There are some traits that we as homeschool teachers need to recognize and hone in our homeschool students. They can be developed as like skills which the children can fall back on as they grow up and make their way in the world. Sometimes the children will have to be introduced to them as they are not always innate. Here are some important ones.
Confidence
To trust their own abilities to solve whatever issues they face, is what confidence is all about. Self confidence grows in homeschool students with hands on learning. Get them to do assignments which require them to think and come up with solutions in a real world environment. That will help them gain more confidence in their abilities, plus give them much needed life experience.
Creativity
Most children work outside the framework of established traditional norms. This allows them greater freedom to think out of the box and come up with creative solutions to issues that they may face. As a homeschool teacher, you must balance the need of showing them how society works and it’s expectations with how the homeschool students can get creative about solving their own issues.
Decision Making
The ability to look at all sides of an issue before making an informed decision is not one that comes naturally to everyone. Most homeschool students would do better if they were prevented from making impromptu decisions. Help them understand that there’s always more than one way to solve a problem, and that the first one that they think up of, may not always be the best way to go. Teach them about pros and cons and balancing them to get to the ideal decision.
Flexible Thinking
Life changes regularly. The ability to thrive in life is closely related with our children’s ability to stay flexible in their mindset. Failure and mistakes are a natural part of growing up. Have your homeschool students develop a solution focused thinking, which maintains flexibility so as to factor in new variables as they arise. Being rigid in attitude and thoughts is not a good way to go through life.
