Whether your child has a diagnosis of ADHD or has an abundance of energy, their ability to stay focused may be a challenge if homeschooled. While homeschooling can be a good fit for active children, and they struggle with staying on track, parents must have the ability to tailor learning activities and remain flexible to meet their child’s educational needs.
In a supportive homeschool setting, your child can thrive as you can offer many learning tools and styles tailor-made for their learning styles. Parents have greater control over the quality of their child’s education when they homeschool, which is good news for children who learn differently.
Let’s look at key components of creating a successful homeschool approach for your active learner.
You Control Your Curriculum, Grading, & Educational Style
When you homeschool, you control the curriculum, grading, and educational style for your child’s learning experience. This means you can employ a curriculum appropriate for active children, how much time you spend on subjects, and the grading process of your child’s work. In short, your homeschool is entirely customizable to your child’s learning style and needs.
For example, if your child learns best by participating in hands-on activities, you can choose a math curriculum that employs manipulatives to reinforce lessons. Still, if you have a visual learner, you can introduce videos and optics to inject into your classes.
Working With, Not Against Attention Spans
Most mainstream traditional educational styles work against students who have issues staying on task. School systems don’t have the structure to meet every student’s learning styles successfully, so their education styles are not designed for active learners.
As a homeschool parent, you can frame your program to work with and not against your child’s attention span. Instead of long lessons, implement shorter time frames for bookwork and studying while infusing the day with activities related to your tasks.
Create A “Time To Focus” Plan
All children gain confidence through taking part in their plans of action. For a child who has trouble with attention or who is overactive, consider including them in the process of developing a ‘Time to Focus’ plan. Talk with your child about methods that you both can use to divert attention and increase focus.
An example of such a method is to have your child name what they see, hear, smell, etc., until their attention is brought back to the task at hand. Once you and your child discover what works for you, together, you can devise a plan of action that will allow your child to be an active participant in their educational journey.