For many families, homeschooling is the best educational choice that allows their children to grow and thrive where they wouldn’t have succeeded in public or private school. It requires some preparation and planning, but is something that anyone can do, regardless of your education. Of course, that assumes that we’ve got a choice in the matter. Whether you were planning on homeschooling your kids or not, thanks to the social distancing measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19, we’re all homeschooling our kids now.
Parents of public and private school kids have a bit of an advantage here, with school districts setting up distance learning tools to keep students connected with their teachers, but those parents are quickly learning that there’s more to education than just plopping them down in front of a computer and leaving them to their own devices. With that in mind, here are some tips from full-time homeschooling parents to help you make learning from home a fun experience instead of a stressful one.
- Take Breaks Take Lots of Breaks
While your kids might be used to sitting in a classroom for 6.5-8 hours every single day for their educational needs, that sort of schedule isn’t going to work at home. Here, they’re comfortable. Here are toys and electronics that can distract them. If you try to enforce the regular school schedule, they’re going to rebel, they’re going to act out and you’re going to end up working a lot harder than you need to.
Counter this problem by taking lots of breaks during the day. Don’t try to schedule your breaks. You’ll find that some days your kids want to work for three or four hours straight, and other days they can’t focus for more than 10 minutes at a time. Just read the room, so to speak, and take as many breaks as you need to help them stay focused throughout the day.
- Let Your Kids Lead To An Extent
Whether you’re using a distance learning program provided by your local school district, or you’re using your own homeschool curriculum, you probably have a pretty good roadmap of where you need to go and what you need to teach your kids to ensure that they’re not going to be left behind at the beginning of the new year in the fall. Do yourself a favor and toss that roadmap in the corner and let it gather dust. You don’t want to throw it out completely because you will want to know what kind of targets you’re working toward, but you don’t need to use it to guide your every step.
Instead, let your kids lead to an extent. Let them decide what they want to learn, or what lessons they want to do that day. It might not sound like much but we’re living in scary times. Giving them even a modicum of control over something that they wouldn’t normally be able to control can make all the difference.
- Keep Moving and Stay Active
Just because we’re all supposed to stay home doesn’t mean that we should be spending all of our time sitting in front of the TV. Even in states that are under a stay-at-home order, one of the things that you’re still allowed to get outside for is exercise. Get outside and stay active. Plan relay races in your yard, or go for a walk in your neighborhood. Maybe plan a teddy bear hunt or set one up if your neighborhood hasn’t joined the global trend yet.
Kids don’t like to sit still for long periods of time. That’s why most schools offer movement breaks where young children are encouraged to get up and move to burn off some of their energy to help them concentrate on their lessons. Staying active between your lessons will make it easier for them to thrive and get the most out of their new homeschool situation.
- Be Patient With Them And With Yourself
When it comes right down to it, we’re all stressed out because of the coronavirus. Kids are having their regular schedules upended with school closures, and adults are having to figure out how to balance homeschooling or distance learning with working from home or going to work if they’re considered an essential worker in their state. All of these dramatic changes are overshadowed by the threat of the virus.
We’re all beginning to understand why the ancient Greeks used to curse people with “May you live in interesting times.” We’re living through a historical event and for most of us, we’re just trying to find the balance of our new normal. Don’t spend all your time trying to be the perfect teacher. Just make it fun and the learning will come naturally. We’re all a little scared there’s no reason to add more stress to that by trying to be school at home.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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