Homeschool Tips

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Homeschooling has now not only become cool, but necessary! I homeschooled for over 20 years, so I thought I would offer a little help for those of you who are new to this.

Homeschooling isn’t impossible, but can be hard. The way to make it easy is to have a plan. I hope most schools are giving an organized and sensible method to teach children. I see some things going on with online teaching that worry me.

Watching a teacher talk into her computer camera is going to be a method that bores many students. They will probably not learn very well during this “homeschool” time. Also, many students don’t even have internet that will enable them to learn at home.

Veteran homeschool moms know that it takes a variety of learning methods to help children learn well. If your children are required to watch a computer screen for all of their classes, I would encourage the parent to spend as much time as you can watching with them.

After the online class is finished, spend a little bit of time discussing the information learned with your child. Ask them questions: Have them summarize the lesson orally to see if they understood it, or ask a question based on what you heard the teacher say. Encourage them to do homework soon after the class. This will help them to answer questions while the information is fresh in their mind.

Try to help them stay engaged, as best you can. If they are very young, I hope you can provide them plenty of breaks. Let them do some movement: exercise routines, dancing, running through the house or backyard. Try to offer healthy snacks to keep their blood sugar steady.

Make sure they have a designated space for their learning. Find a spot that is quiet and free from distractions. Make sure they have pencils, paper, and a clean desk or table. Turn off the television and put them in a separate space from siblings. Good lighting is also important.

Use a planner to note time for each subject as well as schedule time for homework. Leave time for breaks. If they have projects to work on that may be stretched out over weeks, make a to-do list and calendar so that they can complete the project on time.

If the child is having trouble with a lesson, find out how the online teacher goes about answering questions and giving extra help for a child who is stuck. If this is not always available, use Google and Youtube for some online tutoring or video help.

If your child has options for learning, there are plenty of ways to learn topically. This is a good method for pre-school through 3rd grade. Homeschool moms call this Unit Studies. We take a topic, such as Weather, and have lessons that teach this topic. It’s important to use all of the student’s senses in the plan.

Here is an example from Education.com. Free Lesson Plans on Weather. You can do this on a number of topics. You’ll find free printables, worksheets, and coloring pages on the internet.

Mrs Mactivity has free and paid education lessons.

• Health and Hygiene
• Home Learning Resources
• Kid’s Coloring Pages

Summer Journey Printables is a free set of downloadable pages that you can use as often as you would like. These are great for traveling, nature walks, etc.

Here are some other links that offer Free Printables!

• Free Worksheets
• The Happy Housewife
• Digital Homeschool Planner
• Living Life and Learning Free Homeschool Planner Printable

However you homeschool, I wish you the best. Feel free to contact me and ask questions. I will do my best to help you and point you in the right direction. Homeschooling was a wonderful time for me, and I’m thankful that God allowed me to be a homeschool mom!

@2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman