As many of us are home trying to teach our children, (and if you’re not, you probably know someone who is), I wanted to share a few things that I have learned over the years. 

Being a former school teacher I understand the stress that teachers can be under to accomplish massive amounts of material during the school week. When I started to homeschool my kids I remember having a battle going on inside of me each day wondering if I was doing enough. But what I have learned is that teaching your own children is much different than teaching a classroom of 20-35 kids. You can tailor the school day to the needs of your children in a way that can be enjoyable for them and you. 

It’s easy in a classroom to put on your happy face even when you are tired and don’t really feel it, because you know you can eventually go home and crash, but it’s harder to do that at home. The tricky part is that your attitude toward what you are doing will rub off onto your children. If you are calm and patient or even excited about school, they eventually (yes, it may take them some time) will be too. But if you feel frustrated, impatient, or irritated, that will rub off on them and they will become unruly, frustrated, and give up instead of wanting to try. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” That statement holds true in regards to school as well. 

So, how do you make school at home enjoyable instead of miserable? Here are a few simple things that can help:

1. Simplify

If you find that your kids are frustrated and you are too, simplify what you are doing. Some days you may just need to do one practice worksheet, read them a story, or go out and look at nature, and call it good. You don’t have to be the teacher of the year every single day. 

It’s okay to tone things down and just enjoy spending some learning time with your kids. I think we forget that even just having a conversation with our children is a learning experience for them. In just a simple conversation kids will learn things like, eye contact, verbalizing their thoughts, asking relevant questions, and hearing and responding to what someone else is saying. The way that children learn is by watching and imitating those around them, and what a great opportunity for them to learn that from you! 

So don’t be afraid if you need to simplify to an extreme measure, one of your school days, or perhaps several. And if you find that you are doing this often, then there may be further adjustments that need to be made on a longterm basis, such as changing the time of day, adjust the curriculum, set up a behavior chart/plan, etc.

2. Start early

Get school going before they have time to get involved in their own thing. I’ve noticed that the sooner we get our school day started, the happier, more compliant, and willing to learn and work my kids are. 

If I’m moving slowly one morning (which definitely happens), and my kids start playing with toys, have any kind of screen time, or go outside to play, it’s incredibly hard to bring them back inside without shouts of complains and dismay at having to do school. Yes, we still go downstairs and we still have school, but almost always, internally, I am recommitting to start the school day much earlier the following day. Keeping it consistent is ideal, and undoubtedly we always have things that can throw our schedules off, but the more regularly you can keep your kids on a schedule and particularly if it’s early, the less likely they will be to complain about having to participate, and may even find they enjoy it.  

3. Avoid TV and electronics before school

Now, I alluded to this one briefly above, but without fail, if my kids watch TV or play on a screen before school, they are grumpy and resistant to having to stop and do school, even if they’ve had time in between the screen and school. 

I’m not sure what it is, but it’s like the screen time has shut off the productive part of their brains and they don’t want to do anything that even remotely takes effort.  On the flip side though, the days where there is no screen time before school, they are kind, helpful and willing to participate. It’s amazing the difference really, and has led me to enact a “no TV or screen” rule until after school is done. Sure they complained the first day or two, but after that I would actually hear them playing together, and even asking if we could start school (I’m sure in part so that they could finish and watch their favorite show). It was a nice change, and brought a much happier spirit into our home.

4. Encouragement and praise (this is HUGE!)

Children need to be praised for their efforts and feel encouraged to put forth more effort in their learning. Kids are naturally curious and desirous to learn new things. Unfortunately, it’s easy for that natural desire to get squashed in a formal school setting where kids are required to learn things that they may not particularly be interested in. 

Oftentimes when kids lose interest, they start to act out, or shut down. It’s easy for us to constantly get frustrated and let it be known to our kids that we don’t like what they are doing, or that they need to try harder or do better, but many times they just need to feel like their effort is enough. It could be they are struggling to understand a concept, what they are supposed to do, or the material is too difficult for them and you need to take a step back or reteach an earlier concept. A masterful teacher once told me that you want to break down the concepts so simply that when the kids try to do it themselves, they think it is easy. 

If your child has struggled and especially if they have a negative view of learning or school, find ways each day to praise them on their learning. And by praise I don’t mean just saying “good work” or “nice job”, those are good to use, but in this case, make it personal to them. Here are a few examples of what I mean, “I love how even though this was hard for you, you kept trying and didn’t give up.” Or “thank you for helping your brother or sister pick that up, or figure that out,” or “You are a great artist, I loved how you drew that, or tried to color in the lines.”

Kids LOVE praise. I’ve seen praise change some of the most disobedient unruly kids over the course of a school year to being more kind, more helpful, and more desirous to do good. Kids will believe what they hear about themselves and what you say to them. All children are different. Some can sit still, listen, and follow your directions easily. For others that is a huge struggle and they can’t sit still without squirming. Maybe those kids need to do one problem or write one sentence and then do 5 jumping jacks, then another problem and 3 push ups. Maybe they need to run around the yard a couple times, or they can color a part of a picture as a reward, or maybe you just need to cut down on the amount that you are requiring them to do. 

I remember one VERY active little boy who I couldn’t get to do any of his work, until I had the realization that everything I was asking him to do, that was fine for all the other kids, was so overwhelming for him that he would give up before he started. So I started with telling him, “You just need to write five letters and then you can go to recess when the bell rings.” After a few days, I changed it to, “You did so well with writing those letters, let’s see if you can finish a whole line before recess.” And a few days later I increased it to two lines, and then three. And what amazed me the most, was how quickly and well he was able to finish his work, once HE BELIEVED that he could do it. Their belief in themselves can have powerful effects, so find a way to help them be successful whether it’s using their energy in a good way, or helping them to see their own potential. 

5. Break things up during your school day and in between lessons.

Kids, especially young kids, can’t sit still for very long before losing interest (10-15 minutes, up to 30 minutes if it’s an activity). So keep things moving, and keep the lessons short and to the point. But also keep in mind that kids love routine, and if you can keep a regular routine for your school day (aside from the days you may need to simplify), the kids will thrive because they know what to expect and how long to expect it. 

Here’s an example of how you could keep things moving for young kids:

• Start with calendar time where they are sitting on the floor helping you with the date and practicing the days of the week and months of the year, etc. (10-15 minutes)
• Then move to a table or desk where they practice letters, sounds, handwriting or do language arts, reading, etc. 
• After that, have story time (this can also include older kids on their reading level, I would read a chapter book, just a couple chapters each day, to my 6th graders and they loved it!) where you read out-loud to them, or they listen to a book on audio, or find one that is read aloud online (just make sure to monitor it for when it finishes).
• Next, snack time (10 minutes)
• After that math or science
• And then 10-20 minutes of a controlled recess (not going outside to play unless school is done, because it’ll take you 20 minutes to get them back inside), but you could do a puzzle with them, build some blocks, or teach them how to draw a simple picture. 
• You could end with Science, Art, Geography, music, or P.E. These could be optional or rotate through them one day a week, or work them into Language Arts or Math. 

Oftentimes we think of recess as letting them go and do their own thing, and it can be, but they also learn great social behaviors from interacting with parents during play time. Or in the case of puzzles or building things, they learn how to think, problem solve, and structure things they might not have considered before. Especially nowadays when creative play is less common due to media and electronic screens. 

The same concept can be used for older kids, just with activities or lessons based on their grade or age level. 

Bonus Tip: Keep it Short!

We are used to having kids spend six hours a day at school, but when they are learning at home they can get through their lessons much faster, and you can check their progress much quicker than a teacher trying to assess 20+ students. So if you finish school quicker than you thought, great! Call it done and let the kids have extra play time! Don’t feel like you need to fill up six hours with school assignments. As the kids get older they can handle longer lessons, but when they are young, especially preschool through first grade, they may only be able to handle 30 minutes (for Preschool) to 2 hours (for first grade), and that’s okay! Remember, they are constantly learning, and sometimes the best learning moments will take place when they’re not sitting “in school”. 

Remember, the school day at home does not need to feel overwhelming to be successful. Usually the success is reached when you and the kids come away feeling fulfilled, happy, and grateful to still be in the same room together. Simplifying your lessons, starting early and avoiding screens, and giving due praise to your children will go a long way in helping your kids enjoy learning. Also, keeping your school day moving will help everyone feel more productive and stay interested throughout this learning period.

For those of you just starting, hang in there, things will get easier and you will begin to work out the kinks and feel more comfortable in your innate ability to teach these young ones. And for those of you who have done it for a while, remember that it’s okay to keep things simple or take a field trip day to the backyard. Learning can happen everywhere, even when we least expect it.