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How to Help Your Kids Feel Comfortable Learning from Home
Whether you’re a die hard advocate for homeschooling or were pushed into the idea after the Covid-19 outbreak, we all need to find ways to help our kids adjust to this new style of learning. Even if they’re beyond excited for this unique adventure, change is awkward! These tips on transitioning from traditional school to homeschool will help your kiddos feel more at ease studying from home.
Routine
When first moving from public education to homeschool, a certain amount of structure does the body well. So many things in life are changing but if you can maintain a small semblance of routine, you’ll find that everyone feels more grounded at the end of the day.
A perk of homeschool is the flexibility to learn as you please. It’s more than okay to take breaks (it’s encouraged actually) so that you and your little ones can recharge. The daily routine is there to guide you through any given day but it isn’t set in stone. Somedays, it’ll be just to remind you of everything you aren’t going to do! Schedules are nice to start with while you’re still getting your footing, but once you feel like you and your children are embracing homeschool, you can completely shake it up. Which brings us to our next tip!
Fluidity
You might realize your child prefers to read or do art in the morning and get to math in the afternoon. Maybe they like to dedicate a few days to one of two subjects before moving on to others. However they learn best, its not a bad idea to leave wiggle room for your child to alter how it is they absorb information. Embracing new methods of learning might be exactly what your kid needed to finally fall in love with history etc. I think we can all agree that freedom often leads us towards more joyful paths and it’s no different with learning. Going with the flow could end up making your child even more curious about the world around them.
These first two tips don’t sound complimentary but I assure you these two can tango. In combination, routine with fluidity is the ideal life even for us adults. In a homeschool setting, the balance of structure and flexibility makes for a happy environment.
Don’t Recreate School
This is a super tempting option because it feels natural but this is not the way to get your child to adapt into homeschooling. While you might be able to use bits and pieces of what you liked from public school into your new homeschool routine, it’s important to be aware of how this role changes your identity. You’re now a parent AND a teacher. Which is beautiful! Instead of separating the two, leaving your children with conflicting ideas of you, you should allow them to merge. Be their parent who teaches them by integrating authenticity with education.
Social Time
One of the biggest struggles when transitioning from public school to homeschool is leaving behind the social aspect. We are social creatures by nature and this can be a lonely part of the journey but it doesn’t have to be! Host play dates or zoom chats to keep friendships blossoming even when distanced. Not only will this make your child happy but will also teach them more about platonic relationships such as how to keep them alive. You can also turn these into learning opportunities by making the play date a field trip!
Support
This is one of the most important things to have when beginning homeschool. A network of individuals you can vent to or lean on when you need to. There are so many ways to find community through homeschooling. You can seek out co-ops in your area, follow blogs with homeschool connections, or join homeschool groups to start.
This isn’t a step to be taken lightly! It’s crucial to have people in your circle that understand what you’re going through. If you’re struggling, someone else might have just figured out how to help their own child with that and can now guide you. Homeschool promotes continued learning for adults as well!
Take it Day by Day
Allow yourself time and patience as you take on this new lifestyle. Everyone adapts differently but eventually homeschooling will become as fluid a routine as the rest of your life. Enjoy this extra time with your family. The bonds you are creating are invaluable.
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Transitioning to home schooling is probably the best idea now, with the pandemic. These are great tips!
These are awesome tips and so helpful especially during this time. My kids will be virtual learning at home until September so this post came at a great time!
Kileen
cute & little
I had a bunch of friends that did home schooling. I did online school for two classes but i know its so that same. Thanks for sharing this
These are some great tips. We’ll be homeschooling at first but then moving to in person. We are not a homeschooling family, that’s for sure.
I have middle school kids and it has been tough for them. They miss their friends and the work was not challenging them. I am hoping that online school will better this time around
I am so grateful my kids are grown. I am not sure how I would have been able to handle home schooling and work. I am amazed and in awe of anyone who can home school!
Love all your tips. I really like the one, “don’t recreate school.” Lots of cool ways to learn as so many do!
This is great! I’m setting up for school this year at home and it’s good to have the reminder that we’re not meant to recreate school.
Such great ideas and so important for the times!
Great tips on how to transition to homeschooling. All the best with your homeschooling adventures!
Great tips! It’s actually okay for me to homeschool my nephew since I love teaching so much. Sad part is he can’t make friends while doing this learning system.
last spring was a mess – the structure on the school’s side and ours. Right now our district is saying they want there to be IN PERSON school 100% – waiting on govenor approval (NY STATE) We normally start 9/8 so definitely have some time, but personally I cannot imagine anyone going back so why plan for all these false scenarios? Lets just plan well for virtual school! So frustrating and I feel like alot of time is being wasted
Wow! What a challenge school from home has become! Definitely a huge adjustment for everyone.
Homeschooling is definitely a new experience for most of the youngsters, there’s a lot of changes and I wish that everything will go great when it comes to homeschooling! Considering the situation right now, it’s best for everyone to switch from traditional schooling to homeschooling.
This is so helpful! All these factors are really important.
This blog post means to be very helpful and useful for every of reader having kids..glad you shared this with us..it is quite interesting..great work though…
This is such a wonderful post and very timely as all around the globe is transitioning into this way of schooling at home. Great tips and advise to us parents, thanks for sharing this to us.
Some great ideas here but I can’t wait for my kids to go (safely) back to school! There WILL be a party in my house that morning! 😀
We are not there just yet (2 year old) but this has opened my eyes a lot. I wonder what everything will be like in just a couple years. Thanks for sharing.
As a substitute and private tutor, I have to say that routine is such a huge factor in making home schooling work well. Allowing certain times for breaks (like recess in traditional school), helps from littles getting burnt out. Good luck on this next adventure!
These are some great tips for people who are trying to adjust to all of the changes happening right now!
This is super helpful! The transition to virtual school was HARD! While I am not homeschooling or doing the virtual option this year, my sister in law is and I know it is going to be quite an adjustment but I think homeschooling is great for everyone who wants to and can do it!
Wow! These is so helpful! Schooling will be back in a 2 weeks here in Philipppines so this will be a big help for us.
These are great tips, thanks so much for this!
Don’t recreate school is probably the best advice! Also, don’t try to conquer the world in a day. 🙂
My son loves to learnw ith us at home but he would like to return to school to play with his friends.
homeschooling isn’t for everyone, especially working parents.
I love this topic, always gives me a little bit of sense what I need to do and be prepared for when my kids start homeschooling. Thanks!
My heart truly goes out to all parents trying to make the best decisions for their families right now! They are having to choose between their own mental and physical health on a daily basis – I’m sure it is exhausting. These are great reminders for those parents. I think taking it day by day is excellent advice!
These are some great tips and I can so relate to them. Although I homeschooled my son at a later stage, earlier he was in a normal school, only after his 9th grade I started homeschooling him so it wasn’t that challenging for both of us to adjust.
This is a great challenge to parents and it will take a lot of patience and encouragement for the kids, Thanks for this post!
Great article as it must not be easy for both parents and kids to adjust to this whole thing. Support and rourine are huge.