Homeschooling and Where to Start

When it comes to home based learning, staying organized and on top of your child's learning is imperative. Planning out a daily schedule really helps you to stay on track both inside the classroom and out. Children work better when they have a routine, and this will be reflected well in their schoolwork. Below are five things that should be included in any homeschooling schedule.

For Monday to Friday, the 'school' start time should always remain the same. This will help with discipline with your child and also help them later in life. Think about waking your child up naturally with sunlight rather than an alarm clock for a better morning. Remember to schedule time in for the most important meal of the day before the learning begins.

This only applies if you are homeschooling more than one child. Make sure that you schedule some time in for individual learning with each child. You can set your other students independent reading whilst you do some individual teaching. This can help with their confidence with home based learning and it also lets them know that you care about each of them.

As breakfast is known as the most important meal of the day, both adults and children have the most concentration at the beginning of the day. This concentration starts to taper out after dinner time once the 'bell' for the end of the day starts approaching. In order to get the most out of your children/students, you should confine the harder and more intensive tasks to the morning. This includes essential lessons and the difficult subjects.

In order to keep the children's concentration going in the afternoon, it's ideal to schedule time for creative activities after dinnertime. If you've had the more difficult and intensive lessons in the morning, it's important to give the children something messy and hands-on to look forward to. If you're studying a subject, think about digging out the paints and glitter for a crafts project. Other options include an order essay online, scheduling field trips or planning time for outside activities.

Especially for young children, it is important that their home based learning is broken down into smaller chunks. This doesn't just mean including a lunch break. Try scheduling a small break every hour or so where your child's mind can relax and recover from the intensive learning. They will take much more in if lessons are broken down into smaller and more manageable chunks.

One of the many benefits of home based learning is that it is a lot more flexible than ordinary schooling. Although that does come with its own work. It also means that you have to spend time planning and organizing the week ahead of you. It may be hard work, but if you put the effort in, the rewards will be high for both you and your children.