Creating A Structured Homeschool Environment

Making the decision to home school your children is a monumental one. You made this decision based on personal preferences that could include reasons from wanting to offer your child a better education than you feel is available at a local school or wanting to be able to incorporate certain elements into your child’s learning such as religious studies.

Home schooling your child doesn’t have to be a haphazard experience. Your child can have the type of structured environment found in a school if this is what you desire. It takes a lot of effort and willingness to adhere to a structured home school environment.

To make your home school structured it may be necessary to model your school after conventional school. In traditional school there is always a set time and day for everything. Making sure that you have a specific time and date for all activities is vital. Home schooling should begin at a set time. Children should eat their breakfast and get prepared to learn at a specific time each day. This will teach them that home schooling is not an option but a mandatory activity. It will also place the responsibility on the parent to be diligent about creating a set schedule each day.

In addition creating structured time tables will assist both the child and the parent in knowing what is scheduled for what time and what day. If possible have your child assist you in making a daily school schedule that lists the time school begins followed by the beginning and ending times for each subject or activity and then post this schedule in a visible place. This time schedule will create structure and teach the valuable lesson of making the best use of time.

Likewise, having a set curriculum is also important. Knowing what you will be teaching is vital for proper learning. You can be flexible in how you teach a particular subject but not including a subject at all is not wise. Make a list of the subjects that you intend on teaching such as math, reading, writing, geography and from that list you can create a variety of activities, school work and projects that your child can do. Being consistent with the subjects taught will help your child learn better.

In addition, make structured time for play. Unfortunately in many traditional schools time for creativity and physical learning is being cut because of decreased budgets. With the advantage of homeschooling you can incorporate activities such as music, art and physical fitness into the learning experience. It is important to provide your child with an outlet to express him/herself if not once a day a couple of times a week. School is more than obtaining knowledge it is also about learning to express oneself.

Finally, have an official place for everything. It can be quite hard for anyone to learn or concentrate surrounded by distractions. If possible designate a specific room for home schooling. Make sure to have all the essential supplies and materials at hand so children will not be tempted to wander just to obtain an item they need. Make sure the room is fully furnished with seating that is comfortable but not indulgent to keep children awake and alert. Most importantly, make sure that the room is free from distractions. It is advisable to remove all electronics, toys and any other items that can distract from a structured learning environment.

Creating the structured learning environment for your home school is possible with a little thoroughness and consideration of the academic and personal needs of your child.