By Jessica Swiger | April 22, 2020 | Categories: Resources
With countless homeschooling resources and articles circulating online, you may be feeling overwhelmed and pressured to cultivate the “perfect” learning environment for your child.
Before we get into strategies, let’s take a moment to acknowledge how wonderful of a job you are doing. You did not sign up for this scenario, but here you are not only getting it done but also doing research and seeking techniques to improve, and that is something to admire.
Here are three common roadblocks as well as three simple and essential tools to help you manage this temporary journey through homeschooling.
Road Block #1: My child is disorganized and procrastinating on assignments.
Tool Needed: A Planning System
Whether it be daily, weekly, or monthly having a consistent system will allow your child to mentally and physically organize their obligations and manage their time.
Bullet Journal: a method for an all-in-one planner, with freedom for personalization.
Weekly Planner: to be filled out in the beginning of the week and adjusted as tasks and events come up.
Tip: Have your child pick one consistent location for the planner (Google calendars, notepad in phone, physical journal).
Road Block #2: My child is struggling with downtime and is complaining of boredom.
Tool Needed: A Flexible Routine
If we know what to expect, we feel safe and able to adapt to chaotic situations. Routines can be loose or strict depending on your family dynamics during this unique time.
Block Scheduling: focused blocks of time pieced together to create an ideal balance of work time and free time. This is a great editable template to try.
Loop Scheduling: geared towards homeschool setting, allows for flexibility among tasks and freedom of choice in activity or subject.
Task Cards: used to create a visual schedule; boosts a child’s independence and allows them to plan and prioritize.
Tip: If something about your current routine is not working then try a different resource, flexibility is key.
Road Block #3: My child lacks the motivation to sit down and do school work.
Tool Needed: Positive Reinforcement
Children who are struggling to stay motivated may respond well to incentives.
Incentive Tracker: motivates children by rewarding them for completing actions that align with their goals.
Ways to Encourage: give specific praise for your child’s actions and efforts rather than their grades or ability.
Tip: If your child is feeling stuck, encourage them to take a short, 10-15 minute “brain break” to stretch, eat a snack, or call a friend to reset.
These three quintessential tools will set a foundation of skills that will carry over into the rest of your child’s life and will prepare them for any roadblock that comes their way because this too shall pass!
