The Essentials of Good Preparation in Homeschooling.
Where to begin with your middle schooler that wants to homeschool.
________.
Understanding Your Audience
______ understanding your children is important. What motivates them, what are they interested in, what are they NOT interested in……
Content is King but so is brevity.
_______ Keeping your lessons short and to the point is truly important when it comes to homeschooling. The elementary school homeschooler can sometimes easily be engaged with online homeschool programs that have cartoon figures and puppets in the videos. But as your child gets older these will become increasingly less appealing. Now comes the challenge! How to engage the middle schooler?
Consistency is Key
Consistency is key when it comes to homeschooling because then your child knows what to expect on certain days. It helps them feel secure and less resistant to following the routine. However, if you have a set routine, then it’s a treat when you veer from the normal routine for something different. Learning requires feeling safe. If the schedule is always changing it can be hard for your child to feel at ease to learn. This is especially true of the middle school homeschooler, since the expectations of retention are much higher.
Getting their Attention
There are many hurdles to being both the mom and teacher. One of those hurdles is getting and keeping your child’s attention with school. We are competing for our children’s attention like never before. We are not nearly as exciting as YouTube, video games, and social media. The answer I have found is using a variety of avenues to teach. Using YouTube as a teaching tool is extremely helpful because our children are already primed to tune into YouTube. It still is important to sift through the millions of videos and find ones that educate, and captivate.
Engage with Student
As a homeschooling mom, you probably have a list of a million things to accomplish each day. This can make it very hard to sit with your middle schooler while they do their school work. In some cases, they can totally work independently. In the case of active kids, this can be tricky. Sometimes, active kids require so much more stimulation to keep their attention focused. I find, using short lessons and verbally discussing the topic together helps keep their attention focused and helps them retain what they are learning.
Conclusion
My purpose is to provide lesson resources that allow you to help your child focus and learn! These lessons I provide have been well researched and planned out. They are designed mostly for the middle school child in mind but also can include younger children at times. My lessons will always have short videos attached to each lesson along with either a verbal discussion activity or written activity for your child to complete. They will also include reviews built into the lessons.
Happy Homeschooling!
