Hey, Mama, It’s Monday!!! And you have to homeschool…
I realize that as much as I love that we get to homeschool our children, homeschool isn’t for everyone. I’ve been at this for seven years and I know that the sudden school closing may be overwhelming for a lot of you. Don’t worry I’ve got your back! I’m offering five quick tips (It won’t be helpful if I overwhelm you too!) to help you while your children are home during this COVID-19 pandemic.
1. Open with Prayer.
Listen, I haven’t found a more effective way than to start our school day out with prayer. We pray about our expectations for our classroom time, any concerns, anything that we may have had trouble with, and the challenges we may face. Doing this helps your children to feel comfortable going to God in prayer for all things and allows you to help them to revisit their prayers, document them, and help them acknowledge them as they are answered.
2. Stay Organized and Create a Schedule.
Keep all your children’s assignments in separate labeled folders or somewhere you know you won’t misplace them. Scheduling is Key! Your children are used to a schedule and while you may not be able to adhere to it 100% trust me when I tell you the easiest thing for you is to have one. The good news is your children are smart and it shouldn’t take them long to adjust so long as you’re consistent. It can be helpful to stick with a schedule similar to the one they’ve already had. Incorporate the same snack times and lunchtimes if possible that they have at school this way there is some familiarity to their day and the day will go smoother. Having a schedule and a designated place for assignments helps your children know what to expect and keeps them responsible for their completed assignments. Also, remember you are home, you’re working, and you have children to look after. If the best time to provide an enriching learning environment is after you’re off the clock do that. You can still create a schedule for after you clock out. The last thing you want to do is to try to teach and work at the same time if it will overwhelm you and cause a stretched, tense, or chaotic classroom experience.
3. Connect.
I know you know someone else who has children home for the next few weeks. Reach out to them set up a group chat for support and see how other families are handling this new territory. From what I understand the work that is sent home from school can be difficult to understand even for parents sometimes so reach out two heads are better than one. So yes reach out, but don’t get together because you know germs. Six feet people, six feet.
4. Be Strategic.
Odds are you know the subjects your child finds most challenging. If not a quick glance at their last progress report or report card should help you find out. In our house, we always do Math first not because my children struggle but because it’s my weakness. So in order to ensure the best learning experience and a fresh perspective we do that first. So not only should you evaluate the report card I mentioned earlier but also consider your strengths and weaknesses. In other words, complete the hard subjects first.
5. Relax and Have Fun.
The thing I love most about homeschool is that we literally can learn anywhere. While I understand that there may be mandatory assignments that must be completed try not to overthink this. Do not try to create a “school-like environment”. It’s ok if you don’t have the chalkboard or whiteboard. Sit next to your child and walk them through the concepts and when you hit a stumbling block, research the answer together. Ask questions and comment on your child’s thoughts as to how to solve the problem or answer the question.
**Bonus**
There are a ton of people offering free resources, access to programs, and access to apps while your children are out of school. Use your favorite search engine to find free resources for children during the COVID-19 pandemic. I will also insert a few here. (This is not sponsored)
- Starting March 16th Cincinnati Zoo will be hosting a Facebook Live event every day at 3 pm featuring an animal and an activity that children can do at home.
- https://othergoose.com/welcome/
- storylineonline.net
- gonoodle.com/for-families/
- https://homeschoolhideout.com/educational-shows-on-netflix/
- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1t3r618pd8MAi6V87dG2D66PtiKoHdHusBpjPKXgm36w/htmlview?fbclid=IwAR1YGXH28bUP3BdElo0RJ2Qv1f4VkGXvLHw4PfGvt-oPTJ2Ndk3Pb9i1_7Q&sle=t
Did this help? I hope so! Let me know in the comments if this helps and if you’d like to see more homeschooling tips on the blog! Until next time…
