leadership Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Dr. Marie-Claire Moreau

Do you have a skill or talent you can share with other homeschoolers? Chances are, another parent in your area does, too!

A teaching exchange can be a great way to introduce your students to new things without having to teach them yourself. No money changes hands, and parents share what they know with other kids who want to learn about them.

Teaching exchanges can be spontaneous. For example, if you’re teaching about the Underground Railroad in your homeschool tomorrow, you might want to invite another family to listen in.

Teaching exchanges can also be planned. For instance, every Monday you and several other families get together to learn together. Rotate homes so that hosting doesn’t always fall on one person. Work it out so that one parent talks about a topic in history, while another parent gives an art lesson. You get the idea.

Don’t be afraid to offer up what you know. You’d be surprised how many homeschooling families are anxious to learn about sewing, knitting and crochet. Or wood-working, ballroom dancing, or caring for a new puppy. Even computer maintenance, fishing, gardening or cooking are great topics. Don’t forget esoteric things like improving memory, thinking positively, or manners and etiquette, either.

Consider allowing older students to help or to lead classes by themselves (great leadership training!) if you feel that younger children may relate well to older children in your homeschooling circle.

Don’t allow your lack of teaching experience to stop you from sharing your expertise, either. In teaching swap situations, nobody expects you to act like a classroom teacher. It’s all about sharing what you know with other children just like yours. Pretend you are speaking to your own kids, and you’ll be just fine.

[Photo: Pics4Learning]

In some homeschool families, students school alone. In others, particularly when children are close in age or interested in the same things, kids can study together.

If you have never had children study together, but are thinking of giving it a try, here are some simple things that you can try today:

read aloud to several children at once, then discuss
have one child read to others, and then alternate
allow children to play learning games together
have children take turns quizzing one another on something they have already learned
ask children to make math flash cards (or trivia or word cards) and take turns drilling one another
show a group of children the same movie (DVD, computer game, or educational TV program) and ask each to write about it, or tell the others what they learned
assign children a group project to work on – it can be something musical, dramatic, artistic, or anything you like – and later present it to the family
have one child teach another child something, then switch roles

These are just a few. If any of these ideas seem to work (or are enjoyable for the children), you can always expand on the idea, or come up with additional ways to homeschool more than one child at the same time. There are even curriculum products you can purchase designed to do the very same thing.

There are many other ways for siblings to work together. Depending on your schooling goals for each child and your family dynamics, this may be something you’d like to try, or not. With homeschooling, it’s always up to you.

[Photography by Inmagine]