Studies show that about 3 million students are homeschooled in the US, and the number keeps exponentially increasing due to the school closures brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parents find themselves in situations where they need to manage their children’s education at home. Homeschooling has many benefits, but it comes with a lot of challenges for both the students and parents. The complexity of the dynamic curriculum can also make things harder. In this article provided by professional essay writers from AdvancedWriters, we will discuss practical tips for successful homeschooling and academic writing.
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Have a designated working space
Living and learning under the same roof lead to a lot of disorganization and a chaotic environment. To keep the learning environment organized and exciting, you need a designated learning environment. This makes it easy to manage learning materials for the kids. Even if the kids decide to study from the kitchen table, it is easy to organize things and keep them in one place.
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Have a daily schedule
A high level of spontaneity and flexibility comes with homeschooling. However, the lack of a clear structure makes it very easy to go off track. Kids are easily distracted, and in homeschooling, it is easier when they have a basic schedule and routine to follow. A good program gives a sense of direction. There are ways in which you can organize a simple program. You can color code activities, and in the process, the kids will learn how to use a schedule.
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Write down the school year to track the progress
Writing down the school year helps you track the progress. It gives you goals to map out and helps divide the work into smaller manageable goals. Visualizing the yearly plan helps you look at the project and organize it better. You can map out your plan using flowcharts and roadmaps.
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Set learning goals together
Homeschooling gives the kids an opportunity to customize their education. Do not make the education all about curriculum checklists. Set the day-to-day curriculum together and set a vision plan for where you intend to go.
As a parent, however, you need to have clear learning objectives for your kid. As much as you are setting goals together, ensure the child’s input covers the broad benchmarks the curriculum needs to cover. This is also a perfect opportunity to teach your kid goal setting.
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Connect with other homeschoolers
As much as you are in charge of your child’s education, you should not make this a sole endeavor. There are many rich and diverse homeschooling communities. You can connect with communities online or the ones in your area. This will give your child a rich experience and expand the educational possibilities beyond the home walls.
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Go beyond the classroom experience
One of the most significant advantages of a homeschooling experience is the flexibility of going outside the classroom setting. You can look for learning opportunities beyond class. Some options you can incorporate are playing board games, learning cooking and baking, and teaching household tasks like laundry, grocery shopping, etc. Combining these activities makes learning fun and builds a robust, well-rounded curriculum.
There are tons of resources at AdvancedWriters.com to keep you on track, eventually making the path smoother for you and your kids.
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Make learning a family affair
There are several ways of involving family and making the learning process a family affair. You can take the kids to the zoo and talk about animals. You can also practice economic skills and make grocery lists. This is a way of sharing the excitement with your kids and learning at the same time.
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Have predictable breaks
Regular schools have outdoor times and breaks. It would help if you also incorporated such into the school curriculum to breaks. Kids always look forward to breaks, and it helps manage their time and attention span. It is a necessary time to reflect and refresh. Breaks also relieve stress and generally increase productivity, even for adults.
Even for you as the parent, you need a break in homeschooling to organize your upcoming lessons better.
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Remember, not every day will be ideal
When education moves into the home, we tend to be less forgiving when we have bad days. Not every day will be a perfect learning day. Sometimes kids have terrible learning days, but the parents tend to overlook it.
When a bad day happens, it is best to acknowledge it and try to make plans to mitigate such an eventuality again in the future. If you feel sick, take the day off just as you would have done on a regular school schedule. Never put self-care behind productivity as the results will be dire hindering your progress.
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Connect the learning experiences
Regular classroom education has limitations in that students fail to connect what they learn in school. However, homeschooling allows kids to bridge this connection through different activities. Trying hands-on training instead of sitting behind a screen for hours gives the kid an opportunity to connect to what they learned. This is how they discover their curiosities, passions, and interests. It also gives them a chance to lead the learning experience. As a parent, you should also be involved to ensure the child has the fundamentals in all subjects.
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Be consistent but flexible
With consistency, you have the expectations, but flexibility gives you freedom. You have the freedom to troubleshoot and adjust the school schedule. You have the freedom to stick with something or change it if it is no longer working. Some activities, such as spending time in the gym, art galleries, and museums, are cut from public schools, but you can incorporate them into your schedule. Flexibility also allows you to solve problems. If a student cannot access their work in the morning, it is possible to swap with the afternoon schedule.
Homeschooling is increasing access to education and can seem intimidating at first, but with proper planning, the pros outweigh the cons. There are many juggling pieces you need to do. As Joan Young said, “Homeschooling gives a child freedom to veer off from learning dirt roads and take scenic routes along highways of success.”
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