homeschool

Learn Your Child So Your Child Learns Best

November 17, 2020 by Megan

I have four daughters, and they are all very different. They are individuals who have different interests, different personalities, different strengths, and different weaknesses. And I have found that I can’t homeschool them all in the same way.

One of the great strengths of homeschooling is the ability to tailor instruction to your individual child. But in order to do that well, you have to learn some specific things about your child. Here are a few to start off with.

1. What motivates your child?

My two oldest daughters are night and day different. One is a bookworm and a bit of a tomboy, the other is an artsy girly-girl. So it’s no surprise that different things motivate them. It’s fairly easy to motivate my bookworm—she loves to read so much that she checked out the library’s entire shelf of Civil War books when she was studying that period in history. But there’s no way my girly-girly would do that. She would be much more motivated to learn about the Civil War if she could dress up in a hoop skirt and give a video presentation.

You can probably figure out what motivates your children by paying attention to what they choose when given a choice. What do they do in their free time? What do they order off the menu at a restaurant? For birthdays, what do they want?

Whenever you have the opportunity to incorporate your child’s interests into their schoolwork, do it. Let them make a video of themselves reading or doing a science experiment. Let them dress up as a story character, write silly sentences in English, or create and decorate their own multiplication tables. When your child is interested and engaged in what he or she is learning, that learning is going to stick.

2. What is your child really good at?

When I was in school, I never particularly enjoyed studying grammar, but I was really good at it. It made sense to me. Unfortunately, it didn’t make sense to a lot of my classmates. So those grammar lessons were excruciatingly slow. I got bored while my teacher explained concepts over and over.

If your child is really good at something, it’s okay to speed up your instruction. You can even skip over lessons if you’re confident that your child understands the material. Remember that you are in charge of the curriculum.

3. What does your child struggle with?

Our children aren’t perfect. Each of them has unique struggles. Maybe you have a struggling reader like I do, or your child is barely passing math class. Maybe you have a horrible speller or a child with illegible handwriting.

Don’t be discouraged. You as a homeschool parent are in a unique position to help your children through their struggles. You can slow down instruction and customize it to get more senses involved in the learning process. And you can tweak assignments and many other things to help your children learn best.

4. How does your child learn best?

A lot of homeschoolers will talk about learning styles. There are basically four types of learning styles: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and read/write. As I wrote in a previous blog post “Learning Styles and Multisensory Learning,” knowing your child’s preferred learning style isn’t essential for homeschooling, but it is helpful. Paying attention to your child’s learning style can help you figure out how to help your child understand difficult concepts.

Not every homeschool is the same because not every child is the same. Learning how to motivate your child, recognizing his or her strengths and weaknesses, and paying attention to his or her individual learning styles will empower you to help your child learn best.

6 Time Management Tips for Your Homeschool

November 3, 2020 by Arianna

As a homeschool parent you juggle teaching, housework, cooking, shopping, loving your family, and working from home daily! Perhaps you want to be better at time management, but you don’t know where to start. Time management is not as far out of reach as you might think. Here are a few tips you can implement into your routine to help you manage your schedule better.

1. Get in the Right Mindset for Time Management

If you’re like me, you may see time management tips and roll your eyes, thinking, “Yeah, I’ve already tried that, and it didn’t work!” I’ve learned that when strategies don’t work or stop working, it’s often because I have the wrong mindset. Instead of following a formula, time management is about committing to change. Learn to recognize patterns that don’t work for you and your family and remove them. Be prepared to make mistakes and take the time to learn what is best for your situation.

2. Spend Time Getting Organized

Taking time to organize your home and your schedule is an investment that saves time later. Begin working on one thing at a time and don’t get distracted by everything else that needs to be organized. Setting realistic expectations for what you can get done alleviates discouragement and frustration.

When it comes to your homeschool, you may want to work with one child at a time to figure out an organizational plan that works for that child. Another approach could be organizing the plan and materials for one subject at a time. Involve your kids in the process! Make it fun by color coding subjects or types of material. Giving everything a proper home and labeling it will help the kids know exactly where everything belongs.

3. Use a Calendar

A calendar can help you visualize in advance what the schedule for a day or week will be so you can avoid overbooking. You can use a weekly or daily calendar to create cushions between tasks and events. Generally, plan for things to take longer than expected. It’s better to plan ample time between events rather than having to rush if things don’t quite go as planned.

Consider the amount that you can handle and work around that. Being a rushed and overwhelmed parent does not benefit your children. This principle applies to your kids’ homeschooling as well. Evaluate the amount of work and assignments your kids do each day. Having fewer subjects or homework assignments in one day may mean that your kids can then spend more time working on difficult concepts or the most important projects. Be flexible!

4. Write Everything Down

Practice starting new months, weeks, and days with a list of things to accomplish. Write them in a journal or in an app so that you can reference them later. Once you’ve written everything down, prioritize your list. Put them in categories such as “urgent,” “to do later,” and “if there’s time.” Writing things down frees up your mind to not have to worry about remembering them later.

As your kids grow older, encourage them to keep lists of their own assignments and chores for the week. Keeping track of their own work fosters children’s independence and their ability to prioritize and schedule their own workload.

5. Don’t Multitask on Important Things

If you have work to do that requires concentration, find a block of time in your schedule to do uninterrupted work. When your mind jumps between work and homeschooling and what to plan for dinner, you won’t be productive! Designate focused time for each significant task. Set a timer and work until the timer goes off. If things pop into your mind that you need to do later, write them down, move on, and address them when you finish.

Setting focus time for lessons and assignments will also help your children’s work. Encourage them to sit down and work on one thing, without doing anything else, for a set amount of time. Doing this helps them learn to focus and gives them independence so you can work on your own tasks.

6. Plan for Rest

Rest is just as important to plan into your schedule as anything else. God intended rest to be a regular part of our rhythm of life, and He modeled it by resting on the seventh day of Creation. Times of rest are reminders to enjoy life, and to let God be in control. Resting is a practice that is important to teach your children. Times of fun and play and relaxation help reduce stress and make the brain more profitable when you return to work. Set regular times in your schedule to take a break on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis.

The most important thing to keep in mind about time management is that it is not about doing more. Being so busy you do not have time for one more thing does not necessarily mean that you have mastered time management. Learning to manage time wisely is learning when to say “no” so that you can say “yes” to more important things, like enjoying family time and being available for your kids when they need you.

Creative Thinking: Connecting the Dots

September 22, 2020 by Guest Writer

My best friend has always insisted that she is not creative. It’s true that she doesn’t gravitate toward crafty projects. But scrapbooking and making art are not the only ways to be creative. Creative thinking is being able to use what you already know to solve a problem you’ve never seen before. And my friend does that all the time as a doctor in the emergency room. Medical doctors need a strong knowledge base. But they also have to be able to connect that knowledge to the patient sitting in front of them.

Is creative thinking an innate skill, or can you teach it to your children? God, the most creative thinker, made us in His image. Therefore, we all have the potential to think creatively. You can help your children learn to connect prior knowledge to new problems. Here are some ways to instill creative thinking.

Add variety to the learning environment.

You have probably designated a place in your home for learning. The benefit to learning and testing in the same place is that it aids memory and recall. However, varying the environment strengthens the ability to apply knowledge in a new context. Homeschooling allows more opportunity for changing the learning environment than traditional classrooms can. Using a variety of teaching methods also promotes creative thinking. Use analogies in your teaching to connect new concepts back to what your kids already know. The variety of environments and methods promotes a variety of mental connections.

Ask open-ended questions.

Before teaching new content, ask questions like, “Since you know seven times five, how would you solve seven times six? What would you try first?” Notice the hint about what prior knowledge will be helpful to apply. The hint gives your children confidence, when faced with a new question. Asking what they would try first, implies that they may need more than one try to solve the problem. Even outside of school, you can entertain open-ended questions that begin with “What if.” Ask your children to think about what they would do in different scenarios, realistic or imaginary. What if we are on a field trip and you can’t find me? What if you could have any superpower you wanted? Let them imagine scenarios they have not encountered by thinking creatively.

Have them explain in their own words.

Ask your children to describe what they have learned recently to Grandma. You can also ask them to teach a younger sibling what they have learned. They will have to know it well enough to use their own words and make it simple. Even an above average student will benefit from study groups. Explaining content to others helps move that knowledge from short-term to long-term memory. The better they remember information, the more likely they will be able to connect that knowledge to new areas.

Encourage collaboration.

Your children may be able to collaborate on some problems at home. If not, be sure to include interactions with other children in your schedule. Giving kids projects to work on together can increase their confidence when they don’t have all the answers. Connecting with people who think differently broadens the scope of their thinking. Working in groups gives kids confidence to think creatively on their own. At the park recently, I saw a group of Boy Scouts tying knots together. The next time one of them needs a knot, what will he do? He will remember that collaboration and connect the dots from what he learned then to the new problem he faces.

Practice.

After teaching in a way that promotes creative thinking, be sure to practice. Thinking creatively is not limited to science and math. Any subject will do. Like any skill, getting better at creative thinking comes with more practice. Inevitably, your children will be unsuccessful. They may not be able to connect to prior knowledge at first. Some kids will be frustrated when solutions are not easy to find. The word “yet” is valuable. When your child says, “My idea isn’t working,” you can add, “yet.” When she says, “I can’t do this,” again you add, “yet.” Talk to your children about times when you had to try again and again. Remind them that a solution that doesn’t work is useful. You know what won’t work, and now you can try other possibilities. Thomas Edison is credited with saying, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Kids and adults can learn to think creatively with intent and practice. If you’re hoping to teach your children to think creatively, what would you try first?

• • • • •

Valerie is a wife and a mother to a very busy toddler. In her free time she enjoys reading all kinds of books. She earned a B.S. in Biology from Bob Jones University, minoring in Mathematics, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from Ohio State University. Valerie has 15 years of experience working in research laboratories and has coauthored 8 original research articles. She has also taught several classes and laboratories at the high school and college levels. She currently works as a Data Analyst and a freelance writer.

Tips for Homeschooling Multiple Children

September 15, 2020 by Megan

When I started homeschooling four years ago, I wasn’t homeschooling multiple children. I had one student and a toddler in tow. It wasn’t hard to get through our homeschool day. My biggest stresses usually came from the toddler when she was grumpy or getting into things. Since then, I have added two more students (and another toddler), and now things are definitely a little more challenging. Not only am I trying to keep the toddler out of trouble, but I am also trying to teach and/or manage over 20 homeschool courses. Next year I will add another student, and my head is already spinning.

But I feel like I have had it pretty easy. Some of you haven’t had the luxury of starting your homeschool journey with only one student. Some of you are homeschooling for the first time with two or more students. You are doing a very brave thing. Homeschooling multiple children is challenging but very rewarding. Unfortunately, there is no “magic formula” that works for every family. But here are some tips for homeschooling multiple children that have worked for my family and for some of the other homeschool families I have interacted with.

Work on teaching your children how to learn independently.

Let’s start off by acknowledging that it is probably not possible for you as a homeschool mom to teach every single course to every one of your children. There simply isn’t enough time in the day. That’s why it is so important to teach your children how to work and learn independently. Your children can probably do a lot of things independently now. All of my children do handwriting on their own, and my oldest two teach themselves spelling and Bible. My sixth-grader loves history and has always done very well in heritage studies. So this year, she is teaching herself Heritage Studies 6. I give her an assignment every day, but she completes the reading and any activity manual pages independently. It saves us a lot of time, and she enjoys the challenge.

Teach a course to more than one child if possible.

Some homeschoolers recommend doing subjects like heritage studies and science as a group. That can work well if your children are close in age, but it is difficult to do if there is a large age span between your children. My husband and I tried this approach with two of our children last year. For some reason, we thought that it would be a good idea for my kindergartner to do the same Bible course as my third grader (Bible 3). It wasn’t a good idea. My kindergartner wasn’t ready for the content, so she was frustrated. We ended up abandoning the approach a couple of weeks into the school year.

If you are considering teaching a single course to multiple children, remember that usually it is better to hold back an older child than it is to try to teach something that a younger child is not prepared for.

Enlist the help of older children.

Some skills, particularly those introduced in the early grades, require a lot of practice. Beginning readers may need to review word families or high-frequency words. Second graders may need to practice math facts. Enlist an older child to help younger siblings with these kinds of review tasks. Not only will it save you time, but it is a good review for your older child too!

Rely on video courses.

Our homeschool uses a mix of video courses and parent-led courses. This allows my other children to continue learning while I focus on the needs of one child. We’ve chosen to use video courses for subjects that require a lot of prep work (such as science) and for subjects that I don’t feel comfortable teaching (such as math).

Some days you are going to feel completely overwhelmed with teaching multiple children. Some days you will feel like you accomplished nothing during the day. But on those low days, remember you have accomplished something pretty incredible—you have poured yourself into the education of your children. You won’t regret it.

Homeschooling multiple children has some pretty great rewards. You get to spend more time with your kids, and your kids get to spend more time with each other. In the end, your entire family is going to grow through your homeschool experience.

So don’t give up—you will get through this. And if you need additional support, don’t hesitate to reach out to your local HomeWorks consultant. She’d love to help you!

Always, Yet Never Alone: Homeschooling During COVID-19

August 18, 2020 by Megan

I am always, yet never alone. That’s my life as a homeschool mom in this strange and troubling COVID-19 world. When my governor closed all essential businesses back in the middle of March, my world came to a screeching halt. No more in-person music lessons. No more dropping off my kids at my local gym’s childcare program so I could get my 30 minutes of exercise. We don’t have anymore church fellowships or ministry obligations or homeschool group get-togethers. My husband continued to go to work everyday just as he had before the pandemic, but I suddenly found myself basically confined to my home all day, every day. I was confronted with a deep homeschool loneliness.

But I am not confined alone. I am locked down with my four young daughters. And no longer can I call a babysitter to get out of the house for a few hours. No longer can I meet another mom at a local park for play and fellowship. It’s just me and them 24/7.

So here I am–caught somewhere between extreme loneliness and the need for rational, adult conversation and a strong desire to sit for a few hours in complete silence. Maybe you can relate. Maybe you too are wondering how to cope in such a situation. Here are a few tips.

Spend time in the Scriptures.

Your relationship with the Lord is crucial to your ability to cope. Isaiah 26:3 reminds us that “He will keep him in perfect peace as his mind is stayed on thee because he trusts in thee.” There have been times during this pandemic that I have felt on the edge of a panic attack. It is so easy for me to feel completely overwhelmed by the constant trouble around me, especially when I can’t easily talk to someone about it and I’m struggling with homeschool loneliness.

When I do feel fearful or overwhelmed, Scripture is my best comfort. God’s Word reminds me that I am never truly alone. The Lord is with me! Here are a few Scripture passages that have been especially precious during this time of lockdown. I have each of them posted on the window above my kitchen sink so I can refer to them all day long.

Psalm 91
Psalm 112: 1, 7
Matthew 28:20
Psalm 36: 5-8
Psalm 100:5

Pray.

You may not be able to unload your burdens to a friend over a cup of coffee, but you can do something far better–you can unload your burdens to the Lord in prayer. Talk to Him about the pressures around you and the turmoil within your own soul. He is the only one who has the power to help you in your time of need.

Take a break from the media.

Sometimes spending time on social media or listening to the news can leave me feeling lonelier than ever. I have found that I can only emotionally handle so much media a day. I can’t listen to the news all day long, or even spend a lot of time on social media sites. Instead, I listen to the news headlines every morning and check my social media accounts 2 or 3 times a day. But that’s it.

Find ways to connect with other adults.

We were created as social creatures—that’s why the isolation that comes from being under a lockdown is so difficult. Yes, I am working on developing deeper relationships with my kids. But I crave adult conversation. That’s the root of homeschool loneliness.

Thankfully, we live in an age that allows us to use technology to connect with people who are physically far away. Use the tools that you have to reach out. Text back and forth with a mom friend during a busy day. Set aside an evening to video chat with some moms in your church or community. Share prayer requests with friends or extended family members over email. Interactions like these have helped remind me that I am not in this alone.

Another great resource available to you is your local HomeWorks Consultant. Even if you have never met your consultant in person, don’t feel shy about calling her. She would love to answer any homeschool questions you might have or to chat with you about the homeschool challenges you are facing.

These are unusual days that we live in. Challenging days. Lonely days. But the following prayer from Valley of Vision reminds us of our hope.

We are weary, give us rest,
ignorant, make us wise unto salvation,
helpless, let they strength be made perfect in our weakness,
poor and needy, bless us with Christ’s unsearchable riches,
perplexed and tempted, let us travel on unchecked, undismayed,
knowing that thou hast said,
‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee’
Blessed by thy name![1]

We can take heart in the midst of homeschool loneliness because we are never truly alone—we have the Lord, and He is enough.

[1] Bennett, Arthur, ed. “Fourth Day Evening: God All-Sufficient.” In The Valley of Vision: a Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, 214–14. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975.