Homeschooling, or home educating, is something that not a lot of us had experience with before 2020. However, since the start of the pandemic, many of us have suddenly found ourselves in the position of staying at home as a family and teaching our children their school lessons.

At one point, I had 3 children at home, 2 dogs and a business to run!

Teaching the kids at home can be a big challenge but today I want to take a look at some simple ways that you can maximise your child’s learning at home and make the most of the time you have. 

Decorate your ‘classroom’

One of the best ways to motivate your child to learn is to step away from the rest of the house and dedicate a room or space as a ‘learning area’. Classrooms in schools have lots of posters as well as fun decoration to engage little learners. Take a shortcut and look at places like classroom decorations by Miss Jacobs for ready-made visuals to bring this room or area to life. For French posters, charts and labels see the Mini Ville French learning portal. Creating a separate learning area will help you to motivate your child for learning every day. 

Teach practically

Practical or ‘experiential’ learning is one of the best methods for getting your child to retain information. At Mini Languages classes, activities are always deliberately hands-on.

Other example, rather than teaching your child about the creatures they might find in a river, go to a local river with a bucket and scoop water out to survey what is there. Practical learning will make things much more fun for both of you. 

Use visual learning

Visual learning is a great tool, and it is a trick you can use if you don’t feel 100% confident in your own knowledge of a subject. Disney plus has a whole range of documentaries with National Geographic and because of this you can show your child shows about nature and space, and they will be able to learn in a visual environment. This is an effective way of learning and it will give you a much-needed break from teaching for a while! 

Steer away from tests

It is important not to put extra pressure on yourself or your child. Tests can be stressful and much of the time it doesn’t effectively measure your child’s learning. When put on the spot, many young children do not perform well impacting their results, and it has nothing to do with their intelligence. Instead, create a portflio to assess progress and review this together to revise what they have learned with you.

Make a database of resources per subject

There may be certain subjects which you feel less confident in. In that case, having a one stop database of resources will save you time and give you the confidence to teach it. Let me save you some time when it comes to languages. I have made a list of hand-picked and quality-checked free Kids French Resources so you can stop scrolling and start teaching your child or class French.

To conclude, home educating doesn’t have to replicate the classroom. You can use practical and visual elements to keep it fun and personal! Do not put your self under too mjch pressure and locate ready-made resources to ensure you have quality materials to hand.

Bon courage!

Felicity. x