Are you interested in teaching your kids at home? Sometimes this is a great option and other times you will have no other choice. For instance, during the first stages of the pandemic, many schools were closed. This meant that parents quickly had to adapt and learn to teach their own children, with a lot of support. One might believe that with two vaccines on the way, these days are now far beyond us.
However, that’s not quite the case. The reality is that more lockdowns could still be in our future as no one knows how effective the vaccines will be. That’s why it is worth exploring some of the issues that parents often have when trying to teach their kids at home. Here are the key problems that you need to be aware of.
Knowing What To Teach
One of the first issues that parents often have when teaching their kids from home is knowing what exactly they should be teaching. This was an issue that many parents encountered during the lockdown when they themselves suddenly became teachers for their parents. However, most were able to persevere, often with guidance from schools. Without guidance from schools most turned their attention to lesson plans that they were able to find online. It’s true that with just a little research, you can find full lesson plans for kids of all ages.
It’s often ideal if you can print off lesson plans. That way you can work with a copy while you are teaching the children and if they are old enough you can also print off a version for them too. That way, you can both be on the same page through this process and yes, we do mean that literally.
If you are teaching your kids at home, then you also need to know the right goals to set. Setting goals is important as it will allow you to effectively measure your success when teaching your children. For instance, you might want to explore the reading fluency levels of their ability to use different math formulas. This is always going to depend on the age of the child and the point that they are at in school.
Setting Up The Right Environment
The next thing that you should consider is how to set up the right environment for your kids to learn in. This is actually quite a bit more difficult than it sounds. After all, you need to think about the temperature of the room. If it’s too cold then this can be a distraction but if it’s too warm and cozy then it can make them quite drowsy. You might not realize that teachers are often careful to ensure their classroom is the right temperature for this specific reason.
You also need to make sure that the room itself doesn’t have many distractions. For instance, it doesn’t make sense to try and teach your kids in the playroom. A key problem here is that there are going to be toys all over the place that could ultimately distract your child and cause them not to focus on what they should be learning. Similarly learning in their bedroom isn’t the best idea either. You definitely want to avoid trying to sit on the bed while teaching them.
The bare minimum that you will need is a desk and a chair. You should consider investing in ergonomic furniture. This will help ensure that your children are comfortable enough to work effectively. Sit-stand desks can be a great option, particularly if this is more than a one off concept. If you are regularly teaching your children from home, it makes sense to guarantee that they do have a flexible learning environment. That’s exactly what this type of furniture will ensure.
Keeping Children Engaged
One of the biggest issues that parents when teaching their kids at home is ensuring that they remain engaged. The main problem here is that if your child is learning at home, then it’s easy for them to lose interest in what you are teaching completely. There are a few ways to tackle this issue head-on. For instance, you might want to think about making your lessons more immersive and interactive.
For instance, rather than just reading a book, you could read it out loud, take turns, and perhaps even dramatize different sections. This is a great way of bringing a book to life. You can be creative too, teaching things like history through the use of video games or even VR. These are tricks that teachers will often use.
Active learning will always lead to better results than passive learning. This simply means that kids need to be actively engaged when they are at school. For instance, you should consider if they can participate in teaching tactics rather than simply speaking to them. Again, this is another tactic that professional teachers will commonly use.
A Lack Of Resources
Many parents will struggle to teach their children at home because they either don’t know what resources they need or should be using. Alternatively, they might just not have access to them. A lot of resources will help you teach your kids more effectively. For instance, you should definitely think about investing in an average laptop. This will ensure that you can access learning tools and materials for teaching your kids at home.
You might also want to think about getting a tablet for your child to use. This doesn’t have to be an iPad and there are far cheaper options on the market that are just as effective. You should start by researching some of the best tablets for kids and then think about the software that you should be using. A key benefit of accessing a tablet when teaching kids at home is that it instantly makes learning more fun and a far more interactive experience.
It’s also a great help with younger kids who might need that extra push to learn. Particularly if you are simply trying to combat the summer learning drought.
Taking On The Role Of A Teacher
You might assume that as a parent it’s easy to slip into the role of a teacher. After all, you already have respect from your child. However, that’s not quite true because the respect that a teacher receives and the respective children give their parents is often quite different. Most children see teachers as people who have authority. They say their parents as someone who is a source of love and nurture. As such, it can be jarring when they are suddenly the ones teaching them and it can be jarring for the parents too.
The best way to deal with this is to use a carrot approach to learning rather than a stick. Try to avoid punishments and focus on rewards for good behavior and great achievements at home when learning instead. For instance, don’t scold your child for failing a mock exam that you set up at home to practice for the real ones. Instead, reward them when their grades improve. If you do this, you’ll see a far more positive impact. Educators have long noted that positive reinforcement trumps negative discipline every time.
We hope this helps you understand some of the key issues that parents can run into when they are trying to teach their kids from home. By understanding the problems you can work to avoid them and ensure that you see fantastic levels of success when you are trying to teach your own children.