Guide for Homeschooling Parents

10 Ways to Make Homeschooling Effective

How to Manage Homeschooling Successfully

• First, find out what kind of learner your child is to choose the best activities for him. Try this multiple intelligences test. According to your findings, design and choose materials for your child’s dominant traits: more pictures, posters, and videos for a visual learner, more games and movement for a kinesthetic learner etc. You can read all about the importance of knowing your child’s learning style in this article on multiple intelligences.

• Children are curious, so introduce surprise elements: riddles, music, dramatic stories, games, discussions, jokes, stimulating pictures etc. You can also bring a surprise bag that includes items used to introduce the topic of the lesson; have the child guess what the topic used by looking at the items.

• Listen actively to your child and take into account his wishes.  Since you are homeschooling, it is easier to take your time and do that. Respect his preferences, ask which activities he enjoyed most, and use them again.

• Grow learner autonomy-gradually offer more independence as a learner, both in terms of what they learn and how they learn. An example of how they learn: at first have your child listen to a model and repeat it; later have him look for words for himself/ do a reading puzzle by himself; when confident enough, offer appropriate resources and let him do the work by himself. You can also grow learner autonomy by offering your child playful learning experiences. For inspiration and ideas, read this article on learning through play activities.

Offer feedback in the form of constructive criticism, but also praise. Opt for variety, but also be consistent in everything you do.

• Be adaptable and flexible -act quickly when things don’t go as planned, prepare backups; be ready to assume different roles within a lesson: the prompter, the controller, the resource, the assessor. For inspiration and ideas of free activities and resources, make sure to read 13 Sites With Free Resources for kids.

• Know what you are teaching: read the lesson, do the exercises, think of what possible questions the child might have about the topic, try the activities yourself.

• Give clear and simple instructions; make sure the child understood them (ask him to explain what he has to do; ask a question to check).

• Give the lesson structure by following a simple lesson plan: introduce the topic (through a video, a poster, a song etc); discuss the lesson and have your children practice what has been discussed; your child actively works with the topic of the lesson (draw a project, make a presentation; have an interview, record a video etc).

• Prompt your child to correct himself first; if he cannot, offer the right answer/explanation; have him repeat. Offer reinforcements (praise, hugs, clapping, high fives etc) and create a positive learning environment.

• Always set time limits; make sure your child knows when to start and finish an activity; announce when there is little time left (eg 1 more min)

• Children’s attention span is limited so always be ready to get and maintain your child’s attention: make constant eye contact, decide on gestures for when you want to talk, you want them to speak etc. Use attention getters: you say “ready”, they say “ok”; you say “one, two, three”, they must say “eyes on me”; you say “class” on various voices, they must answer “yes” using the same tone.

Stop Doing These Things and Witness The Results

• Don’t try too much, too fast
  • Teach a small amount of information; check what your child has taken in; give him opportunities to use the information; only then continue teaching

• Don’t talk too much
  • Ideally, during a lesson, your child should talk more than you. Avoid long explanations and replace them with demonstrations if possible. Use gestures, have children explain back, offer plenty of opportunities for your child to practice what you teach.

• Avoid sitting too much
  • Change the pace of the activities: play a song and dance, then sit down on a cushion and discuss, sit on the chair and work on a task, go around the house to interview, survey etc

• Try to teach with a positive attitude
  • Leave all problems at the door.
  • When things don’t go as hoped(not doing assignments, not willing to participate etc) write a letter to tell your child what is wrong and ask him to answer back. Do not act on the spur of the moment.

5 Simple Yet Essential Rules for Homeschooling Parents

Monica

Hi. I am Monica, an experienced ESL teacher and early years student, mother to a preschooler and passionate reader.