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Nikki-you sound like a marvelous Mom! My only child is 27 (but I am still teaching her, I think!)-but this sound like a wonderful resource for the younger folks out there. Right now our schools are only shut down for 2 weeks, then to be re-evaluated. Parents here are totally freaking out about that time length, and 5 days of that was already Spring break~Best of Luck on this, I am sure your daughter will have great memories of this time, instead of the thinking of the "horrible" that is gripping the world right now, she will remember Mom being her teacher :)
Former homeschooling mother here:I homeschooled my Aspie from when she was 8-15 (but she liked to do most of it on her own) and my other two from K-7 (my son half time in grade 8).
Yes to routine! But each family's routine can be different. My kids didn't work well if they were all in the same room because usually at least one of them was humming and my eldest has Asperger's, so I later modified my set up. If your public school has given you books or online resources and assignments, then you'll need to use those.
1. One of the spouses of a public grade school teacher who was on my former homeschool forum, and this was agreed on by at least one other homeschooling public school teacher, said that in a grade school math class you have to explain something, explain it a second time for the kids who didn't get it the first time around, then explain it a different way for the kids that won't get it the first way, etc, etc. The long and the short of it is that for most kids, if you know how they learn you can cover the teaching part much faster.
2. For grade 1, I found that all the basic subjects could be taught and done in an hour, even with the one who struggled with reading. Then you can have other learning activities. Since activities are cancelled, you probably can't do our phys ed which included things like swim lessons or swim team, dance lessons, etc, but a good round of outdoor play can cover that. Science at that age was more fun and interest based (but parent led) as was history.
For older grades, science, social studies, etc, got more and more structured.
I taught my son while my other kids were already working on things--he needed the most one on one time because he was the youngest, eetc. I allowed my right-brained artistic daughter to sit in any position she liked, even on the floor, as long as she was getting her work done.
3. Time spent varies with grade, but this can be similar all the way up unless
a. your child struggles in a subject
b. your child is busy testing their boundaries because you are their parent
Khan Academy is one of the resources some homeschooling mothers I knew used and loved--it has a good track record--BUT fear not if it doesn't work well for your kids since it didn't match our needs. There are many options. I am not sure exactly what is in print, but have suggestions for older kids for anyone who PMs me--my kids all managed the transition to public high school math. I really emphasized math (well, all of the three r's, but I hated teaching writing past about grade 3 and so they all went to group classes and then a tutor at some point).
I suggest The Well Trained Mind forums for suggestions if these don't work--this is how I first started any sort of adult reading group.
As for my kids, one majored in math in college, one is a Sculpture major and the youngest a music performance major. My crazy system worked but when they all opted for public high school, I said yes and by the time the youngest went there, I hardly missed it (just a bit, but my eldest had worn me out!)
I don't want to write a tome, but anyone with specific questions can PM me--if we're not already friends, just put from pbt in response to my how do I know you question and you can even ask it there so I can answer when I accept your friend request.
If you didn’t know it already, I am already a self appointed SAT/ACT tutor, who also specializes in history, English, reading comp, grammar, language, and a whole just of other opportunities. Yes, I am on steroids for these kids. Maybe upside of social distancing is spending precious time with our doggie, while improving test scores. I’m a badass mom!
Amy wrote: "If you didn’t know it already, I am already a self appointed SAT/ACT tutor, who also specializes in history, English, reading comp, grammar, language, and a whole just of other opportunities. Yes, ..."💖
Yes you are
Amy wrote: "If you didn’t know it already, I am already a self appointed SAT/ACT tutor, who also specializes in history, English, reading comp, grammar, language, and a whole just of other opportunities. Yes, ..."Yes you are!!!!! Those are a lot of subjects.
Virtual field trips:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S...
I also have another one, I'll have to search for!
My husband tells me that Khan Academy is good for more than test prep but for all levels and topics.
Amy wrote: "My husband tells me that Khan Academy is good for more than test prep but for all levels and topics."People have mixed opinions on Khan Academy, but this is temporary and it has many pluses.
To reduce screen time, don't forget
mental games--remember "I spy with my little eye"?
Also story telling games, and there are MANY variations of this.
You can make up number games, etc
I have to go out now, but if I think of anything I will try to remember to come back and post it.
Also ART and CRAFT supplies--KISS (Keep it Simple, Sweeties)--give them paper and pencils or crayons, etc rather than always colouring books and kits.
One of the reasons all three of my kids are creative in their areas is because I made sure they had time to be bored and to have to entertain themselves--they all had to spend some time alone (not ALONE, but playing by themselves from babyhood and obviously once I had more than one that became smaller and smaller). Young children have very flexible brains and can come up with many toys and games even where they don't have them. Heck, even my kids who had toys and dolls would turn sticks into toys outside (for people, making things) and this was COMMON when I was a kid (playing the world's smallest violin when it comes to "when I was a kid" because of course it wasn't perfect or all happy or good, just different).
Insect Lore sent me an email with a buy one/get one offer on caterpillars. I took advantage and sent some to my grandnephews.https://www.insectlore.com/
I had caterpillars in my classroom every spring, no matter what grade I was teaching. I never get tired of the miracle.
Jgrace wrote: "Insect Lore sent me an email with a buy one/get one offer on caterpillars. I took advantage and sent some to my grandnephews.https://www.insectlore.com/
I had caterpillars in my classroom every ..."
That's a great idea. My kids loved it the summer my husband brought home some milkweed with a monarch caterpillar on it. As he brought home fresh leaves for it, we ended up with more and released several butterflies over the course of the summer. I still have the terrarium in the basement (not sure why after all these years but it's hidden with my husband's work stuff so I forget about it).
Karin wrote: "Young children have very flexible brains and can come up with many toys and games even where they don't have them. ..."When my niece was little her ability to entertain herself frustrated her parents. They'd give her a time out and have her sit in the chair facing the corner ... only to discover her making shadow puppets with her hands and reciting stories to herself!
Our "Nextdoor" website put out a notice that they'll be encouraging the kids to go on a "shamrock scavenger hunt" tomorrow. Neighbors are making shamrocks to put in their windows and the kids can count them as they walk the neighborhood.
Book Concierge wrote: "Karin wrote: "Young children have very flexible brains and can come up with many toys and games even where they don't have them. ..."When my niece was little her ability to entertain herself frus..."
Well, yes, that can be a challenge; I'd have changed my time out methods :)! Time outs weren't particularly effective in my house, either.
Sorry for starting this thread and then disappearing, all my 'free time' has been eaten by homeschooling and my attempts to do something alongside them are failing, largely due to a 7-yr-old who needs constant encouragement to stick with it... I have been reading your comments with great interest though and it's lovely to hear all your suggestions.@Joanne, thank you very much for your kind words!
@Karin, Booknblues, Jgrace - thanks for all the suggestions.
& my daughter wholeheartedly agrees with Karin's point 1, she's already tried unsuccessfully to use this argument to talk me down from 3hrs to 1 each morning (according to her, 10 mins of each 1/2 hr class is actually useful, and the rest is the teacher trying to get everyone's attention / repeating the material for the people who weren't listening or didn't get it the first time...) Unfortunately for her (in the moment, at least) I'm seeing this as an opportunity to cover extra stuff to get her ready for the UK curriculum, not an excuse to slack off ;-)
Our new favourite website is https://www.brainpop.com/ - it's a paid subscription site but her teacher has signed us all up for a month's trial :-)
Nikki wrote: "Sorry for starting this thread and then disappearing, all my 'free time' has been eaten by homeschooling and my attempts to do something alongside them are failing, largely due to a 7-yr-old who ne..."Your daughter is correct. There's a huge difference between 1:1 and 1:28 ratios when teaching. I dealt with 5-7 year olds for 30 years. Occasionally I had a child who was homeschooled for health reasons and I became their traveling teacher. (extra hours, extra pay) Ten hours a week would be required and they were hard to fill. I could meet the same lesson objectives in a quarter of the time I would need in the classroom.
On the other hand, it's just as difficult to keep one 7 year old engaged as it is to occupy a classroom. Their attention span is limited. You have to shift the focus and the kind of activity every 10 to 15 minutes. You do have a great opportunity to build academic skills. With only one child you can assess easily and move ahead quickly. The only drawback that I've seen from kids transitioning from homeschool to public school (sometimes) is less ability to work independently. Reading aloud is great, but reading fluency is built silently and alone. I started my first graders with 5 minutes of independent silent reading and built up to 15 to 20 by years end.
Jgrace wrote: "On the other hand, it's just as difficult to keep one 7 year old engaged as it is to occupy a classroom"Yes! I have a 9 year old and a 7 year old and although I'd like to be spending time with the 9 year old working through more complicated concepts, half the time I'm just having to set her up with a khan academy video or similar so that I can coax the 7 year old through every step of his worksheet ;-)
(Amusing that you mentioned starting 1st graders on 5mins independent reading - I have introduced this requirement for mine this week and he is horrified, although I am persisting because I can see that the issue is confidence not ability...)
Nikki wrote: "Jgrace wrote: "On the other hand, it's just as difficult to keep one 7 year old engaged as it is to occupy a classroom"Yes! I have a 9 year old and a 7 year old and although I'd like to be spendi..."
I should have mentioned that I didn't ask them to read silently while I did something else with another group. Everyone read, everyone was silent. Not an easy thing because early readers feel a need to 'sound out' and say each word aloud. It gets easier with practice.
Another thing is kids need to move and when they move it resets their brains and helps them to focus and refocus. If your daughter is getting super antsy it may be time for both of you to take a brain break before getting back to work.Here is a youtube search and I'm sure you will find some fun ones that you will want to do again and again:
https://www.youtube.com/results?searc...
Booknblues wrote: "Another thing is kids need to move and when they move it resets their brains and helps them to focus and refocus. If your daughter is getting super antsy it may be time for both of you to take a br..."That's great! I'm copying that link to my niece who also has a 7 year old ( and a 9 year old) at home. Thanks, Fran.
(Am I to assume that you've been finally been pushed to full retirement?)
Jgrace wrote: "(Am I to assume that you've been finally been pushed to full retirement?) ."I'm planning on getting through this year,(my hire date was Dec 3 and my birthday is at the end of November- so works for both soc sec and retirement) but I have to take time off as the governor dictates as I am past 65. Our school is temporarily closed and even though I am supposed to go in and work, I am taking sick days or vacation days because I have an inordinate supply of them.
Who knows when we will get the all clear but I am not working in a germ factory until the self isolation is lifted. I think it was a signal for me, but bad for everyone else.
Nikki wrote: "Sorry for starting this thread and then disappearing, all my 'free time' has been eaten by homeschooling and my attempts to do something alongside them are failing, largely due to a 7-yr-old who ne..."You can also use reading books aloud to your kids for this! Just choose a book that's long enough and works :). It can be a great way to get reading stuff done.
I do not know if anyone posted this yet, so just in case https://virtualschoolactivities.com/
Contains a whole lot of activities for your kids
I'm not homeschooling, being single with no kids, but I am transitioning to working solely from home indefinitely. I found a lot to relate to in this, and my friends who find themselves suddenly home schooling while working from home have found great solace in this:https://www.kveller.com/can-we-please...
Thank you for sharing that Theresa, it really resonated with me. My kids get a days worth of schoolwork every day from their teachers. My two eldest (19 and 17) run the show themselves, but I've given up on my 11-year old for the time being. He is coughing a lot (a cold) and isn't 100% well, so I've more or less decided he's sick from homeschool this week. I am also adjusting to working from home, as much as is possible. My husband's anxiety (he suffers from general anxiety) is through the roof - he's not good with disruption and illness in general, so, yeah. On top of that my middle son is probably not a son anymore, since he's not sure of his gender, something he told us at Christmas. Now he doesn't want to be called his given name anymore, so also trying to adjust to that. And being worried of course, things are not looking good around us, here in Europe. 7 of staff at my son/daughter's boarding school (about a third) has the virus that shall not be named, so crossing fingers we go free. So, yeah, just trying to get through this and remember the good things. Like family, and we're alive and well, and today I was able to read again, I hadn't been able to concentrate. And I just opened another bottle of white.
Johanne wrote: "Thank you for sharing that Theresa, it really resonated with me. My kids get a days worth of schoolwork every day from their teachers. My two eldest (19 and 17) run the show themselves, but I've gi..."Thanks for sharing all that. Around here venting is OK-TIp that wine glass once for me
That's a good article Theresa. I hope I don't come across as one of 'those parents' - I'm sure I'd be a lot more chilled about the whole homeschooling thing if I didn't already have an agenda to try to get them caught up to the UK curriculum by September...! Also, I am totally aware of my good fortune in actually having the time to focus on sitting with them - if I was also trying to hold down a job it would be movies on headphones all the way I'm sure.I'd also like to add that the calmest I've felt all day was when we all cuddled up on the sofa and watched Oliver Jeffers read a story: https://www.oliverjeffers.com/books#/...
& Johanne, it sounds like you're going through a lot, I hope the wine is helping!
That article is funny and very relatable! It's only a break for universities and colleges in this state--public schools do NOT get March breaks,
Homeschooling isn't easy, isn't something most people can whip up overnight, and isn't for everyone. I used to think very differently before I had kids, when my kids were little and for the first few years of homeschooling. Then I realized why it's NOT for everyone.
But I do believe that parents are overall responsible for overseeing childraising and that their kids are learning even if it's at school--if parents what to turn this into a holiday, why not?
I am glad you all appreciated that article! I needed it too! Keep the love and cuddles at the forefront, everyone.
Compared to pandemic it’s small concerns I know. But how this is affecting college admissions is scary - especially for those of us who were scared to begin with. And desperately needed this spring semester. To grow and prove oneself. This was a last chance. And yet it will still be fine. Somehow he will still get there - I trust that. Just having a wee small hours of the night moment. Good night all. Be safe and happy.
Hang in there, it will be fine (even if fine doesn't look how you thought it would). That's what I keep telling myself, anyway - I have been having a few of those middle of the night moments myself about our planned UK move this summer and the knock-on effects of all this for our transitions (flights, housing, schools...)
Nikki you don't come across like that :) and it was in no way a critique of this thread and it's purpose. I just needed to let it out. Thanks for listening. Virtual hugs to all.
Booknblues wrote: "Take a visit to Broadway - for free for 7 days and a great lesson plan:https://www.broadwayhd.com/"
Awesome--do you need to use a credit card?
Karin wrote: "Awesome--do you need to use a credit card?"
I'm not sure how it works, but it seemed like a good thing to do during this time.
Book Concierge wrote: "Our "Nextdoor" website put out a notice that they'll be encouraging the kids to go on a "shamrock scavenger hunt" tomorrow. Neighbors are making shamrocks to put in their windows and the kids can c..."It was so successful that they've come up with a list of items and will be doing this every three or four days ... Today was "funny faces" ... later we'll have birds, butterflies, Easter eggs, stars, etc. Fun craft project for the family to make the items to put in the windows. Fun for the kids taking a walk and "finding" the items displayed in the windows.
Be safe out there!
Book Concierge wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "Our "Nextdoor" website put out a notice that they'll be encouraging the kids to go on a "shamrock scavenger hunt" tomorrow. Neighbors are making shamrocks to put in their win..."This is awesome BC! I am going to pass it on to my "Nextdoor" people
Book Concierge wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "Our "Nextdoor" website put out a notice that they'll be encouraging the kids to go on a "shamrock scavenger hunt" tomorrow. Neighbors are making shamrocks to put in their win..."Yes, these are GREAT ideas and kids love them!!!!!
I share this article posted by a friend with a 6 year old. Her comment with the post: My kid is 6. I have zero plans on trying to homeschool her. If her school decides to send work home for her, then we will do some if we can between parents working from home and trying to keep ourselves physically and mentally healthy.
We will still encourage her to learn and take time to keep up with some skills, but we will focus on practical life, arts, crafts and reading. Pretty much our regular old bag of tricks for entertaining and educating her. I’m not about to add on to our family stresses.
This is a good read and pretty spot on to what I see as realistic. I will worry not one bit about her schooling even if we are out for the rest of the year. I’ve got other things to worry about these days. I’m definitely under no impression that I can do it all. Nor do I want to.
https://www.heatheranneworld.com/post...
I suspect I would be like her if I had kids.
Lovely article, thank you. I think that actually explains really well why I'm finding this time ok from a learning pov - for me, although the trigger was 'crisis schooling', our pre-existing motivation of wanting to shift into alignment with the UK curriculum before our (theoretical, when-it-becomes-possible-again) move means that doubling-down on the UK workbooks and watching back-to-back episodes of Horrible Histories makes it feel like a project I'm doing by choice. If my only goal was to stay in synch with classmates here I'm sure I'd be less enthusiastic. I also might need to have "Expect them to not have words to express their inner turmoil." tattooed on my arm to remind me to be patient on the tough days.
Nikki wrote: "Lovely article, thank you. I think that actually explains really well why I'm finding this time ok from a learning pov - for me, although the trigger was 'crisis schooling', our pre-existing motiva..."HaHa! That "tat" would be great!
I thought I'd start a thread where we can share ideas & resources we've discovered. I'll start:
1) You don't have to do "school" for the whole time your children would normally be out of the house. I sat down with my daughter and she described her schedule and we worked out that of a typical 6-hr school day, only about 3-3.5hrs are spent on hardcore academics - the rest is lunch, recess, PE, art etc (all useful things, but also things that we might do at home anyway just for fun so not necessary to schedule as part of 'school').
2) A routine helps and is reassuring for everyone: we've agreed to start at 8am each morning and do maths (we're using khanacademy.org, then English, then something else (aiming for the 3rd thing to be a bit more fun, e.g. watching a video on an educational topic, or doing a coding challenge on the computer). Plus reading every day of course!
3) A fun resource we stumbled across when I googled "inferences" because that's what she'd been working on in her English class at school: https://www.nytimes.com/column/learni... - they post a picture each week without its caption and you can discuss what you think is going on and point to evidence to explain why you think that - if you look through the archives you can then scroll down for the reveal and we found yesterday that it led to some really interesting conversations about things we'd never have thought about otherwise.
I'd love to hear what other people are doing!
(& for anyone who thinks this sounds like a lot, my explanation is that school is cancelled here for the next 6 weeks at least, and we are aiming to move back to the UK soon where they'd be slotting into a slightly more advanced curriculum because formal schooling starts younger there, so I don't want them to lose any more ground...)