When you commit to educating your children at home, you are embarking on a journey together. Life is about to change drastically for all of you, and the odds are favorable that the benefits will far outweigh any drawbacks. Your children may be excited about the change, or they might be feeling anxious. Here are a few tips to prepare your kids for homeschooling, even if your insides are turning somersaults.
Talk about expectations and fears
Whether your kids are just starting school or have already attended a public or private school for several years, each one will have a picture in their head of what home school will be like. Their ideas might be pure fantasy (I can play video games all day!), but hear them out. Generate as much conversation as possible, and allow them to talk about their hopes and fears. Are they afraid they won’t have any friends? Would they love to sleep in every day? Do they fear becoming social outcasts?
You can put to rest many of their fears – and fantasies – during these conversations. “Yes, you can sleep later than you used to for public school. No, you can’t sleep until 10 a.m.” Simply talking it out helps most kids, but a few might benefit from meeting other homeschool families, attending a homeschool co-op, or joining an online community where they can email other homeschoolers. In most cases, even teens want to see that others who homeschool are “normal” and enjoying life.
Listen to their ideas, but decide how you will conduct school at home based on everyone’s best interest. Tell your children about your expectations and how you plan to manage their education. No matter your teaching style, your children will adjust more quickly if they know what to expect.
Generate excitement
Homeschooling has many advantages, but students do not necessarily want to hear about how they will excel in their studies. Nor do they always have the ability to see or appreciate how lucky they are that their parent is making the sacrifice. So don’t discuss how much they will gain from one-on-one tutelage or how homeschooled students routinely win the national spelling bee. Instead, talk about the benefits in a way a kid can appreciate them:
- School at home can take less time.
- Extra time means more play, or
- Extra time means more opportunities to learn fun things via lessons, activities, or field trips.
- If the family was previously spending money on private school tuition, homeschooling might allow more room in the family budget for _________ (you fill in the blank).
- The student has time to explore his particular interests, either by dabbling or focused study (guitar, taekwondo, horseback riding).
- Homeschooled students can enjoy a rich social life through homeschool groups, clubs, co-ops, and volunteering.
- Does the curriculum you have chosen have some remarkable aspects?
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Set up a workable routine
Before school begins, prepare everybody in the family by fixing a daily routine. Whether you prefer a loose educational structure or a stricter regime, everyone should pitch in to keep everyday life running smoothly.
Consider the following questions and develop reasonable solutions for your situation. Then, write them down or make a chart, and try a few different versions to figure out what works best.
- What time will everyone be required to get up in the morning?
- Who will do which chores?
- When will chores need to be completed?
- Will everyone eat breakfast and lunch together, or will a buffet style be more suitable?
- What part of the day is best for formal schoolwork? (Although mornings are the traditional learning hours, afternoons or evenings might work better for your family.)
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Remember: if you let your children stagger their school hours, you will not have any free time.
Seasoned homeschoolers will tell you they are still tweaking routines to get everything just right, but it helps to know ahead of time that interruptions are inevitable. Prepare your kids for it, too. One of your children might thrive on variety and the unexpected, but others will feel flustered. One of your roles will be to demonstrate flexibility in a dynamic, constantly changing environment.
Are you ready? One of the best things about home school is that you are learning together: not just about how to do it or the three Rs, but about life. Your enthusiasm will be contagious, so remember to laugh, forgive, and persevere under any circumstance, and your children will follow.
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Edublox offers cognitive training and live online tutoring to students with learning challenges. Our students are in the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. Book a free consultation to discuss your child’s learning needs.
