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Homeschooling isn’t always easy, and it is often difficult to find a way to get your children to pay attention. Schools don’t have it easy here either, because sometimes just getting children to sit still for long enough to get through a lesson is a nightmare, but it doesn’t have to be. In this article, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the ways that you can keep your child’s attention when you are homeschooling them. Keep reading if you want to find out more.
Keep Them Comfortable
It’s important that they are comfortable. Don’t make them sit somewhere that they are constantly wriggling about or telling you that they don’t feel comfortable. This is one of the biggest mistakes that can be made. Often, people think that you’ve got to have them sitting on some kind of plastic chair, at a desk, but this isn’t the case. You can sit them on leather sofas and let them have a notebook in their lap if this is where they are most comfortable. They are going to have a hard time listening to you and learning if they don’t like the way they are sitting. They will be far too focused on the fact that they can’t sit still to even care that you’re talking to them.
Ask them where they want to sit, and then make sure they’re settled in. Make sure they know they will be there for around an hour or so, which means if they want to move, it’s time to do it now. You should find that the lesson goes a lot smoother this way.
Make The Lessons Interesting
You’ve also got to make sure the lessons are interesting for them. What is interesting to you might not be for them, so think about this. Of course, they aren’t going to like every subject, and even in the ones they do like they probably won’t like every lesson, but do your best. Try to make them as creative as possible, both in your delivery and in the activities you want them to do. It’s no good sitting there and making notes on something they’re not going to remember because they don’t understand. Different children are different types of learners, so you’ve got to figure out which category your child falls under.
If they are a kinetic learner, they will learn better by doing things. As such, you should try to plan as many hands-on activities as you can.
Use The Outdoors
How often do you let your kids go outside when you’re teaching them? If you have a back garden, then this is the perfect place for some of your lessons. Being inside all the time, especially if the weather is nice, is never going to sit well with a child. You can just as easily do your lesson outside as long as you don’t need the TV or anything that isn’t portable. Talk to your children and ask them if this is something that they would like to do. There are some children that won’t want to go out there, but for the ones that do, it’s best to.
You can also incorporate this into your lesson plan. For example, if you’re teaching science and looking at bugs, you can go outside and see what you can find. You can also do demonstrations out there, or take them to the park to learn about certain other things. The list is endless, but it makes the activities more exciting than being stuck indoors all day.
Take Regular Breaks
As an adult, when you are at work, you expect to take breaks. Well, kids are similar, they just need more of them. You cannot expect your child to sit there for more than about an hour and listen to what you are saying. After this, they’re not even going to be taking in what you are saying, but rather pretending so that you don’t notice they’re not sure what’s going on. Don’t let this happen, allow them to take breaks to process what you’ve been teaching. Be active in the information you’re sharing and hands-on activities work best.
These don’t need to be any longer than around ten minutes every hour, with an hour or so at lunchtime. This provides quite a good balance to learning and relaxing.
We hope that you have found this article helpful and now see some of the ways that you can keep your kid’s attention when you’re homeschooling them. It might be difficult at first, but stick with it, we know that you’ll get there!
