5 Mistakes to Avoid in Homeschooling
Do you consider yourself a novice when it comes to homeschooling? Do you think you don’t know how to go about it so that your children learn? Then this article’s for you! Today, we’ll tell you what mistakes to avoid in homeschooling and offer some helpful suggestions.
Mistakes to avoid in homeschooling
It’s true that parents who are new to homeschooling may want to give their children the best education and make whatever effort is necessary to make it happen. But, you need to keep a few things in mind to avoid repeating mistakes over and over again.
1. Socialization in homeschooling
You may have wondered what’s going to happen with your child’s socialization. Despite what we read every day about the problems schools face with bullying, peer pressure, drugs, alcohol, popularity wars, and promiscuous behavior, there’s still the myth that socialization happens only at school.
Of course, this is false. In fact, many families choose home learning because they want to replace the type of socialization that occurs in today’s schools with the socialization that occurs in the world at large.
In addition, socialization occurs naturally when your children interact every day with a variety of people: A local merchant, a librarian, grandparents, siblings, community members, association members, after-school activities, relatives, and friends.
2. Making comparisons
Comparisons are always a bad thing, in any context and in any situation. Don’t try to compete with other parents or other children. Everyone has his or her own learning pace. Parents who opt for homeschooling, or have no other choice, don’t have to compete or follow a single model.
In this sense, think of it as your children having the luxury of learning at their own pace and pursuing what interests them for as long as they want. Also, when homeschooling is followed, they retain most of what they learn because they’re interested in the subject they’re studying.
Comparing your child to another child can create unnecessary self-doubt. Learn to recognize your child’s accomplishments for what they are: Unique to him or her. Know that your child can and will learn when they’re ready, and that the experience will be rich and rewarding.
3. Spending too much money on study packets
Traditional teachers need to use an efficient method that delivers pre-determined blocks of information each day to groups of 20 or 30 students. A curriculum is vital in that environment, but, at home, it’s not really necessary.
For this reason, when you’re new to homeschooling, it’s easy to fall into the trap of buying a complete curriculum package for your child. What happens, then, is that you feel pressured to complete the suggested activities for all subjects each day, and you worry excessively when you fall behind. Reacting to your stress, your child may stop cooperating and the problem escalates. It’s not necessary.
4. Not recognizing your child’s learning style
It’s important to be open to all learning styles. There is no right or wrong way to homeschool, but there are methods that may not be right for your child. It may take some time to determine what type of homeschooling program best meets your child’s needs, but it’s worth the effort.
This way, you’ll find that your child is excited about learning and your homeschooling role will be much easier.
5. Trying to do too much in homeschooling
Trying to do too much is the one mistake you can always make. You can put so much time and energy into the educational and social aspects of homeschooling that you end up neglecting yourself or other people you care about.
Likewise, if you’re feeling stressed, you’re doing too much. Back off, change your plan. Also, try something different, even if “different” means doing nothing. Sometimes, you need to slow down, relax, and view the homeschooling experience as an exciting journey, rather than a difficult or overly tedious task.
Mistakes are often our best teachers – parenting and homeschooling will give you the opportunity to make plenty of progress! However, now you know which mistakes are the most common and which ones you need to avoid in homeschooling. That way, you can enjoy all the benefits!