So,
you've finally decided on adopting home schooling
as the way to go for your children? Well, now you
need to organize your home and your plans to ensure
that your children will benefit from all your hard
work researching and finalizing every little detail.
Because home schooling also makes use of several
strategies seen in regular schools, you need to
create a certain atmosphere that is different from
the atmosphere children are used to inside your
home. While having a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere
can be helpful to the learning process, allowing
your children to wander around and just lose interest
in their lessons can be a huge waste of time and
effort. You need to set up some boundaries, organize
your home, and prepare a well-planned strategy for
your children's home schooling.
You
can either choose to hire a private tutor to attend
to your children, or you can teach your kids yourself.
Either way, you have several options how to proceed
with home schooling. One of the most common methods
is to follow a curriculum
based on government standards and regulations. This
would ensure that your children's education is at
par with public school education. The government
standards are there to make sure that your children
learn the minimum level of lessons. Of course, if
you are daring and would like to maximize your children's
potential, you can opt for the "unschooling" method
that Charlotte Mason strongly adhered to. Using
this particular technique, the children are allowed
to learn at their own pace and follow their own
interests and inclination. Eventually, the children
will develop a special knack for a certain topic
or subject. This is then enforced and strengthened
with accompanying lessons and exercises designed
to enhance their knowledge and develop their acquired
skills.
Now,
we go on to the physical orientation of your home.
Leaving your home as is for the home schooling sessions
is simply ill-advised. Remember, your children need
to feel that they are students during the sessions.
By simply allowing them free reign to use your home
as a resting area and not treat it as a classroom,
then the purpose of home schooling will be quickly
defeated. It can be difficult for you to impose
some boundaries and limit your children's movement
during sessions but it is necessary for them to
be able to learn during their home schooling.
Holding
sessions in the living room is not advisable especially
with the TV in the same room. Having the TV in the
same room with young children can create potential
for distraction. With the TV just a few feet away,
your children's discipline comes into question.
Can they resist the lure of the TV the entire session?
If you think that your children cannot resist the
temptation of the TV, then it might be best to transfer
to another room.
For
starters, you can find a corner of your home away
from any distractions. You can simply rearrange
the sofa, chairs, and tables to maximize comfort
and minimize the possibility of distraction. If
home schooling is relatively new to small children,
then seating them in such a way that they can see
members of the family will be helpful. This is to
avoid giving them the impression that they are excluded
from family activities during their home schooling
classes. Children can develop a fear of learning
especially if they feel they are excluded or ignored
by family members. They have no understanding of
the concept of discipline and distraction and rely
heavily on constant support from family members,
especially the mother. Seating children where they
can maybe see the mother working in the kitchen
can have a calming effect and relax them further.
In time, however, they should be slowly weaned from
this reliance and taught to focus on the lessons
more.
Children
may also appreciate being given corners of their
own for their schoolwork. As the schooling progresses,
children will learn to focus on their lessons more
and may even need a certain level privacy to accomplish
their lessons. If this is the case, the best thing
to do is to find them individual corners or places.
These corners can then be furnished with bright
posters and stylish tables for the children to work
on. Giving them comfortable chairs and tables will
go a long way in instilling love for learning. Children
also need to be left alone and organize their own
little corners. You can actually see their preferences
and developing work habits from the way they arrange
their personal items.
Now,
you might ask if it is advisable at all to set up
the children's workstations at their rooms. Well,
frankly speaking, it can be a very bad idea. While
the purpose of home schooling may be to give children
a much more relaxed atmosphere for learning, placing
their workstations for schooling purposes inside
their room can create some problems. A child's room
can become his sanctuary. To a child, his room is
his own special place, somewhere where he can unwind
and be comfortable. Placing worktables here would
be counter-productive since there is a higher possibility
that children would just lounge on their beds and
play rather than learn. Instead of the children's
own rooms, a separate room can be renovated or simply
reorganized to serve as a small classroom, so to
speak.
The
best time to impart valuable lessons and knowledge
to children is during the mornings. This is considered
as the optimal or best time to learn because the
mind is still fresh and the body is not yet exhausted.
Children tend to absorb more of their lessons in
the morning because their minds are well-rested
and more alert during this time. They are also full
of energy in the morning and have yet to spend this
energy, providing a great opportunity for parents
or tutors to teach them lessons.
In any
case, minimizing interruptions and distractions
is one of the keys to a successful home schooling
program. By maximizing the chances for better learning,
your children will progress at a much better pace
than ever before.
