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Take Time to Deschool
An option for a "standard rule" for those who are starting out with their homeschooling is beginning it all with the phase and process of “de-schooling time”. If your child has ever been in the “standard school system” and regardless if the experience for the both of you was positive or negative, be sure to allow both yourself and your child time to “de-school” and break free of the chains of the "institutionalized classroom" mindset.
De-schooling does not mean that you throw your daily routines out the window and should let your child sit around and just watch TV or play video games all day long, but what you also shouldn’t be doing during your de-schooling time is strictly focusing on doing “school work” such as formal workbooks or work sheets or focusing on formal subjects or tests. Your goal to you de-schooling is to find out what your child is good at and enjoy spending good quality time with each other with having many laughs and enjoyable moments! You will be amazed that learning will happen even though you haven’t used a single worksheet or done anything "formally".
An excellent guideline in terms of how long this de-schooling process should be is:
1 month of de-schooling for each year that your child has been in the standard school system.
There are many things that you can do during your de-schooling time such as:
- Relaxing with your child
- Find out how they like to learn and what they enjoy doing or are interested in (What hobbies or activities would they enjoy doing?)
- Find out more about their specific needs. (Do they need to have more quiet time during the day or more sleep? What time of day
they are most alert and what environment do they learn the best in? Do they need more snacks or refreshments to keep going?)
- Allowing your child to sleep and rest as they need
- Giving them whatever physical contact or affection they needed and not have been able to get in the school system.
- Involve them in things with you that are part of your daily living home routine (helping with cooking or chores, tidying, etc.)
- Spend time outside
- Listen to audio books or read together
- Play games together
- Adventure out on a field trip
While some people might feel they do not do this, the benefits of doing so are fantastic. If you as a parent are stressed out or are not feeling well physically, you cannot teach properly. This also applies to your child. If your child is stressed out or are not feeling well physically, they cannot learn properly. Once you have completed your de-schooling, then you can focus on adding additional academics and other formal things that suit your child's individual learning needs.