Homeschool Tips

We're doing our part by staying home... now what??
With the closing of schools, families are faced with the challenge of keeping kiddos learning.

With my extensive homeschooling experience (all of 8 months, haha!), I thought I'd offer some helpful tips. I haven't been in this long, but I did have to go through the learning process very recently, so it's pretty fresh.

Curriculum

Curriculum is a fancy word for "what you are going to learn about." If schools don't give you guidelines, then you can choose what you like. There are so many resources out there. Pick what works for you and your kiddos.

I love the Core Knowledge Sequence. It's exactly what I want my kids to know. Plus, they have free materials you can use. I download the units I want onto the Kindle so we can read them together on the couch. And the learning takes off from there as we discuss, research, and create as we please.

We use The Good and the Beautiful curriculum for Language arts. They have wonderful resources for art, geography, grammar, spelling, etc. I haven't even explored it all, but they're gaining popularity because they're so good.

I also love Wordly Wise for vocabulary. (I buy the workbooks from Thriftbooks)

We use Singapore Math, but you can find lots of math worksheets online. Plus flashcard apps are super easy to get and engaging to use.

Figure out what you want to include, and remember it's easier to start out with more work for them and cut back. If you start with less and add more, get ready for grumbles.

Now onto the....

Schedule

When planning the day, get your kids' input, but remember that YOU are the boss and retain the final say.  Make it doable for you and them--it could be 20 min blocks, or 2 hour blocks. Throw in some active time, but remember it's harder to get them back once they're free, so do important stuff first. When you've got the schedule, write it, post it, commit to it for a week, reassess it, and break it now and then for fun.

Remember that you don't have to replicate the school day. And you can't, or you'll all go crazy. The school day takes a team of full time staff to maintain, and you're just you. As you know from summer break, structure is like exercise--too little makes you feel lazy, but too much makes you hate it.

We usually try to work from 9-11 then 1-2. That rarely happens, but it's what we aim for.

In Practice

Give your learning materials a handy home in a designated spot. We work at the kitchen table. We use magazine boxes that we pull out daily then return them to a cubby in the bookshelf. With that we keep a pencil box full of writing utensils, scissors, star stickers, etc. Sometimes we like to have music playing so we just tell Google to play Morning Classical on Spotify and see what comes up.

Now, here's the hardest, secretest, and most important part: 
Sit down.
That's it.

It's so easy, but sooo hard! I've tried setting them on task then walking away thinking I could go accomplish something else. Silly me. It never works very well. It's like Po said, I'm the secret ingredient. My secret to success is working by their side.

So I sit and work on my own things--budget, scriptures, reading a boring parenting book, journaling, meal planning.  Anything I can do sitting. Not on the phone. Not moving around.  When I am anchored, they are more likely to be anchored. (I've come to realize that when I chose to become a parent, I chose to postpone productivity for a decade or two.)

Motivation

Next point, equally as important, we all need motivation. We love stickers. I love giving them, they love getting them.

Somedays we need happy pills like cheeseballs or chocolate chips. Not everyday, but often when we need a motivator we look in the pantry for something small to mark our milestones and reward our efforts.

Lure them in with read alouds. Kids can't resist a good book read aloud to them by their beloved parents, so use that as motivation somewhere in the day. Toss in some bike rides, dirt piles, virtual field trips, long drives with podcasts for kids, and you'll have loads of things to look forward to.

Toddlers

This needs its own post, and I need someone else smarter than me to write it. Little people can complicate this whole lovely idea, and I wish I had the perfect solution. But as you know, those darling toddlers can be fickle, stubborn, and loud! And they don't want to leave your side except to sneak into trouble. Lord love 'em.

So our 3 year old has her own box of tracing workbooks, coloring pages, and sticker books that she can work on too. We usually hit up the dollar store for some new items every few weeks. For her, novelty is life. So anything new keeps her attention.

Final Words

We only allow screen time in the afternoons. Not sure about your kids, but mine get "tech sick" and turn into zombie monsters after screen time. So as long as they've had a productive morning, I'm more patient with their tech-induced side effects. (And I might also be sort of elated to get time for my own projects.)

Lastly, I noticed that schooling at home has produced greater highs and greater lows for our family. The range of emotions has escalated on both sides of the spectrum. We are all learning together how to manage big emotions, and also how gloriously happy family life can be.

So expect some friction, maybe even more than before, and then notice the peace and joy that comes later in those amazing moments when you and your child connect with God and each other. "God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be" ("The Family is of God").  I know that this can be an amazing and unforgettable opportunity for your family, like it has been for mine.