05/28/2020
Help with homeschooling:
I have been contacted by several parents I work with about how difficult homeschooling their children is …. Between motivating them, trying to help them, sharing electronics and trying to work at the same time, Well, let’s just say it is difficult to say the least…. And with most school work not being “mandatory” for grades…. What is a parent to do?
Here is a collection of things I have advised the parents I work with over the last few weeks
1) Remember to keep yourself in check and try to defuse yourself
* put yourself in time out
* Pray
* Take deep breaths
* Listen to music
* Think some happy things
* Move physical
* Think from other peoples perspective
* Throw the pillow
* Essential oils
2. Create a schedule that is realistic and works for everyone with clear, easy to deliver real life consequences.
- The schedule needs to work for both the child and you
- Create visual calendar’s or schedules so children can see what is expected of them
- Make the consequences “real life” and fit the occasion. i.e. If your child does not log on to school instead of getting not a fight or taking electronics away fr the whole day… let them know because they wasted an hour of school/work time, they loose an hour of TV or I pad time
- Use a visual timer (there are plenty of free apps for that) children have a hard time sensing time…. So 1 minute or 20 is difficult to identify. Visual timers will help them ground themselves in what they are doing and the next expectation.
3. Inject fun and play into learning
- If sitting on zoom is difficult for your child, replace that hour of school with a fun learning experience together. Practice math in the kitchen by doing a recipe. Find a DIY project on line that you can complete together. Read a book together.
- As long as we are keeping childrens brains active and continuing to create neuro-pathways, their learning capacity will stay active.
4. Bridge the expectation of work with the next moment of play.
- Let the child know what they need to do know and then talk about when the next fun moment will be I.e. “ I love having long breakfasts with you… but now we have to get ready for your school zoom call… how about we set up our game on the table so when you are done, we can meet back here to play…I am so excited and can’t wait for us to come back together to play.
- This allows children to focus on the task ahead and not worry about when they get to play again.
5. Always treat the child as if you know they want to be good at this.
- Instead of pointing out all the times they are not doing what you ask. Remind them of when they do… and what they do well. i.e. “ I know zoom calls are not as fun as going into the pool… but the other day you told me it was so fun seeing your friends make funny faces on zoom. You are so good at noticing the fun in something. I bet you something fun will happen today”
6. Accept responsibility for guiding your child through this.
- This situation is not easy for anyone but especially for kids who have difficulty seeing the big picture.
- We can not expect them to just role with the punches. It is our job as parents to create the environment and facilitate the day so its easier for kids to adjust
Hope there helped…. If you need more support please reach out.
