The advantage of family education is that parents and child can customize it: choose a comfortable mode and method of preparation, enroll in an online school, engage tutors, find courses in individual subjects, or even deal with the child independently.
Some parents allow their children not to adhere to a schedule, but set a specific task: the main thing is to complete a certain amount of tasks during the day, and when and at what time the child will do them is unimportant. For other families, an hourly limit is suitable: for example, you agree that the child should devote strictly 6 hours a day to study.
There is no one rule for everyone in this matter, the regime and the workload in family education – very variable things. It is important to be guided by individual characteristics. I can recommend studying in a modular format if you want to systematize the educational process.
However, if a pupil is still accustomed to the lesson system and feels more comfortable studying the way he or she does at school, give him or her this opportunity: make a schedule for the week, periodically correcting and supplementing it.
Is it necessary to control how your child is learning, or is it better to let him be responsible for his own results?
The learning process is always directly related to control: younger students do not yet have this skill themselves, while older students need help because, due to their teenage years, they easily question school education, not understanding why they need to learn. Therefore, I believe that supervision should become an integral part of the family educational process.
It is important to understand what level the child is initially at, because grades at school are not always an indicator of basic knowledge. If you identify the problem areas, you can objectively assess what requirements to impose on the child. To check how much the level of knowledge has grown over a period of time, conduct tests on specific topics.
Set an intermediate goal that the child will strive for. Of course, mastering the material by 100% at the initial stages will not be easy, so you can start by lowering the bar and set the goal of 60-70% of correct answers at the end of a test or a quiz.
How can you make sure that the child is doing well?
Sometimes quizzes aren’t enough. Family education is a complicated process: it’s not just about education, but also about upbringing, about building relationships. That is why it is important to support the child. A parent, more than anyone else, can put their values into learning, talk to their child more often, and be sensitive and attentive to them.
We can all fall short at times, and that’s okay.
Be prepared for the fact that the child may not understand the topic, he or she may not keep up, be nervous and anxious. You shouldn’t pressure him if he couldn’t solve the 30 assignments you gave him. On the contrary, this is a great opportunity, unlike school education, to stop and work through difficult material at your own pace, and then move on.
Choosing family education, keep in mind that in the process you are sure to encounter various force majeure situations. You can cope with them by planning: following a schedule will help to level out possible risks and not miss dangerous moments. Of course, this schedule may be tentative in many ways – you should be able to adjust it at any time.
And if you are not 100% confident in your abilities and feel that you can not cope without help from outside, you can always go to school, consult with teachers and study the educational program to understand what direction to go in the future.