Now that schools are closed just about everywhere, we have no choice but to take back responsibility for our children’s learning. For many, it feels like another chore on top of a pile of responsibilities, while others feel they finally get a chance to educate their children how they have always wanted to. Either way, gratitude is a great first step to making the experience more rewarding.
Reconnecting With Your Child
Many of us who work long hours wish we had more time to spend with our children. Out of necessity, maybe we’ve had to arrange for other people to look after them.When you start spending more time with your child, you may find that neither of you feels as close as you'd like. If you are homeschooling your children now, take some time to focus on connecting and building a strong relationship with them first. If you get down to business too fast, as many of us are prone to, you are going to get a lot more pushback and resistance when you try to teach or discipline them. Instead, take some time to connect and play with your children, listen to them, and form a deep bond.
Getting Them Away From Bad Influences
We often wish our children would stop being influenced by some of their peers at school. Depending on their age, they might be getting a first-rate education in bullying, rebelling against authority, social exclusion, promiscuous sex, or drugs. At home, you have a lot more say over what your child is being exposed to.Inviting God Back Into Education
Make no mistake about it. Almost any public school is a secular environment, and spiritual or religious beliefs are not welcome. In fact, you could say that most school settings in America push a viewpoint that is hostile to religious teachings and faith. At home, you get to decide how to prioritize your spiritual and religious beliefs in your child’s education. In fact, you can include any other subjects that you decide are not prioritized enough in your child’s schooling, from music to budgeting.Unlearning Grievance Studies
Public education is not secular when it comes to pushing a political agenda on children as young as grade school, by introducing them to what James Lindsays aptly calls grievance studies. Grievance studies are about how everyone is oppressed by the white male patriarchy. It teaches people to focus on how they are the victims, which is the exact opposite of the mentality people need to be successful. This ideology is so prevalent in schools because it’s a fundamental part of the education received by teachers.Tailoring Lessons to Your Child’s Learning Style
We all learn in different ways and the way public schools teach does not always meet the learning strengths of our child. When our children’s learning style is not a good match for the way schools teach, they will often struggle in the classroom setting, earn poor grades, and internalize a sense of failure, despite how capable or intelligent they may be.Hands-on learners, in particular, often get lost in a classroom setting where learning is mostly focused on abstract concepts. Highly intuitive learners, on the other hand, grasp the abstract concepts so quickly that they become bored while instruction is slowed down to the speed of the slowest learners in the class.
Take some time to figure out how your child learns and try to deliver lessons in that format. It is likely that the way they learn is very similar to one of their parents.
Learning Along With Them
While you are choosing how and what your child learns, you could learn it along with them. With the internet, almost any subject is at your fingertips. You could start a living room karate class together, learn how to dance, build a robot, or try a new cuisine. In homeschool, you are the author of the journey.Michael Courter is a therapist and counselor who believes in the power of personal growth, repairing relationships, and following your dreams. He can be reached at [email protected]
