ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

I'm sure there are other moms on the board who are suddenly homeschooling after having their kids in public/private schools. Friday was our last day, which was completely unexpected. At this point our schools are closed indefinitely. We are getting some enrichment materials sent in the mail, which I know will be too easy for ds (they were made by the district, same thing for every kid at the grade level). At this point our district is not providing online instruction yet for a variety of reasons. We do have quite a few online resources. I taught first grade for many years, so I feel totally equipped in the actual curriculum part.

What I am looking for, however, are ideas on how you structure your day. Pretty much everything is closed. We aren't going out other than to go for a walk/play outside, so we can't do any field trips. That leaves a lot of time inside. Also no play dates, so it's just the two of us all day. Ds really likes reading and will do that on his own with no problems. He also likes math and will work on that too. I'm mostly struggling with the amount of screen time. There are a lot of good things on the internet- he has Epic with school (online books), Lexia (an English literacy program), and I'm going to look into Khan Academy tonight for some more math work. I don't want him doing everything online though, partly because of the amount of screen time and partly because writing is something he generally avoids/can be harder for him, so I want him keeping up those muscles. But at the same time, he'll get pretty into some of the activities and will work on it for a long time (so he's learning/working, but on the screen).

We've been doing a list of work that he needs to do, but he can sometimes get through it pretty fast. I totally understand that we don't need to spend all day on school work, but he also needs some structure, especially since we can't go outside. He does play on his own some, and of course I just leave him to do that when he's into something. I'm also piecing things together since we were really thrown into this. I'm super fortunate that I have some appropriate math books and reading materials here, which I know a lot of families don't have. But it's not like we have a curriculum we've been using all year that I can just have him continue with.

So... how do you organize the work your kids are supposed to do? And how do you balance work on paper vs work on screens? He also likes to have some time to play some game on my phone, which is not educational. I'd been letting him have some time to do that after lunch, which I don't totally mind because it's a nice break for both of us, but it is also more screen time. The reality is setting in that we could be in this for the long haul, and I need to get a good routine and structure for us now as we're beginning that we can sustain possibly through the beginning of June. I'd also love to hear from some other moms who are in a similar last minute, scrambling home school situation. (I also recognize I'm super fortunate that I can be home with him and don't need to also do my own job while homeschooling ds!!)

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

Have you considered doing virtual playdates with classmates? That is working really well for my DD in particular - she does a different school subject with a different friend, and for my younger two they do silly play time with their friends using Zoom on the tablet.

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

I have seen people posting about that. He's only 6, and I could see him just getting all wild. When we try to call my dh's family and do video calls, he just get super wound up. I'm not really sure he'd know what to DO with his friends. I've seen older kids playing games, but that seems hard for a 6 year old.

He surprisingly really hasn't talked about missing his friends. I think he's kind of enjoying this. He's talked a lot about wanting to do "school at home" and that the work at school is too easy, so I think he's enjoying having more freedom and challenging work. We're only on day 3 though...

I also forgot to say in my first post that I've seen a lot of schedules of doing x at this time and y at this time, but that doesn't really work for us. I prefer the list of things to get done and he can do them in the order he wants.

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ef9a262cda.jpg


One of my friends posted this on Instagram and it makes sense to me. “Activity” could be schoolwork. I know it wouldn’t work exactly for your son because he isn’t napping.
We are able to play outside in abandoned park area in our neighborhood today.

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

We homeschool. Our days have looked a little different over the years, I can give you a rough rhythm to tweak for your circumstances.

After breakfast (they help with clean up) we do Morning Time together. For us, that's a short devotion, usually some memory work, and read-alouds. (Almost always a novel, usually History as well, sometimes Science.) I try to make it as comfortable and homey as I can. We sprawl on the sofa, they can do anything they want as long as it doesn't disrupt the others. My oldest likes to draw, Secundus tinkers, and the other two color or just snuggle. I've gone through periods of lighting a candle to signal that we're doing school.

Then the Basics: Math, Spelling, Writing, Grammar, depending on their ages and needs.

Lunch

All other subjects that take longer. I've usually alternated between Math and Science in the afternoons so that we can have big blocks of time. My two younger ones are making lapbooks for Story of the World (so lots of cutting and gluing and mess-making), we've done timelines, science experiments, geography projects, worked on research or writing projects, done independent reading.

Some years I've taken a very long lunch break and the kids play for a couple of hours on their own, then we get together for Tea Time at 3:30. Tuesdays we read poetry at Tea Time and maybe another chapter of our read-aloud or play games.

I don't allow any screens until the Basics are done. At various times my kids have done Khan Academy and various online classes and research, but not until the Basics are done. (Otherwise they would be SO amped up or distracted that nothing would get done!) They can watch a little TV or videochat in the afternoons.

HTH

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

I like the printable curriculum from the Good and the Beautiful. There is a whole free science unit (Marine biology) and levels 1-5 free language arts plus other stuff you can buy. Tons of stuff you can buy and 15% off everything, physical or digital, ends tonight. They don’t usually have sales.

I have better luck not doing schedules based on time but more like after x we do y.

I never have 2 great days in a row.

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

Yup.

Thanks for saying that!

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

Expect things to NOT go smoothly. Just roll with it. Sometimes I pretend I'm the hired help so I can keep my cool. Truly.

If you can get outside, do.

At the start, focus more on the routine and moving from one thing to the next rather than what is actually being done during that time. So, if he's supposed to make his bed and pick up his room after breakfast, set at timer and focus on engaging in that activity, rather than doing that activity to completion or even doing it well.

Have set times for snacks and/or set areas for eating. Don't start a free for all with snacking.

If you want a set curriculum where it's all online and planned out for you. Monarch has a 30 day free trial. They will populate the calendar for you, grade most of the things, etc. The regular lessons are a little dry but the projects are pretty fun. If you decide to continue it I think it's $25 a month for all 5 subjects (Bible, Math, Soc St, Lang Arts, Science).
https://www.aop.com/freetrial/enterpromocode

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

You have two advantages here - his age and the fact that you are not officially homeschooling and need to conform to any accountability system. This means you don't need to worry about checking every box and can explore.

I would follow his lead. Maybe watch some of the virtual field trips online. If anything interests him there, read more about the focus. At this age, I did more 'write down what they did' as opposed to 'plan what we will do'.

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

Does your library use the Hoopla app? They have a lot of kids audio books. There are other options out there too, especially with all of the freebies offered right now. I would consider including an audio book time at some point during the day, where he does something hands on while listening. That could be lego, playdough or whatever.

Also, check out Bravewriter (Julie Bogart) website/social media - there are some extra things offered there right now. She is lovely and so encouraging.

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

:yes:yes

Set up your routine, however you want that to look, and you'll have a structure to fall back on. For a 6 year old, alternating structured time with free play time helps a lot. And don't forget to leave time for YOU. You've got work to do and you need a little alone time. (It's perfectly ok to get to the end of the day and tell your kidlet that you can't help with the math she's been avoiding all day because you have to make dinner.)

The snacking can get incessant. We needed to have relatively set meal times - I have two that won't eat and would melt down and two that would not stop eating all day. I have a "Food stays in the Kitchen" rule and a "Food and Projects Don't Mix" rule (cream cheese in the paints? YUCK Butter and crumbs in my books? DOUBLE YUCK.)

I make my kids do art work in a designated spot - the kitchen table or the plastic kid table - to keep messes contained as much as possible.

Also, this is a great age to do open-ended projects or activities tied to the books you're reading. Knowing a fun project is coming after the chores are done can increase cooperation. :shifty This is a great time to start seeds, for instance.

When I read Little House on the Prairie to my older kids, they wanted to make Maple candy. They taught the younger ones to make it and now we can't get through the winter without making it at least once. (We crush ice in the blender and use that in place of snow.) You can google just about any kids book and find a project someone has done.

Many libraries have fantastic digital offerings, too. Mine just upped our check out limits for digital items and added a couple of services that I'm excited to try. (Britannica and Gale for research.)

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

There are so many book units for free. There's an entire curriculum built around the Little House books. It has everything but math. It's called Prairie Primer. It's out of print but I've seen it on eBay. That's just an example. If you choose any popular children's book, your can find comprehensive units full of activities.

Routine is what keeps me going, though. And I'm not very good at routine, actually. So it's mostly keeping me doing what I need to do.

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

I know you weren’t specifically looking for resources but I saw this and there are a ton of great resources here.


https://docs.google.com/document/u/0...DY/mobilebasic


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

Homeschool Share has tons of free lapbook and unit study pages, plus templates you can use for your own projects.

Re: ideas for those of us thrown into homeschooling?
 

Totally forgot your son is younger than I remembered. Monarch starts at 3rd grade.

Our day, usually, for my younger kids

Breakfast.
Make bed, pick up bedroom floor.
Monarch lessons.
Math lessons.
Free time
Lunch.
Mandatory outside time.
Chores.
Handwriting or drawing.
Free time.
General pickup.
Dinner.

---------- Post added at 01:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:35 PM ----------

Also, we watch a lot of documentaries. TV is only allowed during the day if it's fascinating/educational.

We follow several YouTubers.