When there is no formal distinction between classes and the homeschool students simply drift from one lesson to the next in their own sweet time, there may creep in a level of tardiness which prevents them from completing the day’s scheduled activities. Should this continue to happen over a period of a week, you may have a large number of lessons pending with no time to cover them in your weekly schedule.
The homeschool teacher needs to put in a system against being tardy in the homeschool classroom to avoid this kind of lag in the studies. This allows better control over how the school day proceeds. Here are some tips that should help you formulate a system that works best with your homeschool students.
Awareness of Schedule
The first thing that the homeschools students need to be aware of, is the schedule for the day’s classes. They need to be clearly told about the number of lessons that they need to finish in the school day. This gives them a chance to mentally space out how much time they have for each activity that they need to undertake. The homeschool teacher can even allot specific time slots for each of the activities that they need to complete initially, to give them a better idea of how to handle their time.
Consistent Consequences
If they are unable to finish their work on time, there needs to be specific and consistent consequences. In some cases, the homeschool parent may allow the student to shift to the next activity only when the first one is finished. In other cases the activity left over will be shelved and the rest of the day’s work is continued. Then the homeschool student needs to stay back and complete the left over activities after the formal homeschool day is over.
Reward System
Since rewards and praise are much better motivators than criticism and punishment, it may be a good idea to set up a reward system for the homeschool students who are not tardy. The reward could be a star on a performance chart, a treat such as being allowed to do something they enjoy or even allowing them to pick the next family outing.