How to homeschool your child
Every age group will require different needs, however, the times that your child wakes and goes to bed on weekdays should not be changed just because you are homeschooling. So how to homeschool your child?
Keep a structure and you will have engaged and alert children each day.
Prepare
- Download maths and English worksheets from the internet based on your child’s level or check your school’s website for work that they may have assigned for each year group.
- Download spellings worksheets from the internet based on your child’s level.
- Ensure that you have a reading book for each child.
- Download and print out the 12 times table from the internet.
- Print out what you plan to do with each child the day before you start, that way you are always prepared for the following day.
- Find out what times your child had a break at school and follow that process throughout the day.
- If you can, pop out and buy some A4 paper or go through old paperwork and use the blank sides.
Make time for fun too!
If you have Alexa-powered Echo speakers (from the tiny Echo Dot to the huge screen-toting Echo Show) in your house, you can find some educational and fun things to do with the kids. If you don’t have one, click here.
Just say:
- “Alexa, read a bedtime story”
- “Alexa, open Beat the Intro”
With this music game, guess the song title and artist and learn something new every day. - “Alexa, open The Before Or After Game”
- “Alexa, suggest a board game we can play”
- “Alexa, suggest a craft project”
- “Alexa, do some beatboxing”
To find quizzes and everything else Alexa has to offer, click here.
Every Day
Keep breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same times as school on weekdays. Children need consistency and if you start as you mean to go on, you will find homeschooling much easier.
Do the trickiest subject first
Start the day with each child’s trickiest subject. If it is Maths/English/Science etc. get that done first. Children are usually more engaged in the mornings and have much more energy straight after a healthy breakfast. If you have more than one child, you could stagger the trickiest subject of each child one after the other, that way you can give each child more individual help with their trickiest subject whilst they are working on it. This is a key component on how to homeschool your child. Get the most difficult subjects out of the way first thing each morning. This will help them to deal with the most difficult situations first as they become adults.
Spelling
Set aside some time for spelling based on your child’s level. If you don’t know what that is, if your child is in year 4 for example, search for year 2 spellings online and check what spellings your child is familiar with – then carry on each day until you reach their year group spelling level.
Times tables
Always do a little times table work every day, even if they have passed their 12 times tables and know them all. This will ensure they keep that knowledge and won’t struggle when they go back to school.
Drawing/Art
Encourage the kids to do some drawing based on any subject they love. This can be a good way to incorporate some screen time into their day constructively. Kids youtube have some incredible videos of artists drawing everyday things and teaches your child to draw at the same time.
Music
If your child plays an instrument, make sure you incorporate that into their day. If they don’t play one but you have one in your house, encourage them to try it. Musicians can be found teaching how to play guitar, piano and many other instruments online, so check to see what you can find.
Science
Look online and find science projects that your child could conduct with you whilst at home.
PE
Finding time for a little exercise is incredibly important for everyone in the house. If you have a back garden, encourage the kids to exercise outside or if that is not feasible, a 20-minute spurt of exercising inside your home will help to engage them for the rest of the day.
History
Find out what each child was learning at school before they broke up and find programmes, as much information as you can and get them to write about it. There are many films about historical figures on television, you could incorporate a short film or video into the day and get them to write about it.
Reading
It is so important to ensure that your child is reading every day, so incorporate this into their school day. If you have a few children, get each child to read a few pages of their book out loud. This will encourage confidence and will help the whole family engage with each child.
Lunch/dinner times
A great way to teach kids cooking/preparing food skills whilst they are at home is to encourage them to make their own lunch.
For dinner times, here is a great link on how to teach kids how to cook by age group.
We hope you found our how to homeschool your child guide helpful.
