When one says the term discipline, it is often associated with punishments. Yet that’s not what it actually means. Having discipline is important to be productive, to learn and to grow. Part of the duties of a homeschool teacher is to ensure that gentle discipline is always maintained in the homeschool classroom. Here are some steps on how to achieve this.
Have Clear Guidelines for Behavior in the Homeschool Classroom
A set of basic rules for the homeschool students to follow is a good starting point to maintain discipline. A set of simple rules like listening to the homeschool teacher without interrupting, waiting to ask doubts and questions till end of the lesson, raising a hand when wanting to communicate something, asking for permission to use certain resources from the storage shelves, taking care of the books and notebooks being used, and the like should be communicated clearly to them. That way they are aware of the manner in which they are supposed to behave.
Have Clear and Logical Consequences for Misbehavior
Once the children are aware of how they are expected to behave, it is important to reinforce this behavior through consequences of not following the rules. For instance if they keep interrupting during a sibling’s lesson time, you may want to have them write out a multiplication table ten times. Or if they are using their books roughly or tearing up the pages, they need to spend time taping everything back together and making it all look neat again. Come up with consequences for all of your basic behavioral guidelines and let them know about it.
Freedom is Good, Within Limits
We all want the growth and betterment of the homeschool students. They can share their opinion respectfully, but don’t allow them to talk back. They can search the internet for new information, but set up safe filters on the program. Allowing them the freedom to express themselves, freedom to learn more of what interests them, freedom to share how they plan for their future, is all good, as long as the freedom is contained by limits that have their safety in mind.
