After having six kiddos and homeschooling for 24 years, I have found ways to encourage learning in our home. It was by trial and error, but we have a system that works for us now. We still tweak things here and there, but for the most part, these are the ten things we have found that help us most:
1. Pray before you begin your school day. Everything is better when we give our day to the Lord.
2. Speak words of affirmation over them. Show them that you are happy with their hard work. If they feel that you appreciate their effort, they will continue to try hard.
3. Turn off the television and/or game consoles during school hours. Most children do not learn well with distractions.
4. Read... read....read! We have found that reading aloud or listening to audiobooks is conducive to the atmosphere of learning.
5. Take breaks throughout the day. Sitting too long can cause our children to get antsy. They need to run off steam so they can concentrate better when they are doing their schoolwork.
6. Allow your children time to focus on things they enjoy learning. We all have subjects that interest us and when they can learn what they love, it inspires them to study it.
7. Give incentives. If your child does 30 minutes of math that he is struggling in, reward him with 30 minutes of video/computer time. It helps encourage them when they see that hard work pays off.
8. Visit your local library frequently. Our kids love being surrounded by books as they learn. It also gives them a different venue and that can be inspiring in itself.
9. Play soft classical music. It actually stimulates your brain and relieves stress which is very helpful when studying.
10. Talk with your children weekly. Make sure they are not having any issues. If they are having difficulties with certain subjects or other things outside of school/home, it can affect their learning ability. Stay in tune with your kiddos!
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When my kiddos were little they loved to have little charts to help them remember what they were supposed to do when they woke up and before bed. I had fun making these little printables for you to use in your home to help your children learn how to take care of themselves and stay on track in their morning and evening routines.
To download and print these, just right-click on each image and choose "save image as..."
good ideas you've listed here.
ReplyDeleteI always intend to play quiet background music during our school day but in the last 4 plus years of homeschooling I'm pretty sure II have only remembered to actually do it a handful of times.
ReplyDeleteI definitely need to read to my kids more!! Since they started reading by themselves they've been off doing their reading! But I also like the snuggling on the sofa and the funny accents I make up!! We always have a laugh!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder!!