Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Smith:
Have you ever wondered how to do academics and projects with an only child? Well, the answer might be just—do them with the child! One of the benefits of homeschooling is that the teaching parent learns as he or she teaches the child. So don’t just limit yourself to explaining a text book.

One homeschooling mom we know helped her elementary-age daughter learn to love writing by joining her in creating stories. The mother and daughter would each take a seed catalog and use the descriptions of flower or tree varieties to create personalities for their flower characters. They each would write a story about the flowers in the garden, and then they would swap and read each other’s stories. Now that this mom has graduated her daughter from homeschool, she adopts young children in their family’s church to trade stories with them!

Science projects might be twice as fun if Dad actually does them along with the child. And you just might discover that you like art projects as much as your student does! Homeschooling is the perfect way to make learning a whole-family venture, and homeschooling an only child is no different. In fact, it might be easier!

Of course, not all your homeschooling has to happen in your house. In our next program, we’ll explore ways that cooperative learning can enrich your experience as a single-child homeschooling family.

And until then, I’m Mike Smith.