Homeschooling Help in a Minute – Routine Busters

It’s a common theme among homeschooling parents: you get so focused on the day to day curriculum and activities that you can often become frustrated easily and start falling into some bad habits. Maybe your child struggles with their sight words, and each new idea you try seems to make them more frustrated instead of helping. It can seem easy to throw in the towel, but it’s important for parents to overcome these obstacles as a benefit for their child’s future development.

So how can parents stop the behaviors or struggles that tend to ruin a good homeschool day? To help parents stuck in a rut, we created the Routine Busters video series to share some quick tips — parent to parent. Check out the videos below!

Motivation and Encouragement

“I don’t want to!,” “It doesn’t make sense!,” “I hate [insert subject]!” It can be incredibly frustrating to help a struggling homeschooler through a hard lesson. But what might sound like whining to a parent can actually be a lack of self confidence. You’d be amazed with how the words, “I believe in you” can truly inspire a struggling student.

Wiggle Worms

If you’ve ever had to sit through a church service or assembly with an overly active homeschooler (I call my little guy a wiggle worm), you’ll know the struggle is real. I’m sure every parent has their list of DIY ideas to keep their wiggle worm occupied, and I thought I would share some of mine, like my Squishy Seat!

Emerging Readers

These tips work well with any homeschooler, but they’re particularly good with a kinesthetic hands-on learner who struggles with reading and their sight words. These tips are aimed at engaging active students with alternative ways to learn their sight words so they don’t feel trapped in a desk with rote learning. You can even make it super fun and exciting using pudding!

How to Stop Interruptions

As as homeschooling parent, interruptions throughout the day can be unsettling and disrupting. While you do make yourself much more available when you homeschool, you have to let friends and families around you know that you need to stay focused on your children so they can be fully engaged. I’ve found turning off my phone and leaving notes on the door informing neighbours we’re in the middle of school to be the best ways to combat needless interruptions throughout the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqzfhvBBgJE 

Organization Issues

Is there anything worse than meticulously planning out a fun and engaging homeschooling activity only to realize you don’t have the supplies to pull it off. Nothing can bust your homeschooling routine like organization problems. Here are some tips for creating a ‘workbox’ to contain all of the necessary supplies for activities throughout the day, as well as teach your child proper organizational skills and personal responsibility.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLJ0_KcC9LU

If you’re looking for more quick tips, be sure to check out our “Homeschooling Help in a Minute” video series too!