The cornerstone of homeschooling is choosing the best curriculum for your child. You consider a lot of factors like schedules, your pace as an educator, your homeschooler’s learning style, among others. Point is, being able to provide a strong and personalized curriculum that will make the year meaningful for your homeschooler is a thoughtful task that requires a lot of research. So, if you are planning to homeschool, here is a six-step guide to help you into this process.
Be the best teacher by choosing the best curriculum for your child via iStock.
Step One: Review your State’s requirements
You can start by seeking for your State or Country’s homeschooling laws and regulations. With the accessibility of the internet, you can get outstanding results even from a single Google search. Before you begin, you have to be compliant with what they require. While you want to be sure you do everything your state asks of you, you also can still get a little creative in how the curriculum is presented. Just be sure you make following your state’s rules a priority.
We can help you in making sure that you abide by your State or Country’s homeschooling. Send us a message on our Facebook page!
Read: Redefining Remote Learning and Its Benefits
Step Two: Set Goals
Take time to sit down and think about the goals and things you want to accomplish throughout your homeschooler’s learning year. It could be as basic as the what actual academic subjects you will teach like Maths, Language, and Science. You can also go into the targeted specifics like having Memorizing the Multiplication Language, Memorizing the Bones of the Human Body or Mastering Writing in Cursive. The list doesn’t have to be hard-and-fast, and should only act as a guide in knowing what you hope to achieve in your child’s pursuit of learning. Make sure that your goals are developmentally appropriate and personalized to your child.
Related: 7 Tips to Help Boost Your Child’s Comprehension with Reading
Step Three: Finding Your Style & Approach or Looking for Homeschooling Programs
Now that you have steps one and two done, the next step is to look at the different ways that kids learn and the different homeschool approaches used to teach.
Making remote learning more engaging via iStock.
Be sure to talk to your child about topics that particularly interest them, and incorporate that with your curriculum plan. For example, if your child seems to like dinosaurs, try to incorporate that with your Science and History study plans. When that is already resolved, think about how you best work as an educator. Do you like to teach through visuals? Sounds? Or do you enjoy activities with your child?
Should you opt to outsource, Remote Classroom provides teaching and learning guides for you and your child. At the end of the day, it’s optimal that your kids have a sense of direction in what they will be learning this year.
Read: Enrolling your Child in Remote Classroom: What you Need to Know
Related: Things to Consider Before Hiring an Online Tutor for your Child
Step Four: Schedule
So, you’ve decided what you are going to be learning this year, how you are going to teach it, found and bought the curriculum you want to use…. It’s now time to plan your teaching/studying schedule.
For some, it might mean devoting an entire day to one subject. For others, it may mean following a traditional school schedule (five to seven subjects a day). Start by making a day-to-day schedule of what your homeschooling should look like. You can look for inspiration on the internet, or get yourself a weekly planner so you can see the whole picture.
Remote Classroom tip: You may want to be flexible with this. You can set the first week as an “experiment” week, and then adjust the schedules for the following weeks reflecting what works best in your setting.
Step Five: Prepare Your Resources and Materials
In connection with steps one and two, you may want to find materials and resources that are fit to your homeschooling curriculum. Also provide your child with school supplies like pencils and notebooks. You may also want to set up your child’s study space.
Luckily, the internet provides free and downloadable materials you can use to supplement your child’s learning. We gathered resources for some subjects you may want to use:
Step Six: Take a Breath and Execute
You’re now all set! Have a wonderful and meaningful homeschool year! Good luck!
Mother and daughter ready for the school year via iStock.
Remote Classroom adjusts to you and your child’s specific needs, making sure they express their own creativity and capabilities through a wide variety of classes that will keep them inspired to learn more. We offer live online lessons on Arts, Coding & Tech, Health & Wellness, English, Maths, Science & Nature, Music, and Life Skills. Send us a message on Facebook to learn more about getting your kids set up for homeschooling.
