By Cynthia Simunovich, Director, Branson Academy
www.bransonacademy.com
Are you suddenly homeschooling? Wondering how to set up your “school?” Or how to teach multiple grade levels and which curriculum to use?
A homeschool coach can help!
A mentor and coach will listen to your vision and help you implement and accomplish your goals. She knows the methods and value of homeschooling and can help you navigate curriculum choices and avoid costly mistakes. She will help you get started, assist in planning, and equip you with the skills, strategies, and tools to organize your homeschool in a way that works for you.
You may want help with high school graduation requirements, finding resources for a student with special needs, or integrating studies across grade levels. Those are areas where a coach can take the information overload and offer personalized practical solutions for your homeschool based on experience and research.
If you are in the middle of homeschool chaos and need help, a homeschool coach can help you re-center and create pockets of control while regaining the meaning and purpose of your educational goals.
One way I have helped parents as a homeschool coach is in getting excited about shaping and customizing a learning environment! Current research demonstrates that parents who take time to understand their child’s learning preferences and adapt material to meet the needs of the student have higher academic outcomes. (NHERI-Medlin study, 2018.)
Thinking about blending your child’s interests, talents, learning preferences, graduation requirements and family dynamics to create an engaging learning environment can be overwhelming! You don’t have to do it alone! I have helped parents design paths to early graduation and standard four-year high school plans; worked with students who are significantly behind in studies due to depression and anxiety, helping them catch up and receive credit in areas they didn’t realize could count; and coached parents with children who have ADD brains, or are diagnosed with ASD.
In the last two years of distance learning and school closures, a new subset of parents has emerged. The suddenly homeschooling! While the process seems daunting for these parents, when coaching parents through getting started and setting up their homeschool, I often hear comments like “This is so amazing! I feel so much more on top of things!” “I felt so awkward and unsure, and worried if I was doing it right! I feel like I can do this now.” “My kids have loved their homeschool this year!”
A great coach will help you create a learning environment that reflects your family!
Our family illustrates a blend of unique, diverse learners. We have several ADD brains in the family, plus concrete-sequential and abstract learners, and spontaneous and organized dispositions. We have athletic-people, mechanical-and-theatrical talents. We have a social-global learner, an auditory-kinesthetic learner, and others with multi-sensory overlap. We have entrepreneurial dispositions and cautious personalities. In the early ‘90s, of course, we didn’t know all those labels and definitions! In fact, we discovered quite by accident our children’s learning styles and preferences, special strengths and modalities, and how each benefited from specific tools and strategies. What worked for one, didn’t always work for another. Have you discovered that, too?
You do not need to wait to learn more like we did! In addition to free online assessments available with an internet search, Hodson and Willis’ Power Traits for Life Assessment is a comprehensive self-portrait based on the best brain research. With an assessment in hand, you can move on to creating a learning environment to foster the strengths and aptitudes of your child. And a homeschool coach will help you realize your vision.
Jump rope memorization, letter writing in the sand, building obstacle courses, measuring flooring or garden boxes, and musical instrument practice tips are examples of suggestions I have offered to homeschool parents. Along with specific sensory devices, manipulatives, or teaching tips that may work for their students. During brain-storming sessions I love hearing comments like:
“Do you mean her horseback riding lessons and the time she spends at the barn learning about running the ranch counts for an elective and volunteer work!” Yes!
“Wait! We can integrate studies?” Absolutely! Use history topics for writing prompts, or with complementary art studies and projects. Combine an inter-cultural communication study with a culinary course. Inter-disciplinary studies are a platform for greater understanding and meaning between the individual disciplines.
Other homeschool coaching tips I have shared for adapting a learning environment to the student are:
A comfy bean bag or nook for students who prefer quiet spaces.
Sitting next to a parent or sibling to help students with ADD /ADHD stay on track.
Sitting on a large bouncy ball while writing. Providing a footrest for stability, and incorporating brain exercise breaks during studies are also effective strategies.
Have snacks close by for your absent-minded Conceptual Specific Learner, or she might forget to eat! Encourage using alarms or time-trackers so she remembers appointments or outside classes, and provide storage for projects and supplies.
Conversely, the Actual Routine Learner prefers books neatly lined up on a shelf, pencil cases and laptop closed and waiting. This child’s brain needs the sequential, linear signal of beginning and ending studies. She benefits from a structured learning environment and doesn’t like her routine interrupted!
My areas of expertise are in organization, teaching multiple grade levels, integrating studies, and working with ADD/ADHD brains!
I’m the mom of six grown, homeschooled children, a former music educator and choir director, and owner and director of Branson Academy, a private school satellite program serving homeschooling families in California. I’d love to help you develop the tools for your homeschool journey! Through Zoom or FaceTime (phone calls if you are camera-shy), you can benefit from decades of experience and insight. Learn how to provide a home-based education to meet the unique and delightfully wonderful personal needs of your child! Let’s hone in on your values and goals for your homeschool, boost your confidence, and help you realize your vision!
If that sounds like what you’ve been searching for, schedule a free parent consultation, Monday – Thursday, 9:30 – 4:00 PST. I’d love to visit! Email Cynthia: [email protected]; Phone: 831.726.3235
