We started homeschooling our 5-year-old about 10 months ago.
Though we were always intrigued by the concept of homeschooling, we didn’t
really know where and how to begin.
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| Photo credit: Smokey Bandit |
Should we set up a strict school-like timetable? Should we
set up an entire room like a classroom? Will I, as the primary homeschooling
parent, be able to cope with entire days of studies, play and activities, with
very little time to do my own work?
There were many questions jostling for attention in my mind,
but we decided to take the plunge and go with the flow. This is what we did to get
started in our homeschooling journey:
Stocked up on good quality children’s books. I stumbled
across a curriculum called Build Your Library, and liked how everything is
taught through beautiful storybooks and ‘Living Books’. While I do have the
curriculum with me, I generally tend to pick and choose the books as per what
we want to learn that day.
Made art and craft material accessible. While we always had
art supplies that my son could work through, we put it all in a basket and kept
it at a place that he could easily access. This way, now he is always working
on a project of his own, upcycling cardboard boxes into robots, cameras and
whatnot.
Involved him in daily chores. Whether it’s arranging the
cutlery, stirring the compost or laying the table, N does what he can to help
with the household charter of duties.
Asked him to help me with the baking. I love baking cakes,
cookies, muffins and bread, and these everyday activities are just as much fun
for my son to participate in. N is always eager to pull up a foot stool in the
kitchen and help with the stirring and mixing. Give him a small bowl of
chocolate chips to pop into his mouth while he is helping, and he is a happy
little kitten.
Worked with what we already had. There’s a lot of temptation
to buy expensive teaching aids to teach your child. But even though I spent a
few hours making lists of tools that would be good to have, I started my homeschool
teaching journey with what’s already in my kitchen cabinet and art supply tray.
From using colorful playdough bobbles to teach simple addition and subtraction,
to rajma beans for counting to flour in a large plate for tracing alphabets and
numbers, there’s always something to use to use as a DIY teaching aid.
I hope a glimpse into how we started homeschooling, helps
you plan your own homeschool journey. If you’re already a homeschooling parent,
I’d love to know what your homeschooling days and setup look like.
Also, I recently released a #KindleBook called ‘The
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Connect with me:
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#homeschool #homeschoolIndia #homeschoolmom #theworkathomemilitarywife
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