There’s a big difference between planning a lesson and teaching one. Lesson plans are more of a guide for you, the educator, to move your pupils towards the lesson’s objective: A road map to teach homeschool lessons.
It’s not a disaster if home-ed lessons occasionally derail from the plan; however, to meet curriculum goals, some lessons need to follow the plan.
Here are some tips to keep lessons on track & meet the lesson objectives.
Structuring lessons to keep them on track
- When planning, figure out if the teaching material lends itself to a linear style of teaching (A to B to C ); or is the material sub-topic based and in which case, can the lesson follow the organic questions students ask? Think about the order questions might be asked in and keep materials bundled logically together.
Skill-based lessons
Skill-based lessons are pretty simple to teach. There’s going to be an example taught, opportunities for the learner to practise, and feedback from you, the teacher.
What needs to be included is any review of previously learnt skills learners will rely on to learn this lesson’s skill, an explanation of the skill/its use and the skill itself. This type of lesson benefits from a lesson plan because it relies upon the usage of teaching & practice materials.
Having a structure to the introduction of teaching materials during the lessons stops things from becoming chaotic. If I give my kids a pile of papers at the start of the lesson, they have a hard time resisting the urge to ruffle through them all before we start. Handing out resources one by one keeps lessons more structured.
Topic-based lessons
Topic-based lessons can easily become derailed from the objectives if students ask too many questions. Questions are a fantastic tool for learning critical thinking, nurturing intellectual debate and validating the innate curiosity of kids, but answering too many questions can lead to lessons not meeting the intended objectives.
Writing down a list of topics you need to cover can help you keep the lesson on track: Answer any off-piste questions with a ‘great question! Let’s write it down and come back to it later.’ (Use these questions for follow-up lessons.)
Engage learners at the start of the lesson
You don’t want questions to derail a lesson, but you do want students to have questions – that’s how you know they’re interested, engaged and actively learning.
Asking questions at the start of a lesson is an easy way to engage them with the lesson’s objective.
- Ask learners if they can solve a problem using previously learnt skills – then ask them if they can solve a similar, more complex question that they’ll only be able to answer after this lesson.
You’re boosting their confidence – “Look, you can do this!” – and showing them exactly how far they’re going to progress during the lesson.
- When we looked at planning lessons, we noted how useful it is to recap a learner’s current knowledge before beginning to teach.
Drawing diagrams mapping out a student’s previous knowledge – together on a whiteboard/paper or asking them to map their knowledge in their workbooks – clarifies this prior knowledge and again, focuses learners on the lesson topic.
- Setting questions for learners to ponder as you progress through the lesson can help keep this focus – it gives them a structure to focus on while learning – and creates a lesson round-up for you to use at the end of class. Encouraging note-taking to answer specific questions is a good way to develop note-taking skills, which are incredibly valuable for learners as they progress academically.
Working through examples
Repetition, repetition, repetition is the mantra all homeschool parents should learn.
When we repeat a task or a skill, our brains form pathways to help us recall how we completed that task. The more we repeat something, the easier it becomes next time we attempt it. This is why using flashcards is an effective revision method or why sports coaches make students repeat the same skill-focused drills week on week. Our brain is a muscle, therefore, we can train it.
In a skill-based lesson, using three examples per practice skill is an effective way to help learners remember what they’re being taught:
- Example 1: Complete the example together with learners – reviewing what the lesson has covered (scaffolded practice)
- Example 2: Ask learners to complete it themselves – check the answer together (checking comprehension/problem-solving)
- Example 3: “Great, looks like we’ve got this. Let’s just do one more together…”
Clarifiy the purpose of the lesson
It is always useful to remind learners of the purpose of studying. It’s hard to engage a learner who feels the lesson is pointless. Giving students a quick reminder/example of why the information in this lesson will be beneficial to combat this. Practical examples of how we use the maths in day-to-day life, or how the science is used to make everyday objects, or funny or absurd examples of what happens when we don’t use that skill help learners connect the lesson to real-life, making the reason for the study valid.
Ending the lesson with a confidence boost!
If all learning is for a purpose, the goal of a lesson is to have learnt something so tell them/show them what they’ve learnt!
- Use the complicated question from the beginning of the lesson and cheer when they get the answer right!
- Go through the list of questions they were thinking about during the lesson and high-five for every answer given!
- Do a spot-quiz based on what’s been taught and comment on how smart they are!
- Give out stickers for any correct written work/enthusiastic attempts – stickers are the best motivator!
‘Homework’
Setting homework for homeschooled kids might seem a strange thing to do but it’s just another way to use the ‘Repetition, Repetition, Repetition’ rule of learning.
Homework can be more examples of a skill – worksheets etc – it can be an essay using the knowledge taught, or an extension exercise, asking them to take what they’ve learnt and expand upon it.
Homework can be set with a deadline of the next day or included in the following week’s folder work.
P.S. Sometimes lessons flop. Home educating is difficult because not only do you have to navigate the classroom, you also have to navigate the parent-teacher/ child-pupil balance. If a lesson is derailing or causing stress, pause the class. Take a break, regroup and come back to it in 20 minutes or a day later. One paused lesson won’t negatively impact the educational progress of your learner, but a paused lesson can improve your parent-child relationship with homeschoolers who are finding it hard to be taught by their parent/caregiver.