How To Make The First Day Back Of Homeschooling Go With A Swing!
That very first day back behind the desks can be somewhat tricky. After all, the kids are likely to have gotten used to the freedom of the summer. The good news is there are some simple ways you can make sure the first day back is a success for everyone involved. Keep reading to find out what they are.
Snack breaks
A good snack can lighten up any activity, especially the first day back of homeschool. Indeed, anything you can do to forge those positive associations in the first week is a smart idea. After all, when kids love school it’s so much easier and more successful for everyone involved.
The great thing about snacks is that they aren’t just a treat, but also a great opportunity for some practical learning. For example, why not help them practice their math skills by weighing out the ingredients and correctly dividing the recipe? Alternatively, making snacks is a great way to teach kids about the food chain, and healthy options. You could even add growing your food into this project and make snacks with it later on!
A treasure hunt
Kids need to make sure they are correctly kitted out for the first day of school. This means providing them with items like pens, pencils, rulers, notebooks, and calculators. However instead of just giving them to your kids the night before the first day, why not use them to create a fun and challenging treasure hunt?
Of course, you can set it up like an Easter egg hunt, where the kids just have to look for the supplies. However, an even more fun way is to create clues so they have to solve them before they find the next item. You could even integrate some of the learning that they did in the last academic year into these clues, which is a great way of jogging their memory, and assessing what topics need some revision before moving on.
First-day photos
An experience that many kids that aren’t educated inside the home get on their first day back is photos of them looking all smart in their uniforms. Indeed, you may not even have a uniform if you homeschool your kids.
However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t take photos which can be exciting for the kids and great fun to look back on as they get older too. Indeed, you may even wish to print them all a first-day back T-shirt with the date on it. The good news is you can now get Custom Tees made quickly and easily, you could even choose different colors for each child! Just be sure to put them up on the wall in the classroom when you get them back, so the kids can track their progress as they move through the years of school.
Team-building fun
There is a misnomer in homeschooling that suggests kids don’t get to work in groups very often. However, unless you are schooling an only child this isn’t the case. Not to mention the fact that many groups exist to allow homeschooling kids to get together to build teamwork and social skills.
Indeed, as the skill of teamwork is just as important for homeschooled kids as it is for anyone else, spending some time on the first day working on these can be the ideal way to get everyone back in the swing of things.
In particular group activities where they need to use basic materials to build an item or solve a problem are a great idea. Remember to give everyone a go at being in charge as well, as the younger ones are always far better at this than most people expect!
Plenty of breaks
Last of all, when it comes to making sure that the first day back to homeschool is a success, it is essential to schedule as many breaks as possible.
The reason for this is that even when they are used to focusing on work, kids can only concentrate for so long. Usually, about 40 mins before they need a change of task. Of course, on the first day back, even that long can be a challenge because kids aren’t used to sitting behind a desk after the summer.
It is for that reason ensuring you pepper the day with smaller tasks that can help everyone. Small breaks for refreshments and play are a good idea too, and can even help your home school teacher make the transition more easily as well.
