Four Effective Tips For Handling Frustrations In Homeschooling.
In addition to the joys and benefits of home schooling, comes the daily, weekly, and monthly frustrations that may range from simple lesson planning and scheduling, to something more profound such as the questioning of one's qualifications or teaching skills.
Frustrations of any caliber tend to and can affect the productiveness and effectiveness of what is being taught, as well as the joy and fun of learning and obtaining new academic and everyday life-lessons.
When and if you find yourself overwhelmed by the frustrations of home-schooling, here are four effective tips that will help reduce and alleviate some of that frustration:
- Step Back and Regroup.
- Dwell on the Benefits of Home-schooling.
- A Quick Change of Scenery Will Do You Good.
- Get A Support Group.
* Step Back And Regroup.
As with anything that is a source of frustration in our lives, it’s always best to step back and regroup before making any decisions or taking any action.
Making important choices or taking action under duress can result in faulty decision making that can be detrimental to any and everything you’ve tried to build and establish.
How much more so does this come into play than the educating of your child/children. If it’s the best you truly desire for them, than it's vital that you give them your very best.
When home schooling frustrations arise, step back, take a deep breath, regroup and think about what’s best for your child and their particular situation.
Never do you want your reactions to adversely affect your child’s joy of learning.
Adding frustration on top of more frustration, will only lead to… you guessed it - more frustration.
* Dwell on the Benefits of Home-schooling.
Another great way of dealing with home-schooling frustrations involve dwelling on all the wonderful benefits of home-schooling.
Think back on why you choose home-schooling for your family in the first place.
Whether it was to spend more time with your family, or to meet the needs of their special circumstances, meditating on all the great pros to home-schooling will help keep your priorities in order as well as alleviate frustrations.
What are some of the benefits of home-schooling?
- More time with the family
- Provides more flexibility - time wise and scheduling wise
- This hand on approach to schooling enables parents to have a larger say in what their child is taught.
- Provides children with a more hands on approach to learning, per say the conventional “book learning”
- Children are able to explore the world a little more freely.
- The normally low student to teacher ratio provides more one-on-one attention.
- It’s fun and exciting for both parent and child.
- It keeps the parents brains sharp since they are learning along with their children.
- Peace of mind for the parent regarding the safety of their child/children.
Dwelling on just these few benefits of home-schooling (no doubt you can think of more) will definitely help alleviate some of the frustrations at times associated with educating your children at home.
The pros of home-schooling makes the frustrations attached with it pale in comparison.
* A Change of Scenery Will Do A Measure Of Good.
Although normally, the student teacher ratio is much lower in a home-schooling setting than it is in a classroom setting, you still find yourself sitting inside at a desk on a regular basis.
Since everything else is accomplished at home; you cook, eat, clean, sleep, play, and go to school at home; this familiar and constant scene can cause one to go stir crazy thereby, becoming a cause of frustration.
To alleviate this challenge, a change of scenery is in order.
Instead of doing class work at home, do class work outside; take a field trip to the museum; take a nature walk around your neighborhood; do class work in the library or at another home-schooling friends residence; take a short road trip while incorporating the facts about the city or town in your lesson plan; or do your class work in the park.
Education doesn’t have to be isolated to book learning. Bring education and learning to life. Make if fun and exciting. That’s the joy of home-schooling.
Your child/children won‘t need a permission slip; you all can just get up a go.
* Get A Support Group.
Just as your home-schooled child/children will benefit from the association with other children, you as a parent will benefit from the association of other parents who find themselves at times, secluded and sequestered by home-schooling.
Realistically, home-schooling tends to isolate both the student and the teacher, and that too can be a huge cause of frustration.
Therefore, join a local or online home-schooling support group that will provide you and your child with a great avenue to get out, socialize, and experience the world outside the home.
Better still, start your own home-schooling support group and invite other families that are embracing the joys and the challenges of home-schooling.
In addition, have a list of friends, family members, or acquaintances that you can call throughout the day or week just to stay sane and in touch with the outside world. Ensure your children have a support group of their own as well.
Encourage play-dates, group studies, group field trips, group science project days, or group reward days that reward a group of home-schooled students with prizes, fun trips to the mall, trips to their favorite resturants, or other exciting activities for their hard work.
What ever you do, try to make home-schooling fun and rewarding for your family - My motto is: education should be fun and exciting.
With these four simple yet effective tips, you can alleviate and reduce home-schooling frustration any time it rears its ugly head.
copyright © 2010
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Comments
AUTHORI think a lot of parents would like to homeschool, but due to their particular circumstances they are not able to. I think as long as you have as much active particapation in their education as your circumstances allow, then they will succeed in public, private, as well as home schooling!
Thanks for stopping by habee - I'll see you soon.
Good advice! If I were in better health, I would home school my grands - at least for the primary grades.
- AUTHOR
Thank you so much for this comment fastfreta. I am an avid believer in the benefits of homeschooling. While it can be stressful at times, and though it takes a lot of patience and discipline, to me the benefits outweigh some of the frustrations.
I, at one time, briefly considered homeschooling, but I lacked the discipline to stick to it. You've written a very informative piece on the positive aspects of homeschooling, I think that you should make this widely available to young parents as an alternative to public school. Clearly there are advantages to this form of education, and that fact should be made known. Great hub, Veronica.
- AUTHOR
You are so welcome RGraf - thanks for such a great question. I would have never thought to write about this if it were not for your request. I'm glad you liked it and hope it helps.
These are great! Thank you for answering this for me. I plan on using these myself now :)
- AUTHOR
Thank you H.C. and Paradise7 for stopping by.
H.C. Porter - I think regrouping is best way to calm any situation down. It's a great way to keep your head and your cool when things get stressful.
Paradise7 - Homeschooling with a different backdrop really gives it a fresh face.
A very good hub. And I think it's a good idea for people home-schooling their children to get together; go to different houses for a change of scene. That's probably the most important stress reliever.
Nice Hub- It is always a good idea when you are frustrated to step back and regroup. I have to often remind myself to breath as I begin to feel over taken by children. Thanks for this well done hub :)
- AUTHOR
Thank you Hello, hello, Specialk3749, prasetio30 and TINA V for taking the time to stop by, read and leave a comment.
Hello, hello - I always look forward to your comments. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to check this hub out.
Specialk3749 - I hope that I'll be able to homeschool my kids for as long as you have. I've only been at for a couple of years and I already see the benefit of regrouping and mulling over the benefits of home-schooling for my family.
Prasetio30 - That can be one downside of home-schooling, lack of association. That's why I ensure my girls get the association that is so vital to their development. It's important for the parents who homeschool as well to have good association.
TINA V - I agree, at times it is best for all involved to reevaluate whether or not they should continue with homeschooling or choose another educational method.
This is an informative hub about homeschooling. I am sure that this will help a lot of parents to handle their frustrations. But it will also help them decide whether to start or continue with this type of educational method of teaching.
In my country homeschooling for the rich family. And most of them want special class for their children. They paid the teacher with expensive salary. Because it different with the public school, so the student of homeschooling don't have friend. They don't fell how to play with other friend. But there are many positive or benefit fro homeshooling and you had read it, Thank you very much!
This is good advice to those of us who homeschool! I have been doing it for over 15 years and I have had to regroup and go over and over the benefits many times. Thanks for a good hub!
Thank you, Veronica, for an impressive hub. I wish I had done it.
- AUTHOR
Thanks for stopping by BkCreative. I constantly find myself regrouping. Home-schooling can become isolating, so you really have to find ways to cut back on the frustration. I've done the same thing, where my girls and I will get restless, and we have to kick it up a notch. Thanks for commenting, I think I'm going to incorporate origami in my lesson plan.
Great tips - and homeschooling is becoming more popular here in NYC. I think more parents would do it if they did not have to work all the time.
I do sub however, and I now only accept the one on one tutoring jobs. When the work gets done or the students (and I) get bored senseless, I bring out the origami paper. I did this on Friday and true we made a mess (you really need to keep practicing) but my student loved it and we had a good laugh - and can always go back to it. It is great because it teaches fractions and geometry. As you said learning should be fun.
It is so important to regroup and never be isolated. We can all benefit from your tips no matter what we are doing.
Thanks a million!
- AUTHOR
Thank you for being the first to stop by, read, and leave a comment creativeone.
Thank you Veronica, for a very informative and educational hub for homeschooling. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless. creativeone59
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