How To Create A Homeschool Schedule For Teens
As your homeschoolers reach the teen years, they start to exert more independence. They’ll have more activities outside of your home, including social events, extra-curricular activities, and co-op classes. Juggle these with more rigorous studies, and the need to adjust your homeschool routine is inevitable. That’s why you need to start creating a homeschool schedule for teens that can be flexible, yet check off all the boxes for their academic, emotional and social needs.
Following are all the tips you will need to create a manageable homeschooling schedule for your middle and high schoolers.
Tips for Creating a Homeschool Schedule for Teens
Plan in Advance
To start, you’ll want to have as much planning done as possible before the school year starts. Talk with your students about what their goals and expectations should be for the semester, and how they would like to accomplish those goals. From there, you should get a basic structural plan together of what the school year is going to look like.
Then you can move on to planning each month, and then each week. Getting a basic schedule together early on can help reduce the stress of the new school year, and boost both your and your student’s confidence.
Communicate With Your Teens
As teenagers, your homeschoolers are getting to the age where they should have more of a say in their education. While there are certain things they have to do, some parts of school can and should be fluid.
For example, when it comes to science ensure that you have the basics of what your students need are planned out. From there, talk with your children about what they are interested in studying over the semester.
Not only will this make planning much easier, but it also gives your kids the much responsibility in regards to their own education.
Provide A Quiet Space
As a part of the planning process, you should be figuring out where your child is going to learn, work, and study. If you have not already picked out a place in your home, here are some important tips to remember.
Noise – Make sure there isn’t a lot of foot traffic or interruptions likely to occur in your student’s work area. Frequent distractions not only take away from their education, but they can be extremely stressful and even aggravating (especially when the interruptions come from a pesky younger sibling).
Storage – Ensure that your student will have access to all the materials that they’ll need during the course of the school day. Folders, writing utensils, and books should all be easily accessible from their homeschool area.
Desk Space and Power – Your student should have plenty of desk or table space to work on their assignments. Additionally, if they are using electronics such as a laptop, there should be space for it as well as a way to charge the device.
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Plan For Mistakes
When planning a homeschool schedule for teens, leave room for a margin of error in your student’s day. Unexpected things are bound to come up, so planning for them in advance allows more time in each day to address and fix problems.
Additionally, leave room for your child to catch up if they are not grasping certain topics or subjects. This prevents your child from being rushed past something they don’t fully yet understand.
Our family keeps a 4-day homeschool schedule, with a fifth day designated for catch-up. If everyone has completed all their work, we use that fifth day for a fun outing or time with other homeschooling families.
Additionally, you should be planning for breaks and other events. Talk with your student about the best times for breaks, and when they need to do certain things such as eat lunch. This provides comfort and support for your student as they are in charge of their breaks and can take them when they need them the most.
Discern When Family Learning Doesn’t Make Sense for Your Teen
Depending on how many kids you have to homeschool, it can seem like a good idea to make certain subjects group-oriented. This may work, but if it doesn’t you will need to revise your plan. Some teens work well in groups while others prefer to work alone, so it is important to ensure that they get the proper amount of space while working.
Additionally, if there is a large age gap between your children, it would be wise to give them different study areas to avoid them clashing with one another. Students that have a large difference in age may become annoyed with one another while working, especially if you have them learning together.
Creating a homeschool schedule for teens can be difficult at times. However, with the tips and tricks from this article, you can create a stellar plan for the school year and give your children the best homeschool education possible.
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