How can we make the most of home schooling?

All of a sudden, we are not only parents but nurses, doctors, consultants, chefs, dieticians… and the list goes on, on top of this, we can now add teachers who home school, thanks to the recent health situation.

This is a very large leap for all of us parents and it seemed to have happen all at once. One minute we were sending our little darlings off to school for the day and when they came home in the afternoon, we offered an ear and completed the homework with them, which at times frankly could be quite arduous. Now… now the kids are home all day and the job is ours to structure the entire day and learning experiences. Did I mention that some of us actually still have our paid professional jobs to complete daily also? Madness!

Routine and structure all the way.

Trust me, if you have a child with Autism or ADHD you will need to create structures and routine for the day. Start the day well, alarms on, everybody up and a good healthy breakfast.

Break the day up.

Start the learning experience of the day by making a plan. Write it out on a white board or on paper, don’t forget to cross it off as you go to create a sense of achievement. The plan needs to include the most important and challenging learning experiences first thing in the morning. Whatever your child’s hardest subject is, hit it first up. Throw in a break for the brain each 20-30 minutes depending on the age and capabilities of your child. Let your child choose between sports, obstacle course making, messy play, cooking, taking a walk, playing a boardgame, craft activities and anything else that tickles their fancy.

What sort of brain are you dealing with?

Know your child as a learner. What kind of attention span do they have, the only way to know is to test it out, when they become super fidgety or their eyes wonder or you find you are repeating yourself, this is the attention span limit. Don’t push past this, this is the line in the sand for learning. Check how much your child moves, is it fidgeting or are they a person who needs to move when they learn? It might be an idea to do the afternoon sessions on the floor, on your tummies to help with movement.

Did you know that 40% of people are kinaesthetic learners? Which means they need movement in their bodies to learn and remember.

Remember not to talk too much, lots of teachers are guilty of this, because only 25% of people are auditory learners, which means they prefer to listen to you talking to learn.

Get the most out of your child, teach critical skills school has missed.

For one reason or another the really critical brain skills are not taught readily in schools. You can address these while home-schooling. Have a look at your child’s strengths and weaknesses. The two easiest and most important to work on are working memory and emotional regulation. If your child has a strong working memory it can lift their IQ about 5 points. If there is a lack or disruption to the emotional regulation, learning cannot take place.

Don’t miss the small stuff, the basics, this is a chance to get this happening.

These basics are covered in the Create skills for life program called “understanding yourself”. It focuses on regulation development and working memory skills. The program is set out with lesson plans and fun and engaging activities so it is fun and not a fight!

 Please browse our products for great resources you can use at home with your children.