If there is one tip that I can share with fellow homeschooling parents on homeschooling, this would be it. This tip immensely helped us in our journey of homeschooling multiple kids. The advice came from a homeschool mom whom I have admired for years, and her insight came very timely when I was pregnant with our third child.
Mommy May of May Palacpac, Storyteller, is one of the OG homeschool moms I have been following for years. In fact, when I attended my first homeschool convention way back in 2014, I made sure to sit with her on the same table because, you know, I'm a big fan. So when we met up for a Christmas coffee date with other mom blogging friends in 2016, she shared with me what helped her homeschool multiple kids. She said that I should allow the kids to learn on their own. It wasn't that clear at that time because I was only homeschooling my eldest. But when the baby came, a toddler in tow, and homeschooling a Grade 1 student was happening all at once, it all made sense.
Allowing your child to learn independently may be absurd, and others may call me a lazy homeschool mom for doing so. But no, it actually makes sense. By allowing my child to learn independently, he was able to learn the habits of a lifelong learner. Aside from academics, our eldest learned how to manage his schedule and tasks, enhanced his problem-solving skills, independence, and organization. The habits also made him confident, as his self-esteem was developed by being able to do things on his own. Eventually, when he left homeschooling, we saw that the study habits he had formed over the years were evident in how he was doing in school.
How to Teach Them to Learn Independently
If your child is younger than 7, I suggest developing their reading skills first. When they can read and comprehend on their own, it will be easier for them to read their lessons. Nevertheless, we can start teaching them in the preschool years by asking them to get the books or materials from the shelves and clean up after an activity.
With our kids, we slowly transitioned them to independent learning. If I have been guiding him on a lesson for 30 minutes, our first step would be to lessen the one-on-one time with me. For example, in the next 4 weeks, we would just take 20 mins together and he'd do the rest of the time alone.
This doesn't mean I am unavailable for the whole homeschool session.
I am still there on the table, but allowing him to do his lessons and tasks on his own. By sitting there on the table with him (or at the bed or sofa - we homeschool anywhere), I can answer any questions he may have.
For subjects that require more guidance from me, we prefer to spend more time on that together rather than let them go through it independently.
For our eldest, he started doing some of his lessons independently in Grade 4. Same with our second child. And for our youngest, he prefers doing his Math lessons on his own at Grade 2, we are transitioning to independently learning for the other subjects this coming SY.
Each child is different, so as parents, it is up to us to gauge if our child is ready to learn on their own. We shouldn't rush them. There will be times when they dread doing things on their own, but have faith. They will fight against it and will crave Mama's attention. If they do, take things slower and allow them to "lambing" with you, then go and try it again. Eventually, they will learn to be lifelong learners.
Comments
Post a Comment