Many families are now considering of homeschooling due to the community quarantine.
We are sharing tips for first time homeschoolers so as not to overwhelm parents. Home-based learning should not be intimidating. It may seem scary at first but these steps can help you if you are homeschooling for the first time.
Reasons Why We Are HomeSchooling
Here’s the tips and beginner’s start guide to homeschooling:
- Look for a Homeschool Provider
This is the first step when your kids are about to start school. The homeschool provider is the “school” that you would like to be connected with or enroll your kids in.
Check the homeschool provider that will fit for your child and your family. There are several homeschool providers to choose from and you may check their services and fees here: Homeschool Providers and Cost to Homeschool
You may also get feedback from fellow homeschool moms under that homeschool provider.
You may also read about our homeschool provider for our 5 years of homeschooling and why we love them: Our Experience with Homeschool Global
Note that DepEd has age requirements for incoming Kindergarten and Grade 1 and homeschool providers follow these.
- Connect with a Suport Group or Homeschooling Families
In homeschooling, you do not have to know everything all at once.
Homeschool providers usually have their own orientation on how to go about homeschooling. They provide guides and some even have parent trainings so you know what needs to be done. Ask for assistance as you need it.
Connecting with fellow homeshooling families is a good thing. You can get motivation, some inspiration, tips and tricks on how to make things easier.
We also recommend attending the Philippine Homeschol Convention or The Philippine Homeschool Conference once available.
- Keep it Simple
At the start of the homeschool year, take it one day at a time.
On Books/ Learning Materials: Choose books, if you have that flexibility, that is easy for you to teach and will keep your kids attention.
Lesson Planning: The easiest way to plan your lessons by subject is to divide the chapters or topics in a book into quarters. This can be your high level guide on what to cover on the first quarter, second and so on.
If you can learn how to integrate and plan your lessons to cover a number of topics, things become easier.
Homeschool Schedule: You may start with just one subject for the first day. Then add a second subject in the next 2 days. This will help everyone to have a relaxed start.
You can use a weekly calendar to track your subjects as you progress and you can always, adjust it acoording to your family dynamics.
Activities: There will be many invitations for free classes, activities (and playdates or meetup after this quarantine).
You do not have to join all. Choose activities that your kids are interested in. Set a day or 2 for such activities and include it in your homeschool schedule. For example, if you set Tuesday for music or art class, plan a few subjects to tackle on that day.
- What works for others, may not work for you
This is applicable to the scheduling, your approach and even resources available to you. With the free resources, you will have lots of choices. If something or anything, is not working, don’t push it and then move on.
Some families, start homeschooling in the morning but for us, together with our son, we have come to an agreement that we start right after lunch. Morning would be playtime.
Others do subjects by time (example, Math 830-930am daily, English 10-11am, MWF and so on) and that kids should be sitting a the desk to learn.
For us, what works is – we do Math everyday for 30 minutes or less. Other subjects, we read the lessons by the couch (and bed or on a duyan), perform experiments by the kitchen sink or do outdoor activities when we can (like a walk in the nearby park). Our lessons and discussions are not timed.
Learning can be the whole day – when the kids are playing, walking outside or even when they are eating – not just by their desks.
- Focus on Quality, not on Quantity
Just like in work, we feel like there’s a quota we must meet – a certain number of pages we must complete, or a book that must be finished this year. This is very common to every homeschooling parent.
We should focus on the basics and making sure that the concept is learned and understood rather than just for it to be completed. You can spend as little or as much time as needed to explore the topic.
Focus on what matters. There will bad days and when it happens, it’s good to put everything down and come back to it again tomorrow.
Remember, it is important to have FUN! Having fun while learning helps your children retain information better because the process is enjoyable and memorable.
We hope these tips for homeschoolers for beginners will help you in your journey. These are also helpful homeschool articles for further readings:
How To Start Homeschooling
Homeschooling in the Philippines: Frequently Asked Questions
A Guide to Common Homeschooling Terms
DepEd-Accredited Homeschool Providers and Cost to Homeschool
What is Your Parenting Style?
Learning Styles Quiz
Different Methods of Homeschooling
Thank you for this article. I’m a mommy blogger of 2 kids here in Davao and I have been considering homeschooling ever since the Quarantine because I’m not happy with our current school, and we haven’t found a good school to enroll in yet. I was looking into homeschooling, but having a private teacher come and assist me with a few subjects (reading and writing). I was wondering if this is something you know about? What do you have to say? Thank you!
Hi Andrea. Most providers are OK with having other teachers aside from the parents or guardian. In our case, we get tutors/coaches for art, music and swimming lessons. Sometimes we let Gab attend weekly classes or workshops as part of our lessons. We know other parents who let the child attend enrichment programs like Kumon, CMA, Mathemagis, Galileo, Enopi and others.
if the parents will teach the children at home and the books and materials will be shouldered by the parents…what is the tuition fee for?
i am a parent and do not have an education background or training so
what is the fee for? if i will hire a tutor does it not defeat the purpose of homeschooling?
where is the interaction and participation? my point is why taking so much fee for virtual knowledge…subscription fee for the lessons i think is not enough for this.
Fees are for the services the homeschool providers (like keeping child’s academic records, transcripts, academic/family advisors)
In homeschooling, parents are the primary teachers but you can hire tutor services for subjects you find challenging.
To avoid fee for virtual knowledge, there’s always the public schools you can enroll in. DepEd has prepared many free online resources for these schools.