Homeschooling can be one of the best decisions you have ever made.
Unfortunately, some schools have bad reputations, and you may be someone who wonders if their child will be able to learn in such an environment.
These things can spur a parent to homeschool.
However, how do you do it? It is unlikely that you will be an expert in every subject, so that means you will need to do a lot of research.
In addition, how do you create a space that your child realizes is a space for learning, separate from the rest of the home?
The good news is that there are many ways you can create a great schooling environment at home.
So, let’s take a look at some of them now:
Table of Contents
Start With the Basics
You or whoever is going to do the teaching needs to adopt the right attitude. You are pivotal to creating the right learning atmosphere, and that means you need to be confident.
To do this, conduct the right research to ensure that you are following the curriculum as you need to be.
It may help if you joined communities of homeschooling parents and picked up a lot of advice.
It is not an easy process, but with the right support, you will be able to do it. You will also be able to preempt any potential issues you had not considered and set up the right mitigations in place.
Create a Routine
Children need routine, and this is ever more necessary if you are planning on homeschooling. It is not just important in terms of a school routine, but you should set a routine for the whole day.
So you need a regular waking time, then have breakfast, then get ready for the school day in the traditional way. This means they should have a school uniform and get your kids to pack their own school bags too.
This process will get them into the idea that today is a learning day, not a weekend.
The school needs to start at a regular time – where you need to transition from parent to teacher – remember this routine is as much for your benefit as theirs.
After school, you should get them to change – as should you. Then you need to have a regular evening meal at a set time and a bedtime routine too. The more structured you can make life, the easier it will be for all concerned.
The School Schedule
First, the school day needs to be pretty structured.
This means having regular lesson times, say an hour for something, then another hour for something else, then a break, another hour of a subject, then lunch, then two more hours split between two subjects.
How you make the day up is your choice.
But it is a schedule you are going to have to stick to for the long term, so make it something that works.
Remember that you are setting the schedule. So, if your child shows a particular interest in a specific subject and asks a lot of questions, you can run over the time.
Do not stick to the schedule to the detriment of your child’s learning or your own enjoyment.
Homeschooling gives you a chance to recognize your child’s talents far more easily, and then you have the opportunity to hone them and mold them.
You will enjoy the process more if you are more flexible too.
The Classroom
If you have a home that permits it, then you should convert a room into a classroom.
This could be a garage, an outhouse, a spare bedroom, a dining room, whatever; it doesn’t matter.
But a separate room, with a label on the door saying the school or classroom 101, or something similar, is a good place to start.
If you do not have this sort of space, cordon off a section of another room and use that.
As long as it has the feel of a space of learning, that is what matters. Then you need to fill the room with school things.
On the walls, you could have shelves with lipped brackets with books and other teaching ornaments.
Think of a human skull with the sections of the brain labeled.
You will need a suitable school desk and pieces of equipment for you to teach from too.
Perhaps the traditional method, íóka blackboard, would work best for you.
You can also cover the walls with appropriate posters like a historical timeline or an image of the solar system.
