Clay’s Wife, Maggie, has been homeschooling their children for years. As many parents are stepping into homeschooling for the first time because of COVID-19, she is here to share some of her tips from homeschooling three little ones.
Scheduling
If you love scheduling and it works for your family – do it. For the unscheduled, gauge the day. If your child can read on their own then write out their assignments, put everything in a folder, and let them work autonomously until they need your help. Then have them turn everything in to you and check over their work to ensure they didn’t miss anything.
Movement
If you find that your kids can’t stay focused or are feeling antsy, get a change of scenery and move. Take a walk, do burpees, jump on the trampoline, whatever is fun and accessible to you. Getting the kids moving helps redirect and refocus their minds.
Making it fun is imperative! God didn’t create us to be bored of learning. It suppose to spur us on curiously over and over again.
Motivation
Captivate motivation and use screen time to work for you. Our kids don’t even know some of the screen time I “allow” them to use is actually part of the lessons. Our oldest is only in 3rd grade though so this probably loses its advantage the older kids get but it’s working for now.
Change It Up!
Don’t be afraid to fail. If you’re doing something and it’s not working out the way you hoped it would, try something new! Be open with your kids about how it’s not working and invite in their perspective of what they would want the day to look like. Be on the same page as about the end goal but be open about changing your approach.
Enjoy It
In this time, you get to be a part of hands on education. See this this time with your kids as a gift, they’re only this age once.
This is a great opportunity to learn how your kids learn which results in your ability to parent better. You set the done for the at home classroom, create a space for your kids to thrive!
Don’t miss out on this quality time you get with your kids. These days may feel hard and filled with uncertainty, but you set the tone for your home and your family. See this extra time and new opportunity as a gift!
Share photos of your Homeschool set up around your Rustic Trades table and tag us @rustictrades!
