Acceptance the Start of Independence

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One of the first things you need to do when looking to develop independent learners is to accept your child/ren for who they are.  Understanding their interests and learning styles. Of course, you need to realize their interests and learning styles might change as they mature, so this is an on-going process.  🙂  Understand this though, acceptance is the the start of the journey toward independence. 

Types of Learning

Whether you have an audio, kinetic or visual learner makes a difference in the materials you purchase for them.  The right materials make it easy for students to do their work.  Despite that though, there will be days when they will need help. 

What kind of help?  Perhaps permission to sit back and stop when something is too hard.  Perhaps it’s just to answer a question or to show another way to get to the correct answer. Or perhaps it’s just how to organize their workload.  Don’t make assumptions about the help that’s needed, ask questions and work it out together.  Though do pay attention, sometimes the best help you can give is not helping at all. 

And sometimes the very best help you can give is the gift of organization.  Organizing your legos, art supplies, office materials and the like.  Helping your child organize their time and/or workload.  And offering grace for mistakes and hard days. 

Types of materials

There are so many different options to use for homeschooling as well. 

You can do math using an online program, textbooks, unit studies, living books, hands-on manipulatives, and more.   

History can be field trips, living books, textbooks, conversations with people, and can encompass food, music, geography, as well as art. 

Every subject you can take has multiple ways in which to approach it.  What works best for your child?

When my son was young we were watching the rain fall and he noticed it ran in streams.  He was so excited by this he ran and got some little boats and small toys and went out into the rain. Which way would his boat go?  Could it carry one of his toys?  He spent a glorious hour out in the rain learning about water flow, dams, currents, flow speed, buoyancy and all things watery.  It was a great afternoon of exploration.  I followed it up later in the week with books from the library about water, rain, dams and more.

Letting him run through all his explorations, offering suggestions and wonder during his time of play, and then later filling in some of the gaps for him… the best learning ever!  This has often proved the best way to learn with my lad.  Explore the idea, run with it, and then fill in the gaps later.  

Methods of Teaching

Unschooling, Charlotte Mason, unit study, classical, Robinson method, principle approach, Waldorf, and more.  What style suits you? 

There are so many different methods to homeschooling, and they don’t fit everyone (hence the variety).  Will you choose a particular method, or become more eclectic over time?  What method suits you and your children best?  Take your time to examine the options and know that what suits you at one point might change into something different over time. 

Resources to Help You

SchoolhouseTeachers.com has a wide range of activities to suit any household’s learning style.   See the current sale above. 

Learning styles Online gives a great overview into different methods people learn by.  Whether it’s by listening, doing, participating or more. 

Homeschool.com walks you through some of the different homeschooling methods complete with basic schedules to give you an idea. 

On my blog you’ll find posts to help you with developing independence and watching my lad develop independence.  

Blog Hop Participants

• Health Worksheets for Kids by Living Life and Learning
  Homeschooling and Parenting Encouragement by Simple at Home
  10 Days of DIY Summer Camp at Home by Forgetful Momma
  10 Days to Prepare Teenagers for Work by Living Ideas
  10 Days of Free Unit Studies for Summer Homeschooling by Faith & Good Works
  Teaching Independent Learning by A Net in Time
  10 Days of Preschool Science Social Study Themes by This Crafty Mom
  Dinosaur Printables by Preschool Powol Packets 
  10 Days of Hands-On Learning Activities for Kids by Mama Smiles
  10 Days of Time Saving Hacks for Busy Moms by Purposeful Motherhood10 Days of Nature Study by Heart and Soul Homeschooling
  10 Days of Free Homeschool Curriculum by Subject by Life in the Nerddom
  10 Days to a No Stress Home Management Binder by No Stress Homeschooling
  10 Ways You Can Nurture Artists in your Home by Beyond the Stick Figure
  10 Days of Printable Word Puzzles for Kids by Tree Valley Academy
  10 Days of Planning for High School by This Life of Ours
  10 Days of Learning with Nature by Wonder-filled Days
  10 Ways to Teach History by Beyond Mommying