If you are currently home schooling your teen, then you most likely have realized what an awesome responsibility you have undertaken. You are responsible for the education of your young adult, and that means you must study and analyze the curriculum to ensure you are giving them correct content in an easy to understand format. There are five tips that will help you teach your teens a little more effectively than you already do.
Plan Well
While you may not have a degree in education, you must still treat home schooling your teenaged child as a teaching career. This means you will have to read the lessons and information before you teach them and create lesson plans for the day to ensure you cover all of the desired content. This is especially important if you are teaching multiple adolescents, so you cover the content at each child’s current level of performance.
Find Current Books to Supplement the Curriculum
To teach your teen effectively, you will need to supplement the home schooling curriculum. You can do this by finding books, magazine articles, newspaper articles, and online sources that cover the content in different ways. Always be on the lookout for reading passages that relate to the subjects you are covering.
Arrange Field Trips
Take the time to arrange special field trips that tie in to your lessons. You can take a field trip to a museum when you study art history or a factory to see how products are made. Your children need to see how the knowledge they are learning relates to the real world and it can be fun for all of you.
Have the Appropriate Equipment
To be an effective teacher, you must have access to the appropriate equipment for instruction. For math, you may need a graphing calculator. For science, you may need lab equipment or access to equipment at a microscopy education center. Also, you will need art supplies for projects, sports equipment for physical education activities, and technology for potential research projects. The more tools and equipment the more fun learning can be for your teenage son or daughter.
Differentiate Instruction
Just like any good teacher, you must find ways to differentiate instruction, so your instruction is effective. This means you must vary your lesson delivery based on the content you are teaching and the learning styles of your pupils. If you always deliver information in the form of a lecture or notes, chances are you will lose your adolescent’s interest quickly. Instead look for ways to make learning fun.
Homeschooling your teen can be a rewarding experience but if it is neglected you may not get the desired results. Following a few simple tips to make sure real learning is taking place can be a great asset to your child’s growth.
