Lessons Learned From a First Time Home Schooling Parent

The school year has ended and We have just witnessed our Son's moving up day ceremony.  He's successfully accomplished the requirements of the K2 level and will be going to the 1st Grade level next School Year.  Seeing how much our Son has learned and improved this School Year, brought tears to my eyes and makes a me proud to have him as my Son.  But the entire School Year  was not easy.  It was in fact very challenging and took a lot of patience and understanding.   But if you truly love your child, you can handle anything.

Always remember that a good, solid, and strong foundation is the key to a stable future.

To sum it up, here are some guidelines that helped me through the past year:

1.  You learn at your child's pace.  It's okay if your child doesn't get the lessons the first time.  With constant practice and a lot of exercises, your child will eventually get it.

2.  Patience is key.  It takes a lot of love and patience to teach your child the lesson plan.

3.  Make it simple and fun.  The simpler the explanation the better.  Remember that your dealing with children and children learn best during play.

4.  It's okay to not know everything.  Not being able to teach your child properly is every Home School Parents worst nigthmare, but don't worry there is a lot of material available in the Internet, especially in the digital era.  Invest in a 2nd set of text books for comparison.  Stock-up on educational games and materials.

5.  Take your kids on educational trips.  The money you save on your child's allowances can be used to buy more educational materials or fund your educational trips.  After all nothing beats learning when you experience it first hand.

6.  Praise the effort not the mistake.  Be quick in praising your child for the effort they spend on exercises and activities, instead of trying to point-out mistakes.  Remember, nothing beats a healthy dose of positive affirmation to get the spirits going.

7.  Practice, practice, practice.  We're trying to build a good solid foundation for your child's education and practicing right will set your child to develop the right habits that guide him as he grows up.

8.  Don't be afraid to make mistakes.   Consider mistakes as learning experiences which you and your child can learn from and solve together.

9. It's okay to ask for help.  There are a lot of home schooling parents out there.  You just need to know where to find them and you'd be surprise to find out that they would be more than willing and happy to help and share their experiences with you.

10.  Don't give-up yet.  Home Schooling is work, it's a lot of hard work.  It would take much of your time and understanding to pull it off.  Our child's young minds are like sponges, they easily absorb anything you put into them.  So be careful of what you do in front of them, remember that our child's listen more to the things We do rather than to the things We say.

We don't know up to when We'll be home schooling our kids but at the moment We're talking things a step at a time, a School Year at a time.  We have 2 younger kids and hopefully We could also home school them. 

For home schooling materials. You might want to check-out:

www.artiskul.blogspot.com

www.mykidslearnfromhome.blogspot.com