Contributed by Kim Bergey, Raven Homeschool
Here are the top 15 tips to having a grand homeschool adventure!
1. The fact that you are the child’s parent makes you the MOST qualified to be their teacher.
2. Enthusiasm: Bring yours! Encourage your children to bring theirs! This willingness and eagerness to learn will serve you well as you learn the best ways to teach your children. It will serve your children well as they get to dig into learning the things they love.
3. Know your philosophy as homeschooling parents. You must be unwavering in your commitment to successfully educating your children. Your commitment to excellence will help to focus your children on their learning.
4. Recognize your limitations. Homeschool requires plenty of effort (aka hard work) as you and your children strive to develop skills and achieve goals. It requires discipline as parents are required to determine the amount of time spent on instruction and putting in the effort. Likewise, homeschooling parents are responsible to ensure their children have self-discipline to ensure they do not experience the same pressures they are looking to change by homeschooling while at the same time instilling work ethic and participation.
5. Realize children are messy, beautiful human beings. Therefore, remember to be patient, supportive and have clear boundaries.
6. Home education does not need to look perfect, but it must be flexible because each one of your children is unique and learns differently.
7. Move forward with grace and love as your children will sometimes struggle. They just need your love, patience, dedication and support to make progress.
8. Structure and routine help to take the pressure off, so do your part and include your children in setting up the routine of your school day and let them know of changes so they know what to expect.
9. Avoid comparing where you are with where others are. Each of us works or learns at our own pace and perfection is not necessary.
10. Following through with the curricula is key to success. Switching curricula all the time creates holes in student learning as each curriculum is set up with a different scope and sequence. Once you find what works best for your student, then stick with it!
11. Use all the tools at your disposal. Alaska homeschooling families are very fortunate to have access to family allotments, local experts, along with having access to a lot of homeschooling websites and bloggers.
12. Give it your best as homeschooling is hard work, but well worth every minute. Your adventurous spirit will serve you well. You will work harder than you thought possible, experience immeasurable rewards, encounter challenges and most importantly, experience the joy of helping your children learn all they need to and more!
13. You are enough because nobody loves your child like you do.
14. Go obtain wisdom from people who have homeschooled and don’t be too proud to ask a million and one questions!
15. Homeschooling parents who are committed, hard-working and utilize effective teaching methods can make their homeschooling venture a valuable and enlightening GRAND adventure for their children!
