Avoid These Mistakes When Homeschooling

If you’re looking for a flexible and convenient way to earn high school credits online, then homeschooling at James Madison High School is a great option. Homeschooling online with JMHS allows you to learn at your own pace—which is a luxury traditional high schools does not offer. But there are still some common bad habits that you can fall into which will make things difficult on yourself.

To give yourself the best chance of success, here are three common mistakes JMHS students make and how you can avoid them.

1. Forming a Schedule That Doesn’t Work for You

In our previous blog on how to make sure you don’t lose focus over the summer, we talked creating a schedule and sticking to it. Keeping that in mind, a common mistake is creating a schedule that is either too heavy, or too light. And this involves everything else you have going on in your life—not just your studies.

If you schedule things like work, going to the gym, your social life, family obligations and your online studies all in one day, you might overwhelm yourself. But you want to avoid burning yourself out! Create a schedule that allows for flex time and isn’t too crammed. This will help you stay fresh and engaged.

On the flipside, you can also burn yourself out from having too little else going on in your life. While doing nothing but study seems great in theory, you still need to take some time out for the rest of your life to avoid stress. Your studies can and should be your top priority, but don’t make them the only thing you have.

2. Not Having a Designated Study Space

The flexibility of online high school programs allows you to study from the comfort of your own home, but don’t let this convenience be a disadvantage. Even when you’re studying at your own home, you should still set aside some space that will be your designated “study area.” This will train your brain to go into work mode when you enter the area.

Find your Zen space where you can avoid distractions and focus. This will help you be more productive. When you take breaks, you’ll also be able to clear your head better when you leave your “work” space. You can then return more refreshed. It might sound corny, but it works!

3. Skipping Breaks

You might get caught up in the “get done as fast as possible” trap that many online summer school students find themselves in. You’ll start to skip your breaks so you can get more done, faster. All this does is set you up to make more mistakes, as you’ll lose your peak

Many online high school students often tend to skip breaks in an attempt to get things done faster. This practice leaves you exhausted, and decreases your concentration abilities. So take all due breaks to relax yourself a bit.