Preparing a Workbook Page for Your Child

As my children have grown older, one of my big goals in homeschooling is for them to become independent learners. More specifically:

• I want them to be able to complete at least some of their schoolwork on their own.
• I want them to be able to find the information they need to complete their schoolwork.
• I want them to realize that learning is a lifelong process and that "school" is never really done.

One of the ways that I work toward these large goals is to prepare workbook pages for my children so the workbook page can be completed independently. I have been prepping workbook pages ever since I attended a seminar at a homeschool conference last year by "Heads Up Now." Prepping workbook pages was just one of the great ideas in that seminar.

What do I mean by "prepare"? Before putting a workbook page in one of my boys' workboxes, I first:

• Highlight the instructions for each section with a highlighter.


• Fill in the answer for the first question in each section.


• Include any additional reference materials that will help them to complete the page in the workbox that are not readily available for them elsewhere. (For example, I wouldn't include a dictionary but I would include a list of common contractions and their spellings if the workbook page was about contractions. My children know where the dictionary is but they might not remember the contractions list in the back of their English book.)

Taking a few extra minutes to "prep" workbook pages for my children the night before really helps to cut down on the questions that I am asked during our homeschool day. Of course, I am always available if one of my children has a question, but I also like to encourage independence!