Teaching Kids at Home Effectively from a non-teacher

When I moved back to my mom-in-law's house to wait out the ECQ, I took the liberty to tutor my nephew and assist him in his 4th quarter lessons for 2019; it was the least I could do for giving us temporary shelter.

I assisted him for the whole month of April and a good chunk of May. After this experience, I've a newfound respect for teachers; it's my first time to tutor a child that long and to say that it was challenging is an understatement; it's frikkin' hard work!

I love my nephew, but I do admit that I had quite a hard time tutoring him because first and foremost, I am not a teacher by profession-I can teach, but I've mostly dealt with adults and children are another story. I am also not his primary figure of authority so in the first few tries, I had to establish that with him so he'll move when I say "study your lesson" and he needed time to accept that. Finally, I had to re-learn some of his lessons. Man, who would've thought grade school math would be challenging LOL. Those were internal challenges that I had to deal with (which I have successfully dealt with, btw), but I would say that the hardest would be the external ones, specifically trying to find out his learning style and how he accepts and retains information. 

After a couple of trial and errors, I was able to tutor and assist him all the way to his final lessons and the most satisfying part was his grades have improved!

So I'm sharing with you some tips and tricks on how to teach kids at home effectively even if you are not a teacher; this will be very handy since there is a huge possibility that homeschooling will be the norm for 2020.

1. OBSERVE HOW THE CHILD STUDIES

- The first thing that any parent will do is dive into the lessons right away and teach their kid the way they think is effective; I am one of those who went for this approach in the beginning of our tutoring and I was only met with disappointment; he wasn't learning the way I expected him to, he didn't seem to retain anything I was teaching, and I couldn't seem to catch his attention.

The very first step that I would suggest parents do at the start of homeschooling/tutoring is to observe first how their child studies by letting them study on their own first; find out what distracts them, what keeps their attention, and ask them which teachers they like and why-find out what makes those teachers effective for your child. 

Plan your approach and incorporate your findings; this way, you don't get frustrated and feel that you are guessing the entire process because you have a plan-this will make your tutoring sessions productive!

2. EXERCISE PATIENCE

- And have A LOT of it. Children are intrinsically very playful and easily distracted by their surroundings, especially at home because to them, it's a place where they relax and play.

Let me tell you now that your patience will be highly tested by your child's playful nature so always try to keep your cool and accept the fact that they're just that-they're kids!

But of course, we need to draw the line somewhere and let the child know that there should be time for study as well; talk to your child and ask them to cooperate; tell them that when it's study time, they should behave as if they're in school. 

One effective trick that I did to initiate authority and make my nephew cooperate as fully as possible during study time is I shift to a lower voice when I begin teaching.

3. USE KID- FRIENDLY WORDS AND EXPLAIN TERMS IN THEIR TERMS WHEN TEACHING

- If I say the word CONSTITUTION, you know what it is, but to a child, it's an alien word. If I want to explain the function of medicine, instead of saying ALLEVIATE SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE, a child would understand how medicine works if I say "it makes you feel well" or "helps lessen or remove pain when you are sick".

When teaching children, it is important to use elementary words or words that they often say and use and explain things the way they would explain it so they will learn and understand the lesson at hand better.

If you are faced with terms and words that may be complex to a child such as RESOURCES, CONSTITUTION, or EVAPORATION, try explaining them in the simplest way possible; story- telling or using the child's own experience to explain are effective means to make them understand alien terms and words as well.

4. USE VISUALS

- Children are generally visual learners; that's one thing I've realized. Be creative when teaching by using art or even their toys to explain lessons. In my nephew's case, he loves drawing and cutting up paper and boxes to create structures so I tried to find ways to incorporate his interests and passions when we are tackling his lessons. You can also look for subject guides on Youtube; these video guides are mostly in animation format and have catchy tunes which will catch the attention of your child easily and help them retain information better.

5. FIND REAL LIFE APPLICATIONS FOR THEIR LESSONS

- I have a friend who's an educator and she told me that in some first world countries, specifically those with education systems that are considered the best in the world, lessons are incorporated in real life applications and situations. One example she mentioned is a lesson on velocity that was taught through a volleyball class; students learned and appreciated the lesson on velocity because they realized it can help them determine the rate of speed they need to have in order to finish a sport at a specific time, which helps make their fitness/sport goals more measurable.

Children learn better if they find meaning in their lessons. I've realized that children below 10 are all about exploring how the world works and how they can navigate their way around it that's why they always love anything that is physical and requires the utilization of the 5 senses.

As in the case of my nephew, since he loves drawing, organizing his toys, and baking, I taught some of his lessons through these activities; it made him look forward to lesson time even more!

6. INCENTIVIZE

- There is nothing wrong with incentivizing children because humans have the natural need for validation. If done in a healthy and controlled way, incentivizing children can help them laser focus on tasks and turn into themselves for encouragement. I would tell my nephew that if we finished on time, he could bike outside the house and play, and that became a huge driver for him to do well and finish his lessons on time; the incentive was ideal for me and his parents too because biking is exercise and we are glad he's into something that is good for his health!

7. DESIGNATE A STUDY GADGET

- In the beginning of our lessons, I would use my nephew's tablet as his primary study tool; the problem was it's his gadget for play so he couldn't resist the urge to browse Youtube and sneak in a bit of gaming, which takes away his full attention from his lessons. When I decided to lend him my laptop during lesson time and instilled in him that it's a studying tool, therefore no gaming and Youtube unless it's related to his lessons, he was able to focus on his lessons better to a point that I could leave him for a few minutes and come back to him still watching his study guides.

Children form relationships with and notions on their personal belongings and their self- control is not yet fully developed; oftentimes, these relationships and notions are very functional that's why it's important to have a gadget for play and a gadget for studying; this will also teach them that there is a time for work and a time for play.

Between a laptop and a tablet, I advise that you invest in a laptop because there are certain programs that a tablet cannot accommodate; these programs are being used heavily in online lessons too and are best accessed on a laptop.

Speaking of laptops, Acer is one of the leading choices for students because it's generally affordable for a first- time laptop user and study- friendly too; also, it's something that can last their academic years if well taken care of!

Acer Philippines is happy to announce that they have finally opened an online store. Just click HERE to go to the official store and start browsing your child's first laptop.

Alongside the e-commerce store launch is the unveiling of their LEARN FROM HOME PROGRAM, which entitles consumers to a P4,000 discount on qualified Acer laptops. This program aims to prepare parents and students for the digitalization of schooling, which may very well be the norm this year and while we are still battling this pandemic.

And that sums up my realizations and first- time tutoring experience with a grade schooler! I hope you learned something new today and I hope my advise gave you an idea on how to approach tutoring if it's your first time. Just always be sensitive to your child's learning process and you will have a productive time!

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