Imagine a scenario where your child is crying because he can’t find his favourite crayon. While you are trying to find it another child started yelling because she can’t spell the word “HOUSE”. So how are you going to handle it and still manage to show them that you are still in control. Teachers who handles multi-age classroom is there for a great challenge and these people are considered superheroes of homeschooling. Handling a single child is already a challenge, and having 2 or more students is way beyond great.
As a parent educator you need to hold your ground to discipline your child. Let’s face it; children are not easy to manage thanks to their short attention span and restlessness. So in order for you to manage your classroom effectively you need to organize your thoughts. Consider all the factors that could affect your management styles – like your child’s age, strengths and weaknesses, academic capacity and their grades. Once you figured everything out, it’s time for you to set some goals for you and your homeschoolers. So here are some tips to help you manage your classroom with ease.
1. Set some rules. There is no doubt in the world that a child needs order in their lives. As an effective teacher you need to establish order or else you will be dealing with chaos every 5 minutes. Setting some classroom rules would help you get things in order. These rules include no eating during the class, no video games before the class, or any rules teen pokies that could help your child focus on the subject matter.
2. Be firm and confident. To help your child become responsible and well-rounded adults someday, then you have to be firm in implementing rules in your classroom. This is the start of your child’s formative years and you can’t afford to mess that up. Make sure to appear confident and knowledgeable about the subject matter. Do research before the class and take online training to further improve your teaching methods. As a parent you have to integrate homeschooling to your family’s lifestyle by taking each situation an opportunity to teach your child.
3. Set realistic goals. As a parent you know your child’s academic capacity, his strengths and weaknesses. By taking all these into consideration, you need to be realistic that children are still children no matter how smart they are. Chaos, tantrums, disobedience and boredom are expected to happen so be prepared and have a plan B when these things happened. Give them a reward to keep them motivated, or have an activity in between subjects to keep them interested.
4. Observe. A great teacher is always vigilant. Always lookout for your child’s progress and address the areas on which he/she is struggling. You also need to be flexible in case some things won’t work out and you needed to think outside of the box.
5. Be yourself. You may get other mom’s ideas about homeschooling but always make sure to out your own signature to your lesson.