The goal of any homeschool should be to teach the love of learning. They will not know all the answers but they should know how to find out. You may or may not be preparing the child for college. Either way, the end goal is to help the child learn, at minimum, a few things on his own. I generally give all the children free reign to do their independent lessons wherever they choose in or outside the house. I keep myself available to them for help if they need it but generally those are the lessons that are done on their own. They then return their work to their boxes for me to check . It keeps them moving in their lessons while also giving me accountability to look over their work . Mistakes are corrected at that moment not hours later.
I don’t know how to describe Madison. She can often be found hanging upside down from something. This is her backwards in the recliner doing her math. Yes, backwards. She often does her table work practicing her releves from ballet. I say if it gets the work done then I don’t care how she sits in the chair or what she practices at the table.
Same goes for read a loud time or other together lessons. If she wants to hang upside down while I read or we listen to an audio book then that is her choice. I do give her things to keep her still like drawing or a handicraft but she can be in any position that she wants. An indoor trampoline
There are days that we have to tote our work along to therapy appointments. If you have a child with any sort of special needs then you have therapy. Some days it feels like all you do is go from one therapy to the next. This week alone, Madison toted her read a loud and Bible work to hippotherapy. We’ve been known to break out the art set to do picture narration in the middle of the waiting room at physical therapy or do our recitations in the parking lot. Bring what needs to be done and do it while you wait. It helps to pass the time quicker while either waiting for your turn or while waiting for the sibling to come out. Now, I do tend to have Madison bring something that she will need minimal assistance from me. The reasoning behind this is I like to watch what they are working on with Logan. This way , we can work on it at home as well for our home therapy program. If I am unsure of what they are doing, I’d rather ask while they are doing it than later. Therapists love me. That’s what I keep telling myself anyway.
Lessons can be completed anywhere. Yes, there are times when you need them to sit and listen. Many times the where simply doesn’t matter. All that matters is that it gets done in a timely manner. Don’t get so boxed into the model of children sitting primly around the table doing lessons that you frustrate yourself. You’ll be amazed at how much more your child can learn by letting them move around. Open up to the possibility that lessons can be done in a variety of places along with a variety of ways! Add fun back into your homeschool by being flexible as well as creative in your approach.
