There are about 2 million homeschoolers in grades K-12 in the United States. And the number of homeschooled children is expected to rise further as parents have become an integral part of their child’s education more than ever before, owing to the pandemic.
While homeschooling is beneficial for the students and their overall growth, it can often be challenging to manage. Unlike a school, homeschooling can lead to problems in imposing discipline and bringing order and structure to a student’s life. Besides, if you have more than one child at home, it can become hectic for you as a parent if you do not manage homeschool properly.
However, with various learning resources at your fingertips, homeschooling has become much more accessible and streamlined. There are several dedicated educational websites like Mastery Genius Resources that offer different homeschooling curriculum packages. Such packages help you determine your child’s academic needs using NWEA MAP growth assessment and other learning software.
Below are a few useful tips that can help you to manage the virtual homeschooling of your children.
Create a designated space
Homeschooling can be a lot of fun if you do it right. You must establish and provide different learning spaces for the children that are not their bedroom or living area. When you designate a separate space for learning, it conditions their brain. So, whenever children enter their study room, they will understand that it is time to learn.
A designated learning space will enable you to organize and manage everything efficiently. You can pile up all their books and other learning materials in one place for easy storage and access.
Make a daily schedule
Unlike a traditional school, children get to enjoy spontaneous activities and flexibility in homeschooling schedules. However, there must be a clear structure in their daily routine to foster discipline and time management. Furthermore, a proper routine is beneficial for the parents as well.
Consider creating a daily schedule of activities a week in advance. If you have more kids who are being homeschooled, you can color code the activities they are meant to do together or separately.
As a parent, you must experiment with different techniques to find out what works the best for you and your child.
Map out the school year beforehand
To be effective at homeschooling, you must map out the whole school year in advance to properly set goals. After charting out the year, you can break it down into months or weeks to make it more manageable. Breaking down goals also makes it easier for you to track progress.
Set goal together
The best part about homeschooling is that children also get a say in the whole process. So, while setting up the goals for the year, you should include the children in the process. You must outline some important aspects to them and help them visualize the results. Making them visualize the goals will help to achieve them.
Take children outside the classroom
Unlike traditional education, you can make children learn a broader scope of topics often not covered in textbooks. For instance, you can teach them household management, teach them how to repair a car, play sports, and a lot more.
To conclude, there are tons of resources online to help you with your child’s homeschooling. All you need to do is foster an environment of learning and collaboration to impart discipline and knowledge.