5 Ways to Help Your Homeschooler Learn

More students engage in remote education every day, which means parents everywhere are taking on the role of teaching. While this can be a bit of an undertaking, there are countless ways to make the learning experience more enjoyable for you and your child. Here are five ways to help improve your child’s focus.

Take Frequent Breaks

Research has shown time and time again that trying to gain lots of knowledge at once rarely helps with information retention. Instead of overwhelming your student with hours of work at a time, give them chances to take short breaks throughout the day. Stepping away from their work (especially if they’re struggling or frustrated) can help them re-center and come back in a better headspace. 

Mix Things Up

Following the same pattern of assignments and work every day can get boring for a child, and it’s very easy for children to lose motivation when this happens. Try to change up your lesson plans throughout the week with new activities. You can find thousands of resources online to help your child learn advanced concepts and simple subjects alike.

Incorporate Their Favorite Things

You can incorporate your homeschooler’s favorite things into their learning plans no matter their age. Use their favorite movies and shows to teach characterization and plot structure for English, or challenge them to translate their favorite comic book as a foreign language assignment. You can spice things up by printing worksheets with your child’s favorite characters on them.

Try Study Groups

If you’re in a community with multiple homeschooling families, consider bringing the students together in a study group. This way, they can work together on assignments and share information as they learn. It’s also a great opportunity for your child to socialize, especially if homeschooling limits their interactions with kids their age.

Let Them Choose Topics

It can be difficult to engage in subjects you don’t want to learn about, so give your child the freedom to choose some of the topics in the curriculum. Since there are certain academic requirements homeschoolers need to meet, they can’t choose everything or cut subjects altogether. Rather, they can pick extracurricular activities, have a say in the subject matter and choose some of their projects.

As a homeschool teacher, your job is to help your child have an enriching, enjoyable learning experience. With the right attitude, homeschooling is an endeavor you and your child can enjoy together.