A friend sent me this article and I found it so helpful. For those of you now "homeschooling" because of Covid19, I want you to know this is not what we usually do every day. What we all--homeschoolers included--find ourselves in now is "crisis schooling." My children miss their friends and ballet classes and baseball games just as much as yours do. Now, I'm an introvert, and those of my children who are extroverts have enough siblings to provide built-in playmates. But still, being at home all the time is challenging. Thankfully, we've had mostly-nice weather and we have been able to be outside a lot. That helps. We've had piano lessons via Facetime and dance class via Zoom. But let's all admit that this is hard and that's okay.
All that said, you likely find yourself now home with your kids ALL DAY. Maybe you're trying to juggle working from home, too. My hat's off to you. Your kids probably have instructional packets or computer-based learning from their school. But that likely won't take all day, and you may find some gaps you want to fill in.
If you are looking for some things to add to your school day, I'd start with the beauty that we rarely have time to include if we aren't purposeful.
After breakfast, have a morning devotional time with your children. Read from the Bible or a children's story Bible, pray together, work on a memory verse or passage, learn a hymn, memorize a catechism question, etc.
Then sit down with your morning basket and soak up some beauty together. If you have a toddler or preschooler, check out The Homegrown Preschooler for tons of learning ideas and activities.
Suggestions for your morning basket (check out Pam Barnhill's blog for lots more)
Read from a poetry book
Do a Mad Lib and laugh together
Maybe memorize a poem over a couple of weeks
Play a game
Study an artist or composer
Read a great book out loud together
Unit Studies
Pick a topic (or let your child choose) your children are interested in and explore it together over a week or two! Google your topic (Mars, Laura Ingalls Wilder, salamanders, pyramids, etc) + unit study and you'll get tons of ideas.
Read, read, read!
Read out loud to your kids, even your kids who can read by themselves.
Teach your pre-readers letter sounds, help your early readers with their independent reading, make sure your readers have time to read to themselves each day.
If you need ideas for what to read, check out the book Honey for a Child's Heart or the website or podcast Read Aloud Revival.
Grammar, Handwriting, Spelling
If your kids need more in this area than they are getting from their assigned schoolwork, use a combination of copywork, dictation, and narration. In your best penmanship, right out your Scripture memory verse or a passage from Charlotte's Web or another great children's book and have your child copy it. For first grade and up, dictate sentences for your children to write. Help them when necessary. At first, they will need a lot of help! After you've read something to your child, have them narrate it back to you. Write it down for them. Older children can copy what you've written for them into their own handwriting. While we're home, teach your kids the art of letter-writing! Everyone loves to get mail. :)
Math
Play games, read some Life of Fred, try Khan Academy online.
History
We love the Story of the World series by Susan Wise Bauer. The audio books are also excellent. Great overview of history, told in an interesting way. This is a great resource to add to what your kids are already doing with their assigned schoolwork.
Science
Do some science experiments and talk about them. Older kids can type up a short report.
The two vital things:
Do not underestimate the value and importance of two things: quiet time and play time!
As my kids outgrew nap time, it was replaced with quiet time. Since my kiddos are home with me all day, I need a break from them. I love them dearly. But they are loud. And they always need me. Every afternoon from 2-4pm, my kids go to their room or the playroom and play quietly, read, or listen to audio books. They are not allowed to bother Mama unless they are bleeding. If they come looking for me, I tell them Mama is off-duty.
Play a lot, inside and outside! Children need free play! They need to use their imaginations and exercise their bodies. Check out these resources on the importance of play. Yes, they will fight and get bored. Try to stay out of it as much as possible. Once they get over the fussing and boredom, they will get creative.
Your kids are probably getting plenty of screen time. Limit it as much as you can. Screen-based learning does not engage the brain in the same way as other learning mediums. That said, sometimes screens are helpful...or at least a necessary evil in our society. Here are a few screen-based resources we use:
Khan Academy
Check out your library's online resources--our library offers Duolingo for foreign language learning
There are also free coding and typing courses online, try Hour of Code or Scratch
Try some YouTube art lessons, like Art for Kids or Wild, Free, and Crafty
Have fun together, but don't feel like it is your job to entertain your kids all day. Watch classic movies from your childhood (my kids just watched The Princess Bride and now they are quoting it), look through your scrapbooks, show your kiddos old home videos. Teach some life skills, like laundry, cleaning, and sewing. Set out random art supplies and see what your kids come up with. Let them choose recipes to make and try some cooking and baking together.
You can do this!
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