THE BENEFITS
If you wanted to become a teacher, you would have studied education… but you didn’t, and the daily homeschooling unit is a real test of your patience. It’s even worse that not all of your children are the same age, because different needs of children of different ages make creating a good learning environment a real challenge!
HOW IT’S DONE
When discussing and planning the structure of the day with your life partner, also think about a realistic timeframe for your school child. First of all find a spot in the apartment which is clearly defined as a place to learn. It should be tidy and empty and, if possible, free of disturbances. At home, there are no breaks in between classes, no whispering with the desk neighbour, no time for day dreaming. There are no phases in which your child does something else than pure learning. This means: learning time at home should not be longer than 60 minutes, 2-3 times a day. Everything else is pie in the sky and an excessive demand for younger children. By the way, Kanban is fantastic for school children! Kids love sticky notes and moving the tasks to the „done!“ column. Apart from this: make sure to plan fixed home schooling times and stick to them.
PLEASE CONSIDER
Critically examine your own demands and your attitude towards learning. Your child is learning many other things at the moment, and they are all more than relevant: flexibility, planning and managing change, doing things differently, being creative. Research and experience also show that the more self-determined learning can take place, the more productive and enjoyable it is. Allow your child to choose some learning topics and then report to you what he or she has learned on his/her own.