Now that you've decided to teach your kids at home, researched the laws, found a good curriculum, it's time to start teaching. Getting started with the actual teaching process seems daunting at first, but a little planning and a can-do attitude will get you through the first few weeks of your homeschool schedule with no problem.
One of the deciding factors when considerig homeschooling vs public schools is the complete freedom that accompanies homeschooling. You can start at eight a.m on the dot, with everyone dressed for the day, or you can start in your pajamas as soon as everyone rolls out of bed. This is actually a very important decision. If your child is a morning person, you'll get better results by starting early. If your kid tends to be groggy in the morning letting her sleep might be more productive. Setting up an effective homeschool schedule will help you get off on the right foot.
Your class schedule is also very important. For example, our teaching day goes much easier if we start with math and get it out of the way. If we save it for later, then my son has to tackle it when he's not as fresh. That leads to him getting frustrated and makes the whole day harder than it should be. Experiment with the order of your classes. Keep in mind that you don't have to teach every class each day. You can teach some classes three days a week, while going five days with others. It completely depends on your kid. Start by having each class every day, but mix up the order. Keep track of how he does in each class at different times of the day. It's also helpful to ask you child which classes she prefers to get over with first Having some say in her homeschool schedule gives the child a feeling of strength that may result in more confidence in her classes.
Also remember that you don't have to teach each class for an hour and you don't have to stay in school for six or seven hours a day. If your child can knock out the day's history lesson in 15 minutes, just move on to the next subject. Conversely, don't be afraid to spend extra time on science if he's having trouble grasping something. Use your knowledge of your child's abilities to decide when to push forward and when to back off to avoid burn out.
Don't forget breaks. Our minds need breaks periodically to assimilate what we've learned. If you just keep pounding information, your child may not retain as much over the long term. When I was studying for my series 7 financial exam, our instructor told us that studies show people who take frequent breaks, as close as 20-25 minutes apart, when studying difficult material, tend to absorb it better and retain it longer than those who take marathon study sessions. Schedule breaks when you can see that your child needs them. Our son gets a break after each subject, and sometimes between sections in the same subject. Depending on the day, you may need to provide extra breaks, especially if the material is especially difficult.
Scheduling also means deciding which days to have school. You can do a four day week, a five day week or a seven day week, among other options. We found that four days works best for our son. If we try five, he starts to burn out and have a hard time retaining information, plus it tends to affect his attitude. Experiment with this to see what works best for both you and the child. You also have the option to have four days of school and then a field trip on the fifth day. This can be a trip to a wildlife park, zoo or museum. Your local homeschool group will have information about educator discounts and special homeschool days at local attractions.When these events occur may influence which days you choose to teach. Since we are homeschooling in Texas, the options for special events is nearly endless.
The freedom to create your own homeschool schedule also allows you to create specific learning opportunities from normally scheduled activities. For example, you can schedule your weekly grocery trip on Friday morning, when it's not busy at your store. Take that time to go over how to understand pricing differences on various sized items and how to use coupons. This combination home economics and math lesson is very valuable and can be reinforced every week.
Creating your own homeschool schedule seems daunting, but it's really just a matter of knowing your kid and trying different combinations until it works.
