Our Top 6 Home Schooling Tips with Resources
If you have little ones, it’s likely that you’re home schooling at the moment. Paired with working yourself, taking care of the house, dog and all sharing a WIFI connection is no mean feat. With plenty of worksheets and online classes to contend with, it can all seem a bit overwhelming. So to help, we’ve put together the following tips along with some useful resources.
1. Get into a home schooling routine
Having the kids get used to a set routine so they know when to expect work time, break time and play time can work wonders. Just like the school day, they have some predictability on how the day will go. Without this, home life can be extremely distracting. There’s plenty of temptations all around but knowing when they have time to switch off and enjoy themselves will help you to establish a balance.
2. Have a dedicated workspace
This is key to productivity and will help children to stay focused and alert. This could be a desk in their bedroom or the kitchen table – just somewhere they can associate with working. Try to remove any distractions from these areas, making it an educational zone. You could add a stationary pot, books and paper pads so they have the resources they need to be productive.
3. Make the most of the resources school send
Worksheets, tasks and projects set by school are all there to help your child have structure. Make the most of these as your child will benefit from them, even if you can’t get through all tasks. Whilst you may need to be there to guide them through the work, try to encourage older children to work independently using resources such as BBC Bitesize.
4. Use play for younger children
Getting interactive is how younger children learn so stepping away from the worksheets now and then to introduce educational activities can work wonders. For example, instead of a maths quiz, introduce play money for them to practice addition and subtraction. Whether you do this in an imaginary shop style setting or just together at the table, experiencing counting in this way will be much more memorable.
5. Make the most of helpful resources
Whilst school books and worksheets are important, introducing other learning resources can help mix things up and keep home schooling interesting. We have plenty of educational resources from wipe clean handwriting books and flashcards to history books and art sets. Here’s a few of our favourites:
Get Set Go Practice Book: On the Move
This book contains a host of handwriting activities that help children learn how to write letters, numbers and words related to vehicles.
Miles Kelly Wild About Book Collection
Introduce your children to Space, Animals, History and a whole host of other interesting topics in this jam-packed book collection.
EYFS Fun To Learn Wipe Clean Books
These wipe clean books are ideal for youngsters learning to write and gain pen control. With laminated pages that are easy to clean, they can keep attempting numbers, letters and shapes until they feel confident.
Perfect for the young artists, this activity pack will provide a welcome break from Maths and English, allowing your little ones to get creative with two colouring books and over 90 reusable stickers.
6. Be kind to yourself
It’s easy to pile on the pressure with home schooling and get stressed when the work comes flooding in from school. You’re not a full time teacher and this is all still very new for everyone so make sure you cut yourself some slack.
Don’t compare your efforts to others and just do the best you can. Being creative in this situation can make things easier for you and the children so don’t feel like you have to be 100% regimented and tick every box. Have a play with things and follow your little one’s passions so it becomes a much more enjoyable experience all round.
Our Home Schooling sale is now on and you can save 5% off all Miles Kelly and Alligator products by using SCHOOL5 at the checkout.