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BEST IDEAS AND BETTER TIPS

Six Best Tips For Home Schooling

Close-up of family discussing on sofa in

 You're helping create an attitude to learning for life. Is one single activity worth a huge drama? Think 'big picture' for home schooling success.

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  • Have a family discussion about new routines and responsibilities due to COVID 19 changes

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  • Set up a work area for each person

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  • Initiate a work/ school day routine including exercise breaks, hygiene, meals breaks, down time, etc

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  • Brainstorm rules for working  from home (get kids involved)

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  • Notice cooperative behaviour 

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  • Plan privileges related to cooperation & follow up with natural consequences if rules are not maintained

  • 1. Discuss what responsibilities each member of the family has.

  • If possible record them on a list so everyone knows exactly what's expected of them.

  • Emphasize the need for cooperation

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Explain: the world is different during COVID 19. You haven't ever had to work from home before and kids haven't had to be home schooled before but you're doing your best to make sure it will work and you know your children will do their best.

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Children have the responsibility of their own schoolwork. You already did your schoolwork when you went to school so don't take on doing your kids work for them. But you will help them if they genuinely need help.

e.g.: Child Responsibilities

  • Get up, dressed and have breakfast:

  • Brush Hair, Clean Teeth

  • Make your bed and tidy room

  • School work

Setting work area up area is parent responsibility but once set up, it becomes the child's responsibility

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  • Keep bedroom tidy

(Check the same day every week before vacuuming.)

The natural consequence is, if kids' room is too untidy they have to clean their own room.

 

But if this problem persists begin to remove offending items from their room (beginning with what they will be inconvenienced by most.)

e.g.: Parent Responsibilities

  1. Provide household income

  2. Maintain an adequate food supply

  3. Ensure the smooth running of the household

  • Child Rearing: This includes the initial setting up of a work station/area for your child, reading to your child, providing assistance if genuinely required

  • Cleaning

  • Cooking and Meal Preparation

  • Gardening

  • Washing, ironing, folding clothing

  • Maintaining dress standards

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N.B. It doesn't include doing children's schoolwork

  • ​2. Brainstorm what you need to make it work

  • List requirements (this could include quiet time, allocated work areas, sharing internet usage,  accessible power points, activities to do when finished school tasks, etc.)

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  • Set up work station areas

  • Set up responsibilities for creating and keeping work station areas functional

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Father and Daughter
High Fives

3. Set up a predictable school/work day routine (an example below) for yourself.

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The key to success is providing a variety of activities: Some active, some passive. Some challenging, some easy. Some creative, and some chores.

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And highlight breaks/exercise/free play

4. Decide on five rules that will allow people to both work at home (if required) and kids to do schoolwork.

 

Even littlies love to play schools and they can have their tasks to do too: making playdough model, drawing, puzzle, block building, etc.

Full School/Work Day Routine

  • Exercise

  • Hygiene

  • Food prep (breakfast)

  • Structured learning time (Independent)

  • Hygiene

  • Healthy snack time

  • Structured learning time (independent)

  • Free play

  • Hygiene

  • Food prep (lunch)

  • Reading (independent)

  • Learning games e.g. fun learning games

  • Creativity  (art, creative writing, drama)

  • Completing responsibilities time

  • Free play active

  • Hygiene

  • Food prep time (dinner)

  • Free play passive

  • Bath, story and bed time

If your child needs something to do, when they've finished a task they could do one of the independent activities on the link below.

 

You could screen shot any of the seven pages of 18 activities, print it off for them and they can work through them. This should keep them occupied, and learning.

Girl with Flower

  • 5. Consistently notice the positive where ever possible

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  • Reward positive behaviour. What you notice you'll get more of.

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  • Comment on what they're doing correctly and make it specific. e.g. That's your best sentence. You've remembered capital letters, full stops and it makes sense.

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  • Make general comments about them being responsible and cooperative and doing their work independently

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For more information go to the following links:

Girl with Flower

(Spend 5-10 minutes explaining what to do)

  • Everyone follows their predetermined work contract (work set out ahead of time) with independent activities they can go on with: This ideally should come from the teacher but can come from you. It provides your child a list of tasks and things to go on with, if they get stuck.

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  • Everyone does quality work, first time, that saves redoing things. You may need to identify what quality work is.

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  • Independent working times are quiet times

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  • Everyone's work is their own responsibility. Each person should continue on with another part of the activity if at all possible and get help at break time rather than interrupt others. If they can't go on and are really stuck they can get help.

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  • If you complete all of your work go on with a quiet activity, reading, other work in your contract, etc until break time.

Teacher and Young Student

6. Evaluate at the end of the day. Plan privileges related to cooperation & follow up with natural consequences if rules are not maintained

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  • Build a reward into different parts of the day to break it up and acknowledge good behaviour. It could be a game, free play, creative play, a privilege, etc

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  • If your kids are achievement focused they could chart their levels of cooperation and earn a special privilege that may involve delayed gratification.

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  • Follow up with natural consequences if they haven't been cooperative. This could include having to complete tasks during creative time, free time, etc

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Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website.

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This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems.

 

Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

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