How to Home School Your Child - Lesson Planning

It is important to plan lessons rather than just “winging it.” Even though you are homeschooling, it is important to have some structure. Children thrive on routine and structured discipline. While you can be very lenient in your homeschooling methods, lessons should still be planned out in advance.

You should plan lessons at least one week in advance. If you have a child that excels in one or many subjects, you may want to plan two or three weeks in advance. This way you have lessons ready to go if they complete the planned lesson in record time.

Even though you will have a structured lesson plan, don’t feel obligated to stick to a strict schedule. If your child grasps a math concept quickly and you still have plenty of time for schooling, go ahead and move on to the next lesson. If your child struggles with a concept, don’t be afraid to spend extra time on it and put off the next lesson for another day or week.

This is the beauty of homeschooling. While public school is extremely structured around time constraints for lessons, built for the demands of the average student, homeschooling can be tailored to the child’s own strengths and weaknesses. Your child will thrive and expand their minds more easily when they are allowed to work at their own pace. Children discover learning methods and study habits early and carry those things with them throughout their lives. By allowing them to work at their own pace, you are helping them unlock their potential in a stress-free environment.

You will quickly discover that your child learns better and has more confidence in himself when given the opportunity to learn in this fashion. The more flexibility you have in your lesson plans, the more the child will enjoy learning. This love of learning is an important attitude to maintain throughout their lives.

This is an excerpt from the book How to Home School Your Child: Developing a Well Trained Mind: Proven Strategies for Unlocking Your Child’s Genius with Homeschooling by Karina Bartlett

 

You can get the book on this link:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NAX3506/