Homeschooling can be fun

The creative part of my mind is always challenged when it comes to Jare and learning. It's extremely tough to get his attention on academics. I have to constantly excite him, with an attempt to make learning an ultimate pleasure for him. My best thought was to get his cars and planes involved. His all time favourite. 

 

Placing the cars and planes upon my number call

 

Jare can count almost perfect to 20, but when it comes to recognising the numbers, he's probably not quite there yet. And when I'm in the right mood to sit him down for learning, he seemed to prefer setting his eyes on some other distraction. A total different personality from Jazz, who always seemed hungry for new knowledge. 

I used his cars and planes to help identify the numbers. Asked him to put 'Dusty' on 1, and 'Woody' on 5, and on and on, he could score perfect. I affirmed that homeschooling him requires a variety of fun. How intensive is that for his mama?!! I hope I've exemplified the meaning of learning through play.

Then we moved on to numbers tracing. I got him to move a car along the writing direction of the number, he could do it well, as if the car was on an imaginary race track. After which, he did pencil tracing and counting. He usually misses a count or two during counts, especially when distracted. When it comes to counting his cars, it was easy peasy. What an astonishing chemistry, boys and cars! 

 

Diligently tracing 6

Going through 7 and counting cars

 

And, I started him on paper cutting! Taught him some scissors skills, position those fingers and ready... open and close, open and close. He did a great maneuver with his first successful piece of work. It was with minimal assistance. Under close supervision, no harm was done to any of his fingers. Proud of this little boy.

Excellent attempt

 

Like most mums, I get my dose of frustration when it comes to teaching Js. I breathe in and out countless times, to keep anger away. My homeschooling tips are all about:

1. Patience, loads of it!
2. Enjoy the process.
3. Perfect time, when both are into the flow.
4. Drink lots of water! It boosts concentration.
5. Think of creative ways to capture attention and interest.
6. Don't get too perfect on them. That crooked A or B is perfectly imperfect.
7. Encouragements. Healthy self esteem. They do better when they feel better.
8. Set a routine. It can be abrupt to stop play or an act to get into the serious stuff. 
9. Praises and rewards. I'll paste a sticker or stamp on each completed work. Js love it!
10. Know when to stop. Signs of fatigue or listlessness indicates it's high time to stop and relax. There's no hurry, to each at their own pace. We know every child is uniquely different.

Homeschooling can be challenging, but we have choices to make teaching and learning interestingly fun.