Discipline within the family and discipline in school are two different things. Children accept specific rules in a household because that is the way they were brought up. They know what are allowed and what are not allowed. With homeschooling you as the parent will now also be the teacher. The school rules must be determined before you start with schooling.
Parent – Teacher
Many parents who homeschool were never in a teaching career. To establish specific school rules might not be as easy as it sound. Teachers also learn through trail and error. The more experienced they become the more they realize what works in a class and what doesn’t. A parent that is generally slack with discipline will have to put even more effort into establishing specific rules and should make sure they enforce the rules. Parents are more subjective regarding their own children; where teachers see all children as equal and class rules will apply to everyone irrespective of how clever or cute they are.
Basic Rules
The school must start on time. That doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible with your times. During summer you might want to start school early in the morning to have more free time later in the day. In winter you might decide to start later and have longer school days. The important thing is that this must be communicated to child beforehand otherwise you will have constant arguments about this.
Plan beforehand the amount of work that should be finished in a day. This can be tricky as some children might rush through the work to finish early. It might take a bit of time and a few arguments, but the child will soon realize that a certain standard of work is expected and if the standard is not reached it will have to be done again.
Establishing a routine is very important. Break times are necessary but after the break school must start on time again. The child should know beforehand how long the break will be and must be ready to start working again on time.
These are just a few basic ideas and you will, as you progress, find your own rhythm. If something doesn’t work the way you planned it, it is not the end of the world. The important part is that you communicate with your child. It creates security if they know exactly what is expected.
