Are you unsure if you’re doingenough or too much in terms of homeschooling? It’s important not tooverwhelm or underwhelm your child with their school work as it canaffect their overall education.
Understanding how much to do and whatworks best for your child can be difficult to determine. Read onfor our guide to working out if your child needs more or lessschooling and what to do to encourage them to thrive in the homeschoolatmosphere.
How Do I Know I’m Doing Too Much With Homeschooling?
Excessive stress is one of the biggest indicators that you’redoing too much. If your child is visibly stressed with their homeschoolroutine or even overworked to the point that they’re exhibiting signslike difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, irritability or anxiousbehavior, this could be a sign that you need to step back and revaluateyour plans. Another way to tell if you’re overdoing it is if yourchild constantly puts off their school work or procrastinates it.
Thiscould mean they don’t feel adequately motivated to complete the tasks youassign them. Sometimes you’re unaware how much you’re really giving yourchild and you need another perspective.
Consider friends or family whohave also homeschooled their children in the past. They will be able togive you an honest opinion on what’s an appropriate workload andwhether you’re pushing your child too hard. Your child may also feeluncomfortable speaking up and expressing how much work is too much sogetting this feedback from an outsider can be extremely valuable.
Finally, looking at their grades is also a crucial way ofworking out if your child is doing too much. If you’re constantlypiling on extra work but your child’s results are not showing anyimprovement, they may be getting overwhelmed or not have enough time toconsolidate their learning.
How Do I Know I’m Doing Too Little With Homeschooling?
If your child is feeling bored and unfulfilled after they’vecompleted their work then this could be a sign that you’re not givingthem enough to do. Although you don’t want to overwhelm them, it’simportant that your child feels as if their learning is progressing andeach day is a new step towards improving their knowledge and education.
If your child is occasionally still completing the same tasksthen this can become monotonous and prevent them from feeling engaged anddriven. One way to tell is to ask your child what they think of their lessons each day. Do they feel as if they’ve learned something interesting or have they found it quite dull?
You can also try to encourage them to ask questions within the subjects they’re learning and see if they need more research or assistance to better understand the concept. If your child is consistently questioning the point of theirlessons, and not seeming to be learning much of value, then this couldbe a sign that their workload is too light-weight. This can also affecttheir productivity and motivation in the long-term and make it harderto get them back on track once they’ve lost their concentration.
How Do I Find a Balance between Too Much and Too Little Work?
Once you’ve identified whether there’s too much or too littleschool work for your child, it’s important to find a balance. You shouldalways keep in mind your child’s overall development and assign workaccordingly, making sure there’s enough to keep them engaged while notoverloading them either.
Consider your child’s goals and create a plan with them of how they intend to achieve them. This will keep them motivated and on track as they understand that each lesson is a step closer to their goal. You can create a weekly schedule to break up their lessons and incorporate several activities to break up their day and keep them interested.
Incorporate as many fun activities as possible into their schoolwork to ensure that their learning is still enjoyable. If your child is noticeably uninterested in their schoolwork, then it might be time to take a break from their normal schedule.
Set aside some days to do sports or other outdoor activities and use the opportunity to reinforce your child’s existing knowledge without feeling like it’s school work.
Conclusion
Homeschooling can be a daunting task for many parents,particularly as it’s hard to tell how much work is enough. Use the guidance above to get your child back on track and ensure thatthey’re making meaningful progress while also enjoying their school time.
With the right mix of activities and workload, yourchild can love their homeschooling experience while achieving the results they set out to achieve.