Category: Handy Hints

Homeschooling With Minimal Stress: Handy Hints

10/4/2015

by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

Image © Urban Hippie Love; Flickr.com

Homeschooling with minimal stress may seem like a mythical wish. However, with the right tools and tips, you can reduce the stress that goes with teaching your kids at home. Relax for a minute and go over these handy hints I’ve learned with experience over the years. Each family is different. However, we can all try new things to enhance our homeschooling experience.

Tear out and laminate workbook pages and put them in binders for each subject. Arrange the page order according to level. If you make a big one that contains all levels and areas of math, you won't have to purchase any more math workbooks the following years and you have work for all your kids. Just pull out the pages one at a time and give them to your child with a write & wipe marker or crayon. Then, when your child is finished and the work has been gone over, you can easily put it back in. You may want to take a Sharpie and number the pages in the order you want them. That way if more than one child has a worksheet, you can easily remember where they belong.

Take some relaxing time for yourself each day. If your kids nap, instead of cleaning during their nap, you could take a soak in the tub, curl up with a book, or do something else you enjoy. Your relaxing time may come after the kids are asleep, but be sure to take it. Even five minutes of locking yourself in the bathroom and praying can go a long way

Plan ahead. If you try to write or figure out the assignments while school is in session, this can stress you out. I recommend taking a weekend to plan a month or so of assignments. That way you can easily give the assignments to your child/ren when it's time.

Organize each subject for each child. Each child should have a folder for each subject. The assignments should be placed in those folders in order of when they are to be completed. Even though some assignments won't have a worksheet, there should be instructions for each assignment (even if it's just reading). All assignments should have a date on them. You can even stick the write & wipe sheets (or the page numbers for them) in the folders, too. This makes the day run much smoother.

Never ignore a question your child asks. If you don't know the answer, don't stress. Just look it up. That’s what search engines and educational websites are for. You don’t need to know everything in the world in order to homeschool. All you need are tools to learn with.

Use different methods for teaching the kids. Try various ways to instill each lesson, such as chalkboard and lecture, books, games, worksheets, drawing, writing, and more. You should use two or more strategies for each lesson. That way your child/ren won't get bored and they will also learn many different methods for solving problems.

Add family yoga or meditation to your routine. If you and the kids are having a hard time relaxing, yoga or meditation can help. Be sure to choose the right times to do the yoga, as well as the best relaxing music for everyone. For us, doing a warm-up before assignments begin and a cool-down at the end of the day is perfect. Native American songs are usually our preferred musical selections. Did you know that yoga can actually increase concentration and focus in the homeschool classroom?

Have Fun! Enjoying the process is one of the most important aspects of homeschooling. If you and your child are both having fun, homeschooling is more likely to go smoothly with minimal stress.

Homeschool Tips: Handy Hints No One Tells You

1/14/2015

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by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

As a mom who has experienced both public school and homeschool, I have learned many small things that can make a big difference. Many of these things are not going to be told to you when you decide to homeschool. Once you decide to homeschool, you are left to figure things out on your own. Below are some of the things I have learned along the way.

Vary Your Instructional Methods

By standing in front of your children at a blackboard or just in the middle of the room when you give some of your lessons, you can be sure that your children will be able to learn in this manner if they return to traditional school or if they attend any courses outside of the home, including when they go to college. However, it is also important to provide a variety of teaching methods, so that your children can learn how to pick up information in many different ways. One on one instruction is also a great tool that is very easy to incorporate into a homeschool classroom.

Headings On Papers are Still Important

This is a small, but important task many homeschool families forget about. Even if you only have one child, the child still needs to correctly put headings on the papers, which include the name and date. This teaches something needed in college and also if your child will take outside courses. Aside from that, it helps teach organizational skills.

Group Presentations are Essential, Even for Small Families

It is imperative that your child learn how to present reports, artwork, experiments, and inventions in front of others. Family get-togethers are a great opportunity for this because there will be a good amount of people, not just one or two. This is a vital skill, as it builds confidence and teaches presentation skills that will be needed in college and maybe even in the workforce. This also teaches planning and organizational skills because the child will have to plan out , prepare, and organize their work for presentation. Oral skills will also be exercised here.

School-Like Organization Helps With College Prep

Organize your homeschool similar to that of a traditional school. Of course, you can have your own design and expression, but have a special spot for the teacher and a special spot for the students. There should be a spot for finished assignments to be graded, as well as a spot for graded assignments to be picked up. Each student should have his or her own materials to work with. Certain things, like crayons and glue, can be shared, but notebooks, writing journals, binders, and other more personal items should not be shared. Students should have a certain place for everything used in class.

Keep an "Extra-Work" Bin Handy

Keep a basket or bin with various extra worksheets for those times when a child is ahead in work, but you are not ready to move onto the next subject. Oftentimes one child finishes earlier than another, but the other child needs your help and the next subject needs explanation before the child who is ahead can begin. It is times like these when the extra work bin will come in handy. Other times you will have a child who enjoys schoolwork and just wants to do more, even after school has ended for the day. Either way, the bin is there. The bin should contain fun worksheets (coloring, dot to dot, mazes...) as well as actual work. Let the child decide. You'll be amazed at how often they pick the actual schoolwork over the fun pages.

Folders are Your Friend

This seems so simple, but keeping a folder for each subject just like in traditional school will not only teach organization, but prepare your children for what lies ahead. Should your children ever return to traditional school or attend college or formal courses, your children will need to learn how to organize in a setting outside the home.

Don't Forget About Gym

Sometimes gym can be forgotten in the hustle and bustle of things. Don't forget to take fitness time each day. Gym can consist of running, jogging, biking, skating, playing competitive sports, playing sports with family members, swimming, dancing, walking, exercising, and a variety of other physical activities. Just be sure to provide a mixture of activities throughout each week. Get your children up and moving.

Grocery Store Issues May Happen

Sometimes you'll want to make a grocery run in the middle of the day during a lesson break. Don't forget that people are going to ask you questions. They will mainly ask why the children aren't in school. Be prepared to answer this and don't get upset. Sometimes, they may just be nosy, but still give them the benefit of the doubt. Always answer politely. I like to say "Oh, we homeschool and we're in between classes, so we thought we'd make a quick grocery run." They may be satisfied with that and they may come back asking about socialization. If they do, you may like my usual response: "Oh, we get much more socialization than those in traditional school because of the learning flexibility and variety of classes and activities available." That usually works or it just makes them even more curious. Don't be afraid to answer their questions. You have nothing to hide. You just want what's best for your particular child and there is nothing wrong with that. There are many styles of schooling. Each child’s best style will vary.

Formality Can Vary

Not every lesson has to be on paper. True, you may want to keep a record for future reference, but remember that in homeschool there is greater opportunity for hands-on learning. Use that to your child's advantage. Hands-on learning can be much more effective than learning strictly from a textbook. It is best to pair both together. A child should read something, listen to it, speak it, write it, observe it, and do it (and also taste, touch, and smell it, if applicable). This will allow for the lesson to be understood from more than one angle, thus allowing for a deeper understanding.

Schedule According to Individual Needs

A schedule should be formed for organization, but remember that homeschool allows for flexibility, so if one child is throwing a fit and the older children need you for help or a lesson, they can move on to a self-instructed lesson, like free reading, until you have taken care of the problem with the other child.

Author's Extra:

Remember that in homeschool, you should have some structure to be sure lessons are being taught and learned, but also remember that homeschool allows for some flexibility when needed.

*I originally published a version of this via Yahoo Contributor Network

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Homeschooling With Minimal Stress: Handy Hints

Homeschool Tips: Handy Hints No One Tells You

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