How to Homeschool Your Child Successfully
Within a span of a few weeks, millions of working parents now find themselves taking on the added role of homeschool teacher.
As any professional, full-time teacher will tell you, the job will be anything but easy…particularly on short notice. Here at Stand Up Desk Store, we wanted to do what we could to make things just a tiny bit less stressful by assembling our best homeschooling tips and tricks.
If you want to learn more, we invite you to:
- Visit our Homeschooling Classroom Planner, which you can view here.
- Check out our top homeschool tips for beginners, below.
How to Start Homeschooling Effectively
- Take Full Advantage of Digital Learning Tools
It would be natural to assume you’re on your own when it comes to creating lesson plans, schedules, and activities. Fortunately, help is a few clicks away. Below is merely a small sampling of the many distance learning resources you can find online for free or for a small fee. Some eLearning companies are even offering their typically fee-based products for free during the COVID-19 shutdown. And this doesn’t include YouTube, a tool that many veteran homeschoolers swear by.
- https://www.khanacademy.org/
- Nonprofit providing free learning tools for all grades
- https://www.ageoflearning.com/schools.html
- Offers pre-k through middle school education programs which include ABCmouse, Adventure Academy, and ReadingIQ
- Providing resources for free during COVID-19 shutdown
- https://www.mystorybook.com/
- Enables children to author and publish their own books
- https://www.ixl.com/
- Offers math, language arts, science, social studies and more to students from pre-k through 12th grade
- Offers a free, 30-day trial
- https://www.prodigygame.com/
- Game-based tool for math learning designed for first through eighth grades
- Free account available
- https://outschool.com
- Low-cost, small-group video chat courses taught live by professional teachers
- Courses available for ages three through 18
- https://www.shmoop.com/
- Offers free study guides in a variety of subjects
- https://www.mathsisfun.com/
- Free math-oriented puzzles, games, and worksheets
- https://www.hippocampus.org/
- Thousands of free educational videos in dozens of subject areas
- https://www.albert.io/home
- Low-cost, fee-based test prep in a variety of subjects
- Create Structure
Kids are used to the routine of waking up at a certain time, getting ready for school, enjoying recess in the morning and afternoon, eating lunch with their friends, and so forth. As with many adults, children like to know what to expect in their day and perform at a higher level when structure is provided.
Depending on the natural tendencies and preferences of your child, the schedule you keep at home may or may not differ from a typical school schedule. For example, some kids learn best early in the morning, while others do better with a later start. But once a routine is established with regard to study time, play time, snacks, etc., stick to it.
- Make It Fun
A lot of kids won’t last very long with their noses in a book for hours on end. And besides, quality learning can also take place outside the “classroom.”
As such, many experienced homeschoolers suggest sneaking opportunities to learn into more engaging activities. For example, you could use grocery shopping as an opportunity to practice math, or transform an afternoon hike into a biology lesson.
There are also a lot of fun virtual tours that can foster learning from the comfort of your living room. Here are some examples:
- Virtual national park tours
- Virtual museum tours
- Virtual zoo tours
- Virtual farm tours
- Keep Kids Moving
There are many studies linking regular physical activity with improved learning and retention. That’s why recess, gym class, and after school sports are so important for many students.
A child being homeschooled may not have adequate access to gym class, after-school sports, or spirited playground games of tag and dodgeball, so you need to schedule physical activity into his or her day.
To keep your child interested, and to work the widest range of muscle groups, variety is key. Ideas can include walks and jogs, bike rides around the neighborhood, a game of catch, or perhaps setting up an agility course in your yard.
If you want something more structured, here are some examples of available online resources:
- https://app.sworkit.com/collections/kids-workouts
- Strength, flexibility, and agility workouts for kids
- https://littletwistersyoga.com/
- Yoga for kids
- Outfit Your Learning Space for Success
If your home doubles as your child’s school, it can help to optimize the environment for learning. In other words, instead of spreading everything out on the floor or the kitchen table, perhaps designate an area where you can recreate a classroom setting that puts your child in the right headspace for schoolwork. Here are some ideas:
- Ridding the area of distractions like the TV, phone, and video games
- Decorating the room with education-oriented posters, a globe, and other items commonly seen in a classroom
- Using an adjustable height student desk that lets a child alternate between sitting or standing during the day
- Adding multifunctional teaching tools such as a whiteboard with flip chart hooks
- Configuring acoustic desk dividers and room dividers to help create privacy and boundaries when a designated learning space is located in a multipurpose room.
We hope you found our distance learning tips and elearning tips helpful!
