Homeschooling Tips
- Must Have Homeschool Supplies
- Homeschooling in only 15 Hours a Week
- FREE Homeschooling Forms to help you get organized
- How to Choose a Homeschool Curriculum
- 12 Must Read Books for Homeschooling Moms
- Keeping Homeschool Kids Excited about Learning
- 9 Things to Start your Homeschool Year Right
- Create Your Peaceful Homeschool
- Homeschooling when Mom is Sick
- 3 Tips for Easing back into Homeschooling
- Homeschool Room Makeover
- 5 Things We Changed in our Homeschool
Improve your Homeschool
1. Add Hands-On Projects
Hands-on projects tend to be one of the first things dropped at the beginning of the school year. Instead of succumbing to the inevitable, try planning a hands-on project for each month.
Pull out clay and spend a few weeks creating a sculpture with your children. Recreate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in your kitchen. Build a castle out of the leftover cardboard boxes from Christmas.
A few hands-on projects add understanding, fun, and creativity to a homeschool in the depths of a gloomy winter.
2. Get Organized
Homeschools gradually get disorganized and messy as the school year goes by. January is the perfect time to reorganize and clean in preparation for spring.
As you're tidying be sure that the books are neatly on the shelf. My kids are notorious for leaving school books all over the house.
Paper gets used up while homeschooling. The kids are completing art projects and math lessons like there's no tomorrow. So check that you have enough paper. While you're at it, make certain next week's papers are printed out and ready to use.
A few minutes reorganizing the homeschool will make life much easier this spring!
3. Don't Multi-Task
Are you guilty of trying to check Facebook while teaching your child math?
Stop multi-tasking. Homeschooling needs your full attention on your children as you teach them math, grammar, and science.
Folding laundry takes up space on the kitchen table, space your children need in order to complete their science experiment.
Cooking while explaining the intricacies of carrying or borrowing tends to result in burnt food. And don't attempt to change your baby's diaper while teaching the kids to cook.
Keep your attention focused on your children and do one thing at a time.
4. Avoid the Phone
The phone is a wonderful tool for keeping in touch with family and friends around the world. You can chat about your nephew's latest class, your mother's latest trip, or your sister's quilt.
But chatting on the phone during school hours means you're not homeschooling. Kids decide to watch television or play with Legos while you're talking. Schoolwork gets pushed to the back burner.
Avoid the phone during homeschool hours and concentrate on your children.
Often small changes are all it takes to make dramatic improvements to your homeschool. If you're looking to improve your homeschool this year, try one of these tips. You'll be amazed at the result.
What changes are you making to improve your homeschool this year?
Sara Dennis is a homeschooling mother of 6 children ages 4 through 18. After much research into homeschooling in 2000, she and her husband fell in love with classical education and used it as the foundation for their homeschool. Sara blogs at Classically Homeschooling, and you can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Google+.
