Primrose Kitten
“Every child has a different learning style and pace. Each child is unique, not only capable of learning but also capable of succeeding.” By incorporating different styles into your homeschool classes, you too can discover what way your kids learn best and then start applying it.
This ability is a golden opportunity. When attending a typical public school, class sizes are frequently too large for the teacher to apply this kind of differentiation to the students. When you only have a small number in your home, it’s easy to try different things. Here are some ideas:
1. The “Authority” Model (Traditional Lecture)
In this model, the teacher is regarded as an authority to be heard and noted. This style is typically good for older secondary school students perhaps getting ready for A-Levels, since it also emulates university learning quite well, so it’s a kind of double preparation. Both GCSEs and A-Levels have considerable detail to cover, and the lecture method allows the teacher to cover a great deal of information in a short time while students simultaneously practice note-taking and active listening skills during class.
2. The “Breakout” Setup
This is a more flexible way to set up your learning space, where you have any desks or other equipment less concentrated in the centre of the room. This allows you to easily clear space when you need it for other activities. For parents working with younger students who might need more activity-based homeschool work, this is a good model. To quickly modify the room for subjects like art and music helps the school day go by more smoothly.
3. The “Demonstrator.”
This kind of teaching takes the “authority” style but adds more of a visual element. Instead of a straight lecture with notes, the teacher includes some kind of visual reinforcement, like a slideshow or other visual aids such as diagrams, charts, colourful handouts and more. The idea is to make the class more engaging, and the visual material helps to guide the discussion and help students break up the many notes and ideas into individual parts.
4. The “Facilitator.”
Champions of the Socratic method will love being the “facilitator” in the homeschool classroom. This style uses goals of self-actualisation through asking and answering questions. For those looking to boost their child’s critical thinking and reasoning skills, turning yourself into the facilitator is a great way to achieve it. Try setting off discussions with single questions or visual prompts. You could, for instance, show a picture of a seemingly mundane situation but then ask students to explain its background more deeply.
5. The “Delegator.”
The “delegator” teacher will set students off in group- or inquiry-based work to seek their own answers and reach the stated goals in their own ways. In this scenario, you as the teacher are an observer, watching over the activity and noting where students show strength and the need for improvement. This style works well when put together with the “facilitator” style. It’s also good if you have more than one child studying together in your homeschool.
6. The “Hybrid.”
The final style is perhaps the most desirable of them all but probably the most challenging. The “hybrid” teacher is one who can find ways to combined multiple styles into a single, seamless whole in which students can gain a multitude of benefits without feeling too chaotic or conflicted. The best way to start is to find styles that have something in common or that seem to naturally flow into one another. The “facilitator” and “delegator,” for example, are a natural pair, as are the “authority” and “demonstrator” models.
Further advice for parents
When it comes to adopting different styles, the methods you choose should be driven by your ultimate goals. If you want to cover a lot of knowledge and facts in one session, then the “authority” or “demonstrator” styles are ideal. If you need to shift from one activity to another in a quicker time, then the “breakout” and “hybrid” styles are more suitable.
Remember that students learn in different ways, and so if your child doesn’t seem to “get along” with one style, it might not be their problem. Try them out and see which ways work, and you’ll have a happier and more productive homeschool.
