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If you are new to homeschooling or not we all need some help to get us through some times! I have put together some homeschooling tips that we have used in the past to see us through!

It is not easy spending 24 hours a day with your child and we all have different struggles. Whether you have a house full of children or like me with only one, the struggles we face with homeschooling can be a little overwhelming sometimes. If you are looking for fun homeschool activities check out this post with over 40 fun ideas.

Please share in the comments any homeschooling tips and tricks you might have that will help others.

Best Homeschooling Tips

Relax

This is probably the most important tip I can give you. Freddie had been in the school environment and it wasn’t working, hence we opted for home education. So why on earth did I try to replicate the school day! Just relax. Take a minute to breath (or in fact as long as it takes to reflect.)

Step Back

If your children are struggling with their work, go back to previous years work. It will build their confidence as they will know some of the answers. That way you will know what building blocks they didn’t quite grasp and they will fly. They will be much happier and they won’t start hating school.

Have Fun Learning

Your children do not need to be sitting behind a desk to learn. Go out, play in the garden, bake with them, do arts and crafts. Are they interested in history? Go to free museums, or if you are local to Bosworth Battlefield have a day out. It is amazing how much more they learn when they are having fun.

Do Exercise

This is something we neglected in the first couple of weeks. Freddie already attended swimming lessons and rugby training twice a week, but other than that we didn’t really do much more.

BIG MISTAKE! We now make sure we do some form of exercise everyday. We do exercises from youtube, we go for walks, we play football in the garden or just bounce on the trampoline.

Play Games

This is something we do a lot. Playing games with your children is not only fun they are educational. Here is a list of your favourite educational board games. Frenetic is our all time favourite though, it incorporates science, maths and English.

Watch TV

Sometimes the kids just want a break, so why not let them watch TV. There are so many educational TV shows that they can watch. One of our favourites is Horrible Histories, especially the songs! It is an absolutely great way to learn about history.

Create a Routine

Now this might not work for some children, but it does for us. Every Sunday we sit down as a family and decide what we are going to work on that week. We tend to only do weekly as things change all the time, but you can do much longer. But for us every week is different.

One week we might decide to work between 9 and 3 and do a more structured learning week. However, the next we might go out every day and learn. The one routine we always stick to though, is no computer gaming until after 4pm Monday – Friday.

Keep a Daily Journal

Something that really works for us, is keeping a journal. At the beginning of each week Freddie will write in any plans we have that week. So any play dates or sports events. At the end of each day he will write what he has done that day.

It is a great way to remember what fun we have had that week, and Freddie loves showing it to his grandparents when they come and visit.

If you have any other tips for homeschooling please leave me a comment below.

Incorporate Different Learning Styles

A great tip for homeschooling is to try lots of different learning styles. We still mix it up, but for Freddie he prefers learning online with IXL. But we still use workbooks, we play games, we go outside to learn. I find that the more we vary it the less likely he is to get bored!

If you are looking for more resources, check out over 80 free or cheap homeschool resources.

Join Homeschool Groups

You are not alone on your homeschool journey. As soon as you decide to home educate join local Facebook groups. They are a great help if you don’t know other homeschool families.

Start the Day with the Hardest Subjects

If your children struggle with maths, try and do this as the first subject of the day. Their minds are more active in the morning and you will find that they will work harder then.

Take Breaks

Depending on the subject we might have a 5 minute break every half an hour. If we are doing writing, maths, or a subject that takes a lot of brain power. We will probably have a 5 minute bounce on the trampoline.

It is amazing how much it helps with their brain function. Remember this is full on learning, they are getting one on one attention so they are getting much more than they ever would at school.

Listen to Music

This is a new one for us actually. Freddie works better when he is listening to music! At first I insisted on silence, I know right, how ridiculous is that!

When I was studying for my exams (a long time ago I might add!) I always wanted to listen to music too. So why shouldn’t my 9 year old? He is also much happier.

Follow Their Interests

If we have set our weekly schedule and something comes up, like “mum, what is Brexit” we stop what we are doing, and answer the question. I know this doesn’t happen at school. But this is one of the reasons we opted for homeschool.

Children’s minds are so active and are full of questions. If there is a question that comes up in the day I will try my best to answer it immediately. If it is something like Brexit, we might spend the rest of the day looking into it.

If its not Working, Change It

If something in your homeschool is not working. Change it! You are now in control of your child’s education. You know your child better than any one else. If playing games is working, but work books are not. Then spend more time playing with your children.

You can do this.

Homeschooling is hard, but it is hands down the best thing we could have done for Freddie. He is much calmer, he is more engaging and he now enjoys learning again.

Let me know in the comments what your tips for homeschooling are.

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