How do you Teach Your Child the Topics that you had a Hard Time Learning Yourself? Homeschooling is a great way to customize the education your child receives and a great opportunity for parents to really engage with their children at every step of the learning process. There are many tools to help you figure out how to set up your homeschool curriculum and classroom setting (e.g. “How to Choose Homeschooling Curriculum that Suits your Education Style”). However, what if you didnât do so great in math or failed miserably at science or french? How will you be able to teach your child these topics if you donât feel comfortable with them yourself? There are many different ways to tackle this problem and Iâll share some ideas that will help you to ensure your child receives the optimal learning experience â even if itâs in an area that boggles your own mind! Talk to your friends and neighbours and build a database of other parents who have chosen to homeschool their children. This is a great opportunity for you to get together as a group and discuss your strengths and weaknesses in each of the subjects in your chosen curriculum. So if youâre not so great at Algebra but you excel at English â why not swap your kids for those topics and take advantage of each otherâs strong points? Join your local homeschoolers program. They usually have a plan in place for this since not every parent exceled in every topic. They can help you with the tough topics so you can effectively teach your child. Go online! There are a lot of great courses you can sign up for that will help you learn how to teach them. Khan Academy is a great connection fro the mathâs and sciences (Iâll add the link here). If you canât beat them â join them! Take the course with your child. Youâll learn together and do battle with ignorance as allies. If the course is secondary school level, why not sign up for an adult education program with your local school district? Youâll get the information, instruction and guidance you need to be able to pass on your learning to your child. Have you got a child that really excels in a topic like math or creative writing? Let them take the lead on teaching the course. Youâll help build their confidence as well as educating your other students. If you feel there are some courses you just arenât comfortable teaching, check out your community college and sign you, your child if they are teens or both of you for the class. ( Alnis, get rid of the yellow and we are good.) If you are lucky enough to be in the vicinity of a cooperative school district like Alberta, for example â use their facilities and options to help you feel more informed and confident about teaching difficult topics. Decide whether the topic that is difficult for you is a core skill or a âsoft skillâ. If it falls under soft skill then ignore that part of the curriculum and focus on areas where you have more strength. Hire a tutor from your local high school to help you out. Opt for top students who have just finished the course themselves. While we like to think that as parents, we have all the answers for our children, it just isnât realistic. However, that shouldnât be a deterrent from homeschooling your children. Smart educators are the ones who know that when they donât know the answer to something, they know where to look for it.
