What’s one of the best skills that you can teach your child as a homeschooler?
To be an independent learner.
Why?
It makes homeschooling with multiple children much easier. It gives you more time to work one-on-one with each of your kids. It frees you up to get important household jobs done like cooking dinner. It gives you short bursts of free time to catch your breath, plan and prepare.
It has benefits for your child as well. It can help him:
- become a lifelong learner.
- succeed in college or any post secondary training or education.
- learn new skills for a job.
So does it sound worth it?
Great! Then let’s get to the how-to part, shall we?
Help Your Child Become an Independent Learner
Inspire Confidence
Confidence is a necessary ingredient in the recipe for independent learning. If your child doesn’t feel like he can do an activity by himself, it’s very likely that he won’t even try.
This is where you put on your coaching cap and start giving him a pep talk on what a great learner he is. Tell him what a big boy he is and how proud you are that he can do so much by himself.
If you have a child who is a perfectionist, you may need to let him know that it’s okay to make mistakes. Mistakes are for learning and nothing terrible will happen if he makes a goof.
And don’t forget that you want to inspire him not force him to be confident. If you try to push it too much, your child will likely back down.
Take Baby Steps
If you are just beginning to guide your child towards working on his own, start with small steps. Maybe give him one assignment or activity to do per day. When he’s comfortable with that, add another.
Remember that the amount of work that your child can do independently increases with age. A child in kindergarten may need your help with all but one or two tasks, but a high school teen can do practically everything on his own.
Handling Questions
It’s only natural that your child have questions sometimes about his work. That’s a good thing. You don’t want your child to be afraid to ask you questions.
But sometimes there are those children who ask for help every 30 seconds. Hmmm…that’s a problem.
Well, there are four ways to handle any child’s questions.
- Show them the answer. This is the quickest, but least effective way. It’s almost doing too much for the child. But sometimes it is genuinely necessary.
- Demonstrate with another similar problem. This can be effective, especially with something like math.
- Walk him through the steps. Good for anything with a process.
- Answer with another question. When your child asks a question, you might ask, “Hmmm…where could you find this out?” This one makes your child think. It forces him to seek a solution. It’s a great tool for showing him how to find the answer using the textbook, a dictionary, an atlas, the internet or other resources.
Reward Your Child’s Hard Work
Positive reinforcement can work wonders. It’s one of the best motivators that I know of. Here’s how you can use it.
When your child does an entire assignment by himself, do your best happy dance. Let him know loud and clear that you are ecstatic about what he’s done.
If he only gets a few problems done, give him praise for what he did get done. Then encourage him to do more.
If he doesn’t do any problems, well…don’t pull your hair out. There is hope. Take a peek at the next section to find out what you can do.
Motivating the Reluctant Child
What do you do if your child sits there and does absolutely nothing?
First, make sure that he isn’t stuck because he doesn’t understand the material. You’ll only frustrate yourself and him by trying to make him do something that he can’t.
If that is not the case, get out a timer and set some goals for him to get a certain number of problems done in a certain time. Make sure you are reasonable with the goals.
Also, come up with an incentive for him to get the task done. It could be a short break or a special treat for lunch. You could also set up a goals chart with stickers that he can earn towards a bigger reward like a trip to the park, a field trip, or an ice cream treat. Dangling little carrots like these in front of his nose can help to kick him into high gear.
By the way, I’ve learned over the years that the greater the reward, the harder the child will work for it.
Activities for Independent Learning
I bet you are wondering what activities besides a lesson your child (especially a young child) could do by himself while you work with another of your hoard. Here are just a few possibilities.
- Flashcards
- Educational games on websites
- Book and cd
- Art project
There’s one more type of activity that you can use that is fun and will keep your child actively learning. You can find out about that here: Independent Learning Activities for Children.
What do YOU do to encourage your child to be an independent learner?
Many blessings,
