Homeschooling Made Simple
Homeschooling Made Simple
For the parent making sudden adjustments
Everyone is reeling from this coronavirus pandemic. We are all having to make sudden changes to our lifestyles that we never anticipated. One of the biggest changes for many of us has to do with our kids’ schooling. At first, we may have thought we simply had to adjust to a new or longer spring break; now, it seems like our kids being at home might be the new normal. Suddenly, many of us have essentially become home school parents without a plan or our permission! Many of us are thinking “how did we get here?”
The unfortunate fact is, we are here. We are now home school parents, which means we have some direct and important responsibilities as it relates to our kids being educated effectively. One of the things that this pandemic has made abundantly clear is that the future belongs to our children, and we, all of us, must do our part to prepare them to lead. Our children need to be well educated to face the problems of the future because we have no idea what those problems are going to be.
It’s one of the most important things we learn as educators: it’s our job to train our students to do jobs that don’t exist yet. This means we have to be constantly thinking outside the box, continually innovating, continuously adapting. We have to teach them to think for themselves, to generate ideas, and to face the problems they encounter instead of running away from them.
So, here we are. The bad news is that you are now a teacher, or at least a teacher’s aide. The good news is that YOU CAN DO THIS! It’s true that your kids will be home with you for the rest of this school year and maybe even some of next school year too; this may be a truly daunting reality for you. But I’m here to tell you that YOU CAN DO THIS, and you can do it without having to go back to school to earn certification as a professional educator. You don’t have to make a career 180 to be an effective home school parent. All you have to do is apply 3 simple principles and you can be confident that your kids will continue to have an excellent educational experience from the safety of your home.
I want to share these 3 simple principles with you as tips to help your home school run effectively. Let me say on the front end that these are tips to help, not necessarily rules to follow absolutely. You know your child better than I do! It could be that something I suggest doesn’t work for your child, or maybe you have to adjust one of my suggestions a bit to fit your situation. Don’t feel like you’re a bad parent because you have to change something to make it work. In fact, changing something to make it work for your family makes you a good parent, not a bad one.
With that disclaimer out of the way, let me share with you the three tips that I am sure can help you to be a great homeschool parent.
Principle 1 – Organization
The first and most important factor in doing this important job effectively is organization. You must have set times and places for schoolwork in order to be effective. Remember that children thrive on routine, and a big part of their routine is massively different now. They’re used to doing certain things at school and other things at home. Now, they’ll have to do those school things at home too, and it might be unsettling for them. It’s up to you as the parent to provide the structure they need to continue to be successful.
1. Organize your time
· Start and stop school at the same time every day. Do not leave schoolwork for “whenever they get to it.” School should begin and end at the same time every day, even in your home!
· Tips - Your kids should even get up out of bed, brush their teeth, have breakfast, and all those other morning things just like they would normally do if they were going to school. Maybe they can get up a little later because they don’t have to catch the bus to get to school, but they need to maintain the routine of “going to school” in order to make this work on a long-term basis. Also, be sure to give your kids frequent breaks of about 5 – 10 minutes every 20 – 30 minutes. Using an alarm can help you to remember.
2. Organize your space
· There are a few ways to approach this one, but the basic idea is you want your kids to be focused on their schoolwork when it’s school time. That means the TV needs to be off, the devices need to be shut down, the toys need to be put away, etc. If it’s possible for you, try to establish a designated space in your home where school takes place.
· Tips - Maybe you turn the guest room into Johnny’s school room for the time being, or maybe there’s a special corner in Suzy’s bedroom where all her school materials will be kept. Maybe the kitchen table converts into the schoolhouse after breakfast is over, or maybe everyone in the family agrees that the TV stays off while school is in session in the living room. Whatever your situation is, organizing your space so that school activities happen in the same, set place each day will help your kids adjust to their new home school life.
Principle 2 – Empowerment
Remember that, no matter what context schooling takes place in, no one can learn something for someone else. Every person has to do his or her own learning. That means your child has to do his own work. Your kid has to do her own reading. You must not become the student now that your child is learning from home. Your child must remain the student, and you the parent.
1. Give your child the freedom to think and to learn. Again, that can look very different from home to home. Maybe it means you have a limit on the number of subjects you will help with in a certain day. So maybe you say I’ll help you with math today, but you have to work your way through social studies, then change it the next day so that you still have an eye on every subject. Or maybe you work at the same time, but not on the same thing. While you’re working on the work that you now have to do from home, your child is working on schoolwork. Or maybe you allow your child to make a few mistakes on their work so they can learn from those mistakes. These are just a few suggestions but remember to empower your child to do his or her own learning.
2. Make sure your child has what he or she needs in order to learn. Your home may not already be set up to be a school, so you may have to buy some important materials. For some great home office products, check out our recommendations page on the Virtual VP website. Empowering your child does not only go for equipment, it also goes for environment. If your child needs quiet, turn your music off or use headphones. If your child needs an empty table, clean off the table together before she sits down with her lessons. If your child needs to be left alone, let the dog go outside for a while. If your child can’t focus in a room by himself, work in the same room as him.
3. Make sure your child feels emotionally safe and comfortable in the learning environment. Now that the learning environment is your home, this idea takes on a whole new meaning. This can be very difficult, and it will probably get harder as the time at home together wears on and family membersstart to annoy each other a little bit. So, find something positive about your child being home all these extra hours and share that with them. Tell him you’re not glad about the pandemic, but you are glad you get to spend so much time together. Marvel aloud at the new things you learn about her. You know you love your child – just make sure he/she knows it, too! Try not to make your child’s constant presence in the house feel like a burden.
4. You must also set boundaries. That is the other side of this same coin. Making your child feel emotionally safe does not mean saying “yes” to everything they ask. In fact, the opposite is true. One of the ways children know that you love them is when you show you care enough to tell them “no”when it’s for their own good. No, you may not play video games for 8 hours. No, you may not have the iPad after 8:00 p.m. No, you may not skip a shower today because you aren’t leaving the house. Set boundaries that are for your child’s own good and stick to them. Empower your child to do his/her best work, even though it’s from home.
Principle 3 – Expertise
Finally, don’t try to take the place of the teacher, at least not completely. Remember that just because you are a homeschool parent for now, it doesn’t mean you have to suddenly become a professional educator. You don’t need to take night classes to get a handle on this thing, and depending on the grade they’re in, you probably don’t even need to totally understand what your kids are learning. You need to know enough to be helpful when they come to you with questions, but you don’t have to re-enroll in the 4th grade to be a good homeschool parent. You still have education experts at your disposal – make use of them! Your child’s teachers and/or administrators have most likely given you some way of contacting them, whether it’s an email address to message or a phone number you can text, or an app like Remind or Class Dojo. Take advantage of that opportunity – within reason.
1. Remember that the teacher or principal is a human being. That means they don’t want to be inundated with 4 or 5 emails from the same person every hour. Instead of sending an email or a text every time you think of something, keep a list in your phone and send the list at the end of the day, or when there are a certain number of items on the list. So maybe once you have 3 good questions to ask, then you send the email with all 3 questions in it. That way you will help your child’s principal and teacher stay afloat during this time. Remember, they’re making major adjustments right now, too.
2. Encourage your child’s school to make use of good distance learning resources, like apps and consultants. If your teacher is having a hard time keeping up with all the messages and emails, maybe suggest a classroom communication app such as Remind. With Remind, all of the students and the teacher can be in the same conversation, and nobody has to even exchange phone numbers. If the teacher is having trouble converting a lesson to a format that can be delivered online, maybe he should speak to an education consultant such as Virtual VP. A consultant is a person who is trying to help people fill gaps. In this case, there may be a gap in the teacher’s training because he wasn’t trained to teach online. If your child’s teacher is having trouble making the transition, encourage him or her to speak to a consultant. The teacher will get the help she needs, and your child will benefit from it.
I hope this has helped you to feel encouraged that you can face this challenge. Keep these 3 tips in mind: Be organized, empower your child, and rely on the experts, and you can make your home into an effective homeschool for your child, whether they are able to return to school this school year, or if they have to be at home for fall semester, too.