Translated by Paloma King

 

It would be great if school was all a pleasure, just as it is when we are doing our favorite things… Wait a second! Why can’t it be like that?

 

I think everyone, or at least most people have experienced at some point that feeling of rejection towards school due to the weariness it causes.

 

Whether in a traditional school or in a homeschooling program, there will be a time when some tiredness or boredom will be experienced.  This is something we should avoid so the learning progress is not affected.

These are some things to consider to avoid the weariness while developing the homeschooling program:

• Know your limitations. We have to start by knowing our own limitations and our children’s. In the homeschooling environment there is no rush to accomplish certain school cycle and this is something to take advantage of by taking the necessary time according to the learning skills of each kid. We can’t expect younger children to do reading selections more complex than what they can understand, and we can’t test young ones above their level. There is nothing more discouraging than not meeting the requirements.

• No strict schedules should be followed because this could add an unnecessary pressure in your children. It is best to simply establish routines that your children find interesting. Children can spend most of their time doing routinary activities as waking up not too early, have an abundant breakfast, reading, writing and some other similar things. You must insist on them finishing the routine activities before going to the moments of recreation.

Even routinary activities can vary day by day, you just have to make sure your children follow-up with them. You can use occasional incentives or fun activities when they finish their routine activities.

• Enjoy homeschooling along with your children. This is an excellent way to develop a good relationship with them. A strong relationship with your children is fundamental to overcome all challenges that will come your way, it will be much easier to handle the challenges of the program and the motivational issues.

• Besides motivating and guiding your children you can also pursue some of your personal interests like gardening, cooking, reading, music or any other interest. If your children see you pursuing your own interests they will also be motivated to do the same.

• Since you have the opportunity to homeschool you should not try to imitate or replicate the “regular school” atmosphere, you should instead try to utilize the methods that better agree with your family, even if they are not very common. Homeschooling is also about flexibility and if you can create an atmosphere where they feel creative and productive this can effectively help against apathy.

• Always keep in mind that homeschooling is not necessarily about standardizing learning methods. Things can be done in a fun way especially with very little ones and that way they can learn easily. You just have to keep your days with a right perspective to avoid getting worn out.

• Do not worry if your children forget some lessons they learned during the day, that is normal, it is part of all learning process and it will still cause a gradual growth in their intelligence. As they grow they will overcome these deficiencies and of course, children always appreciate the times you spend together and how they were treated.

There is no better place as your own home for little students, it is the best place to learn the first lessons in life. This applies even for teenagers who are in high school or college, there are many options nowadays to continue with their education in their own home if that is what they want. It is also a good option if you want to closely monitor their performance.

The emphasis will always be to discover and promote the natural-born characteristics of each child, being creative is not enough, because we can try all kinds of things while teaching and lose the enthusiasm of the students if the focus is not according to their own learning style.

This doesn’t mean that we will only teach them whatever they want, but it is about detecting the way they best learn and what gets their interest. Some people are visual, some need to touch and experience, some others learn the whole subject just by listening and others need more involvement through role playing and representations, others are even more prone to learn if they find things out by themselves. Parents have been enabled to identify all this in their own children, you don’t need a special training you just need to pay attention and have a close relationship with your children.

Even when it’s all about creativity and flexibility we have to consider the personal interests of each student as something of relevance, homeschooling can be an excellent system to make your children’s education something enjoyable and avoid that way any boredom or tiredness that  we find in most regular schools.
Just pay attention to the things we mentioned before to avoid weariness in homeschooling.

We have to make all activities fun to eradicate monotony. Homeschooling allows and requires it.