7 Tips for Great Homeschooling During Covid-19

1) How you teach is more important than what you teach


“[Kids] don't remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are.”
― Jim Henson

Children learn how to think, feel, and behave by watching what you do. All good teachers and good parents know that it's what you do that makes a lasting impression, not what you say. Children develop their attitudes and mindsets about learning from the attitudes and mindsets you model. If you are bored or disinterested when teaching, you’d better believe your students will be bored and disinterested as well. What if you have an unyielding, patient belief in your students’ ability to succeed? You will be teaching them to believe in themselves as well, and they will respond to every challenge you place before them. This ‘hidden curriculum’ provides the most powerful and enduring lessons for young people, much more so than History, Science, Math, and English. The next time you are teaching, take a moment to reflect on how you are showing up. What are you feeling? What do you look and sound like? Remember that your students are watching, listening, and—without even trying—they are learning from how you are teaching. As the old adage goes, “more is caught than taught.”

2) Provide a purpose
“The most extraordinary people in the world today don’t have a career. They have a mission.”
—Vishen Lakhiani

Almost all organizations have a mission statement, and all successful organizations have employees that deeply believe in its mission. Sadly, this is not true with education today. Without a guiding mission or purpose, too many teachers and students alike are simply going through the motions without a sense of purpose.

What is the point of education? There are many different answers traditionally given to this question. “To create informed citizens.” “To prepare children for the workforce.” “To learn from the past.” Whatever your mission is—and you may want to co-create it with your children—make sure it is well reasoned and that the curriculum supports and honors it. Make sure your students are aware of and excited by your mission—you’ll provide them with purpose for their own learning, and you will be modeling sincerity, selflessness, and motivation at the same time. 

3) Be a fellow learner as much as possible

He who learns from one who is learning drinks from a running stream.   
—Native American Proverb

When you are learning beside your student, you are modeling what it looks like to be a motivated learner. You are also allowing your students to be the teacher, if they are so inclined. At once, your students learn that knowledge is not static, and that knowing cannot be perfected. They learn instinctively to have a ‘growth mindset’, to define their potential by their effort instead of their current ability or knowledge..

More than anything, a teacher who is inspired and curious by the subjects she teaches will transfer that inspiration and curiosity to those she teaches. Emotions are infectious, and this is doubly true for both parents and teachers.

4) Ask for optimal effort by giving optimal effort 
“Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.”
—Mohandas K. Gandhi

We almost always underestimate the intelligence of our students, and for that reason, bore them by teaching too slow. Show students you respect them with challenges they are excited and able to meet. You know what your students are capable of accomplishing—don’t short-change them by accepting a mediocre effort. Inject enthusiasm and encouragement where necessary, but make sure your energy is being met by your students’ effort. Always give praise and allow for a quality break after students have sustained a good effort.

5) Share yourself
“Oh, never mind the fashion. When one has a style of one's own, it is always twenty times better.” 
― Margaret Oliphant

When teaching, remember to be yourself. Get excited, get righteous, feel sad. Be human and let your feelings and emotions help your students connect more deeply to the material you are teaching. When you are teaching about Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr., try to truly feel the sense of fear, courage, and self-sacrifice that peaceful protestors must have felt as they were physically assaulted by law enforcement. When talking with your students, communicate your own sense of awe and respect for the protestors or your outrage toward the perpetrators of racism and violence.

Learn again to see the world through a child’s eyes. If you are teaching Life Sciences, you must be able to communicate a wonder for the complexity and beauty of our Earth and all of its life forms. Show your excitement when using Math and Physics to unlock ancient mysteries of architecture and to solve present-day problems. Allow yourself to be moved by music and poetry, and inspired by the works and lives of great women and men. 

Above all else, show your student that working—and working with them—is fun for you.

6) Silence can be golden

“Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech.”
– Plutarch

As teachers and as parents, we are often guilty of talking too much. Remember that, as a teacher, you always feel awkward with silence long before your students do. Give your students the space to work things out for themselves—you do not always need to be the “sage on stage” or the star of the show. All of us need quiet time to think deeply and to assimilate new understanding. Give your students the space and the time to work through things on their own, and support them individually only when they need help or supervision.

7) Students always retain what they teach themselves
“I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.”
― Winston S. Churchill

Great education requires exceptional teaching, and exceptional teachers will always shine the spotlight on their students. Find great books, create provocative discussion prompts, and step out of the way as students work hard to find their own answers. Instead of always telling students what to know, we should listen to what they are trying to discover. Let your children ask the brilliant question that makes your lesson more alive and more profound. Let them fail. Let them realize their own mistakes. Let them correct one another. Create the environment for them to drive their own learning, and then give them the space to teach themselves. 

About the Author:
David Beitchman has taught in the classroom, developed curriculum, trained teachers and worked as houseparent over the course of his 20-year career as an educator. David is the founder of www.planoschoolreviews.com, a website devoted to reviewing each of the public school’s in Plano, TX. He lives in Plano with his wife and two children. He can be reached at david@isdschoolsearch.com.