring when little ones are taking a nap or planning a
read-aloud when little ones are snuggled in your lap for a nap is a great way multi-task
your quality time! It’s handy to have toys out for little ones to play with
that they don’t have access to at other times.
8. Remember,
home schooling doesn’t just happen at home and it’s not found just in a book.
Take advantage of museums, science centers, the zoo, nature centers, your
backyard, etc. to enhance your children’s learning experience.
9. Take
some time when you first start homeschooling to learn a little about your
child’s learning style. Buying or
borrowing a book/s on learning styles to help get you “tuned in” to different
ways learning takes place can be helpful. Remember, just because you like to
learn something a certain way doesn’t mean your child will “get it” the same
way. Take notice of your child’s interest and use that as a teaching tool.
Interests change which will always give you new things to explore with your
child. Also, keep in mind seasons and timing for teaching about certain things,
particularly in science; for example, Spring is a great time for nature
studies.
10. Last
but not least, keep God a central part of homeschooling and curriculum choices.
The heart of the discerning
acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out. Proverbs 18:15
