Mimi Rothschild, Home School Advocate - The Homeschooling News Café

-by Mimi Rothschild

When an adult meets a child, it is very likely that the first question asked will be, “What grade are you in?”

For our homeschool students, the answer might be, “I’m in first grade reading, fourth grade math, and everything else is second grade” or “I get to go at my own pace, and we don’t worry about what grade I’m  in.” Sometimes the real answer might even be, “It depends on the day – my mom teaches us all together, and sometimes the lessons are for my grade level and sometimes they’re for my sisters’ grade levels.” Is this a problem? It doesn’t have to be.

When we plan lessons, we need to consider where our children are developmentally as well as what they’ve mastered in the subject. Sometimes a precocious homeschool student could move ahead and study subjects usually considered appropriate for older students. If we choose to do this, we need to make sure that the method used for presenting the subject matter fits the student’s developmental stage, even if the topic is more advanced. The same is true when our student needs to review concepts from an earlier grade level.

When our expectations are out of sync with our child’s developmental stage, we’re asking for frustration, for ourselves and our children. So a young child can understand, learn, and enjoy algebraic thinking concepts using toy animals to manipulate, but not using an algebra workbook. An older student who needs more work on basic reading can get good practice by using magazines and other materials written at a basic level, but might be embarrassed at being asked to read a book labeled “easy reader.”

Equally, when we want our children of different ages to study a subject together, we have to be ready to adapt the lesson to the different developmental needs of the different ages. A group of children may listen to the same online lecture or piece of music together. The youngest children might color while they listen, since it is hard for them to sit still and pay attention as long as the older ones. The older students might take notes in order to help organize their thoughts and develop this useful study technique. In this way, all the students can gain what they need from the shared experience.

What if your student is advanced in some areas and not in others?  There’s a temptation to spend more time on the areas where the child has trouble, in hopes of catching up. Yet it is often true that the area in which the child excels is a source of pleasure for him. If he is forced to work extra on math in order to catch up with the reading that he loves, he may resent math and find it even harder, while losing some of his strength in reading through lack of practice.

In our own lives, we know and accept that there are some things we’re better at and enjoy more. We don’t expect ourselves to be equally good at everything. Yet we often do expect this of our kids. Instead, let your student use her strengths to shore up her weaknesses. For example, if she loves science and struggles with writing, let her write lab reports about experiments, or keep a nature observation journal. If music is his pleasure and history is a chore, study history through music.

We can also recognize that our children may need more support for some subjects than others. That’s one of the advantages of homeschooling: that we can let our children work at the pace they need.  Christ gave His apostles what they were ready for, and didn’t insist that they learn and understand everything at once. This is a good example for us as eduators.

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Mimi Rothschild is the Founder of LearningByGrace.org the nation’s leading provider of online PreK-12 online Christian educational programs for homeschoolers.

-by Mimi Rothschild

When we think of homeschooling’s benefits, we usually think of the opportunity to provide a first-class education at much less than the cost of a typical private school, the chance each child has to work at his or her own pace and in the best way for that particular child, or the blessings of learning in a nurturing Christian environment.

There are benefits for the parents as well. We have a closer family life, the ability to be sure of what our children are learning, and the pleasure of spending more time with our precious children as they grow.

There’s another benefit for parents, though, one we often overlook when we count our blessings as homeschoolers.

Have you thought about your own education? It’s true, refreshing our knowledge of the things we learned in school – or occasionally the things we should have learned in school and didn’t – is one of the great benefits we homeschool parents gain from our children’s schooling.

Some of the things we now have the opportunity to learn, such as web design, the history of Christian music or forensic science, may never have been available to us when we were students. Now we can take pleasure in learning these things as adults.

For no cost of time or money above the investment we’re already making in our children’s education, we can polish up our algebra, learn about world history with our more mature understanding, and perhaps finally get complete comprehension of how to multiply fractions.

Our children get to see our own excitement in learning, and to have our example of diligent study and an enthusiastic teachable spirit. Our friends and spouses get a more interesting and informed conversational partner. And we get the satisfaction of being better educated individuals.

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Mimi Rothschild is the Founder of LearningByGrace.org the nation’s leading provider of online PreK-12 online Christian educational programs for homeschoolers.

Maybe you’re one of the blessed ones and all of your children pay perfect attention and are thrilled to participate in all their subjects.  But if you’re like most, you have at least one student that makes completing math problems or writing a paragraph like pulling teeth.  So what can you do to inspire that reluctant learner?  There are lots of simple things you can do.  Here are a few to get you started:

~Be Passionate.  Don’t just read.  Use funny voices, or act it out.  Don’t simply explain how to do long division, but turn it into a math game.  Let your passion for what you are doing, teaching, pass through whatever you are teaching.  Students tend to get excited about what their instructor is excited about.

~Be Vulnerable.  If there are certain things that you also struggled with when you were a student, be honest.  Share that with your children.  Sometimes it can be inspirational to them just to know that they are not alone.  It also helps to see that you overcame your barriers.

~Make It Real.  Tell real-life stories and give actual scenarios within your lessons whenever possible, to make boring material come alive.  Acting out stories and conducting science experiments bring to life the lessons on the page.  Children tend to get bored and become less cooperative when they don’t understand something, so putting things into perspective and making it real to them can make the world of difference.

~Encourage, encourage, encourage.  And when you’re done, encourage some more.  There isn’t anyone on this earth that doesn’t feel uplifted and inspired when they’re told they’re doing a great job.  Children are no exception.  Maybe your stubborn learner struggles with math, but they excel at science.  When they get an answer right or do well on their practice work, make a big deal!  Remind them frequently how intelligent and talented they are, and you will surely see a difference in their overall attitude.

~Change Things Up.  Although it’s important to have structure and order to your homeschool day, sometimes just making some minor changes to surprise your students can help get them back on track with learning.  Instead of doing English in the morning, start off with the subject you usually reserve for the end of the day.  The change can be refreshing for everyone.

~Don’t Forget to Pray!  I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of this, but just in case….remember to incorporate your desire for cooperation and good attitudes from your students into your devotional (and let them hear it).  Suggest that your reluctant learner also ask the Lord for help during the day to stay focused and encouraged.  And remind them daily of what the Bible says they are capable of:

Luke 1:37
For with God nothing will be impossible.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Every student is different, and inevitably some will struggle more than others.  But if you work at being creative and finding new ways to bring learning alive for them, the difference will surely be evident and remarkable.

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Mimi Rothschild is the Founder of LearningByGrace.org the nation’s leading provider of online PreK-12 online Christian educational programs for homeschoolers.