We are huge fans of the flexibility homeschooling allows us to have. A few days off here and there doesn’t hurt anyone, and you and your children can take breaks when needed. Life gets in the way and blowing a few days off doesn’t seem like much of an issue, but before you know it, you could fall way behind, and soon you and your children are fighting an uphill battle to get back on track.
Homeschooling parents want to be loyal and dedicated to their children’s training and education. To accomplish these goals, they need to be consistent. Being consistent in your homeschooling can get challenging, especially in the early years. Luckily for you, we have compiled a few tips for being consistent in your homeschooling.
Before we get into the tips to improve your homeschooling consistency, you first need to understand why and what is causing you to be inconsistent. There can be many reasons behind being inconsistent in your homeschooling, such as the lack of self-discipline or planning, getting overwhelmed, or having too many distractions at home. Once you recognize the issue, it will get that much easier to bring consistency to your homeschooling
Tips for Being Consistent in Your Homeschooling
Think About Why
Why are you homeschooling your children? What are your and your child’s expectations and goals? Remembering the reasons behind your decision to homeschool and knowing why it is so important to you will help you get back on track. If you genuinely care about your child’s education, you will be willing to make the sacrifices that come with it.
Plan It Out
Homeschooling isn’t something you can just ‘wing’ and improvise as you go. Homeschooling requires planning and scheduling. These plans and schedules don’t have to be set in stone. You can be flexible with your days. However, without proper planning, your homeschooling is doomed to fail.
It depends on you how far ahead you want to plan. You can do this weekly, monthly, or semester-wise. Knowing what’s in store for the day makes it that much easier to face the day. If you think your planning skills are lacking, you can try using pre-made curriculums readily available online.
Do The Important Things First
This tip is somewhat of an extension of the last tips, as this can’t be done if you don’t have a plan. During your planning, you must have found out your priorities and what course/task/subject is most important to you and your child. This important task should be the first thing getting done on your homeschool day. With this tip, even if something happens halfway through the day, you will still have completed an essential part of your day
Incentivize Your Monday
Mondays are usually where most homeschooling parents fail to stay consistent. It is the steepest mountain to climb during the week. A good way to not dread your Mondays is to incentivize them. Plan some rewards, games, or entertainment that both you and your children would enjoy.
Think of things that motivate your children and something that either gets you excited or will, at least, keep the children busy while you rest up a little. You could reward your kids with a movie if they finish their work on time and correctly. You could plan out a few games that your kids love to entertain them after they are done with their work. Anything that will make yours (and your children’s) Mondays easier will help you become consistent.
Homeschooling Is a Job
To engage the students both mentally and physically in the classroom, the teacher needs to respond to them in a prompt manner. The lessons also need to be organized with the students having a clear understanding of what is expected of them. The use of aids such as charts and diagrams along with role-playing exercises help the students understand the lesson better. Additionally, there should be an interaction between what is being taught and the everyday experiences that they encounter outside of school.