Our public and private schools are now officially closed through the end of the academic year.
As a result of this, several friends and family members have contacted me with questions. These parents are now in totally unchartered territory. And the territory that they are in is truly much harder than actual homeschooling, for three reasons: first, they need to try to implement the school curriculum at home, which means they haven't chosen it (homeschooling parents spend time picking the curriculum that is the best fit for their lifestyle/child's teaching style/parental teaching style/etc); second, there's a sudden, enormous change in the daily family dynamic and rhythm; and third, and quite notably, all of this is being done in isolation!
As a result, I have encouraged my friends to give themselves and their children a lot of grace. It's a very new, challenging situation. Everyone will take a while to adjust! And that is okay.
The other advice I have is to create a loose, flexible routine for the day so that there's some predictability and consistency to what you're doing, but not rigidity. More on that here.
I tend not to think of what we do as "homeschooling" because it really looks so unlike a classroom. I have always thought of it more as "home-based learning." Each day is unique. We have a great deal of freedom to move at our own pace and decide how to structure our days. I do think sometimes people picture me standing at a chalkboard with my children in desks in front of me, with their pens and paper. In reality, homeschooling for us almost never looks like that. And it's okay if it doesn't look like that for you, too, if you are newly tasked with teaching your children at home.
If they have online assignments and work to do that the school gives them, then it's great to let them move through that at their own pace. But I've heard from several people that now that their children are home, they're racing through assignments. My cousin told me that her daughter finished an entire week's worth of schoolwork in 2 hours on Monday morning! This doesn't surprise me, since learning at home is so efficient.
So if a child finishes all her schoolwork by 10am on Monday, what in the world can you do for the rest of the week? Especially when you can't really go anywhere?
Here are a few resources I've shared with friends who have asked. I will update this from time to time as I think of more. Most of these are geared to elementary and middle schoolers, but some may be useful for high schoolers, too.
MATH:
*Khan Academy is free and has math for all levels. You can easily see what concept/skill each lesson presents, so you can jump around and practice various skills at the child's pace.
*Right Start Arithmetic Kit: this is a very reasonably-priced kit that introduces number sense and the abacus. This would be a great math supplement for elementary schoolers.
*Right Start Fractions Kit: for an upper elementary or middle school child who needs extra help understanding fractions, this kit is well-priced, and extremely helpful!
*Hands-On Equations: this is a strong introduction to algebraic concepts. It is a little higher in price than the Right Start kits. I own this and Finn and I plan to use it sometime in the next few months! I imagine that Annie will join in, too.
*Life of Fred books: these are a fun math supplement; they're math books in narrative form (with practice problems at the end of each chapter). Quirky storytelling about a math genius named Fred who is 5 years old and teaches college math, it's fun and engaging, particularly for the child who prefers words to numbers.
*GAMES! Skip-Bo, Snap-it-Up, Shut the Box, etc. There are many math games out there, and some you can play just using a regular deck of cards, if that's all you have. Games are a fun way to learn math. Right Start has a math card games kit, too.
HISTORY:
*Story of the World (especially on audiobook, told by Jim Weiss!) or any of the Jim Weiss titles listed here: https://welltrainedmind.com/c/history-geography/jim-weiss-history/?v=7516fd43adaa
*Liberty's Kids videos: I laughingly called these a "homeschool kid's rite of passage" not long ago. (These may be available for free somewhere else, but this is the link I have.) They're videos on American history, and my children seem to like them.
*For the older student who enjoys diving deep into history, I love Genevieve Foster's books. (Again, you may be able to find them for much less somewhere else, but this is the easiest link to all of them!) You could pick one historical period that most fascinates your child, and order one of the books used online. If you're like us, your libraries are closed!
SCIENCE:
*The best and cheapest science is simply observing the natural world. Take a magnifying class and binoculars, if you have them (not necessary) and go out into the yard. Look at flowers. Identify trees. Watch birds. You can make simple birdfeeders to attract the birds, and then learn the difference between a finch and a sparrow. You can also take a sketch book or blank paper out with colored pencils, and draw or sketch what you see. Observation is the foundation of science!
*We like Planet Earth and Blue Planet videos (we own the DVDs of both). They are so fascinating! I am sure there are many interesting science videos out there; we rarely watch TV or movies, so I'm not really in the loop.
*Tinker Crate kits can be fun, although they are a financial commitment. Finn has enjoyed building a few of these.
*Some people love Magic School Bus videos! My children have never gotten onboard with them (ha), but some children really do love them.
*There are all sorts of kits and things at Carolina Biological Supply. We will be doing a dissection kit sometime soon--much to my children's disgust. (I used to love dissections as a child. We'll see how they do....)
ARTS:
*Drawing videos. There are loads of step-by-step drawing and painting videos on YouTube, all for free!
*Drawing books: we like these books for the younger set, and I LOVE Lee Ames books for slightly older students.
*Picture study: this is a Charlotte Mason standby. You can print out a picture (or purchase a set; I like the portfolios from Simply Charlotte Mason, because they are high-quality prints). Have everyone look at it carefully and quietly for a few minutes, and then turn the picture over. Then everyone describes what they saw! This develops skills of observation. After you finish, display the picture on the refrigerator or somewhere else, for everyone to enjoy.
LITERATURE:
*Audible is now offering some free children's audio books.
*Shakespeare: read this Midsummer Night's Dream picture book, then watch this free (and clean!) version on YouTube; older students may then want to dive into reading the actual play (I like the Folger editions, available on Amazon, but you can find the original script online, since it's in the public domain--I just avoid "modern translations", as they can be unsavory)
*for older students (and adults), check out the American Shakespeare Center. They've had to close down for now, but taped several performances that can now be "purchased" (at a very, very reasonable price) and watched online--they're calling it "BlackfriarsTV"! My husband and I saw Henry IV, Part 1 there last year, and so we're going to get "tickets" to Much Ado and Henry IV, Part 2! Here are more details.
*read-aloud time: now is the perfect opportunity to read through an entire series of great books, like Narnia or the Little House on the Prairie books. We are reading through Little Women right now, and after we finish, my son is on a mission to have us read Jo's Boys and Little Men, and we'll probably read Eight Cousins as well! I made a list of all the good books on our shelves that we haven't read, and am hoping we can read through many of those this spring!
FOREIGN LANGUAGE:
*We love French with Alexa on YouTube. She is so funny! My children enjoy her videos.
LIFE SKILLS:
Don't overlook these! Isolation days are perfect days to learn:
*laundry (sorting, washing, drying, folding--and in our case, bringing things in off the line!)
*baking (we've enjoyed rolls, cinnamon buns, and loaf bread, and I plan to have my children bake brownies later this week)
*cleaning (learn to wash dishes or clean a bathroom!)
*gardening/yard work (I'll admit that this is my favorite domestic task, and spring is the best time for it, so my children have learned some gardening skills--and even more botany as a result of my obsession)
*cleaning windows, organizing, dusting, etc.....this is the perfect time for a big "spring clean"
*sewing, knitting, cross-stitching, etc: if you or your children have ever wanted to try to learn one of these skills, this is a great time. YouTube is full of tutorials.
CHARLOTTE MASON:
The Charlotte Mason Institute has created a free "emergency" curriculum for people who need some supplemental things to do with their children.
FRESH AIR/ACTIVITY:
*Absolutely essential for my own well-being, I know my children do much better with a lot of fresh air as well. We take walks up and down our country lane, do plenty of gardening (well, I do; my children play), and sometimes shoot basketball outside. My children spend hours running around the yard, swinging, riding bikes, etc. As the weather warms, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, sprinkler-playing, etc all become appropriate, too. Sometimes just reading a book on the front porch does us all a world of good, and we can do that even if it's raining.
This season of life won't last forever, and I'm committed to embracing it and enjoying the enormous amount of margin we gained by having all our activities cancelled.
I hope this helps anyone out there who is trying to figure out how to navigate life now that schools are closed!
*Shakespeare: read this Midsummer Night's Dream picture book, then watch this free (and clean!) version on YouTube; older students may then want to dive into reading the actual play (I like the Folger editions, available on Amazon, but you can find the original script online, since it's in the public domain--I just avoid "modern translations", as they can be unsavory)
*for older students (and adults), check out the American Shakespeare Center. They've had to close down for now, but taped several performances that can now be "purchased" (at a very, very reasonable price) and watched online--they're calling it "BlackfriarsTV"! My husband and I saw Henry IV, Part 1 there last year, and so we're going to get "tickets" to Much Ado and Henry IV, Part 2! Here are more details.
*read-aloud time: now is the perfect opportunity to read through an entire series of great books, like Narnia or the Little House on the Prairie books. We are reading through Little Women right now, and after we finish, my son is on a mission to have us read Jo's Boys and Little Men, and we'll probably read Eight Cousins as well! I made a list of all the good books on our shelves that we haven't read, and am hoping we can read through many of those this spring!
FOREIGN LANGUAGE:
*We love French with Alexa on YouTube. She is so funny! My children enjoy her videos.
LIFE SKILLS:
Don't overlook these! Isolation days are perfect days to learn:
*laundry (sorting, washing, drying, folding--and in our case, bringing things in off the line!)
*baking (we've enjoyed rolls, cinnamon buns, and loaf bread, and I plan to have my children bake brownies later this week)
*cleaning (learn to wash dishes or clean a bathroom!)
*gardening/yard work (I'll admit that this is my favorite domestic task, and spring is the best time for it, so my children have learned some gardening skills--and even more botany as a result of my obsession)
*cleaning windows, organizing, dusting, etc.....this is the perfect time for a big "spring clean"
*sewing, knitting, cross-stitching, etc: if you or your children have ever wanted to try to learn one of these skills, this is a great time. YouTube is full of tutorials.
CHARLOTTE MASON:
The Charlotte Mason Institute has created a free "emergency" curriculum for people who need some supplemental things to do with their children.
FRESH AIR/ACTIVITY:
*Absolutely essential for my own well-being, I know my children do much better with a lot of fresh air as well. We take walks up and down our country lane, do plenty of gardening (well, I do; my children play), and sometimes shoot basketball outside. My children spend hours running around the yard, swinging, riding bikes, etc. As the weather warms, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, sprinkler-playing, etc all become appropriate, too. Sometimes just reading a book on the front porch does us all a world of good, and we can do that even if it's raining.
This season of life won't last forever, and I'm committed to embracing it and enjoying the enormous amount of margin we gained by having all our activities cancelled.
I hope this helps anyone out there who is trying to figure out how to navigate life now that schools are closed!
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