My wife and I home schooled 4 boys from elementary through high school. Some of you have bravely taken on this responsibility yourselves. I know you have your own ideas of how to succeed. There is no one way to homeschool. But here are some hints of how we survived:
- Don’t try to replicate the industrial school paradigm – Rows of desks, subjects timed to the minute, mindless repetition may be effective for educating 30 kids at a time, but not your individual kiddos in your home. If you try to replicate the classroom experience for your kids, you and your kids will be frustrated.
- Routine is your friend. Your kids are used to a schedule at school. They need a schedule at home. Left to themselves, they will burn down your house while you’re trying to engage in a Zoom meeting with co-workers. They need to know that at 9:30 am, it’s time to start school. At 11 am they get to go outside. Lunch always happens at 12. Nap time (for little ones) happens at 2. You get the picture. Once you establish the routine, they can direct themselves instead of you having to hover over them and keep them out of trouble.
- Make it fun. Don’t be a slave to school. We didn’t make our kids get up at 6 am like the other kids, we let them sleep late. (It makes them feel like they’re getting away with something). Sometimes our kids would climb a tree with their books and “do school” in a tree. Other times they’d hide in the attic or under their bed with a flashlight. Let them choose their environment. If you have the time and ability to drill down on something your kid is learning, do it! Don’t feel like you are limited to the curriculum provided by your school.
- Beware! School is full of busy-work. We learned early on that even though public (and private) school days are structured to be 7 hours long, our kids could tear through the essentials in about half that time. Teachers have to fill the schedule allotted to them. You don’t. If your kid completes an assignment successfully, let them move on. You’ll drive your kids – and yourself – crazy trying to hold them to a full day of schoolwork.
- Give them active breaks. Kids – especially boys – need to be active. Make them go outside. Don’t let them sit in front of television and video games (which often increases restlessness and irritability). Sometimes my wife would just send the boys into our cove and make them “run the cove” until they got tired. Doing so made it so much easier for them to concentrate.
- Schedule their day to assist you. “Routine” and “fun” (above), are your friends. Letting your kids sleep in gives you time in the morning to get your work done. Blocking off time for the kids to “officially” do school is time that you can work on your own tasks. “Active breaks” (see above) is “you” time.
- Don’t keep up with the Joneses. Finally, because every family and every kid is unique, the way your family “does school” will probably be different than how other parents are doing it. Don’t feel pressure to make your home schooling experience measure up to your peers.
Instead of looking at this situation as a burden, realize his is a special opportunity to spend time with your kids that you would never have otherwise. Cherish it and make the most of it.