Simple Educational Ideas during COVID-19 / Coronavirus Shelter In Place

How are you parents holding up?  My heart goes out to all the single parents and the homes with two working parents who have to figure out childcare and homeschooling.  I have two boys who homeschool and two who are in a small private school that has not yet closed they plan on closing this Friday, so as of today our schedule and routine has not changed.  

With the recent press conferences, and San Francisco and the Bay Area going on a "shelter in place" order, the school two of my boys attend is now making plans to close for the next upcoming two weeks, so they will be schooling at home now like many of you. 

I have been homeschooling my oldest for three years, 5th through 7th grade and I homeschool my preschooler who will be going to kindergarten this coming school year 2020-2021.  We have loved homeschooling and are grateful for the many classes and outside opportunities that we attend, such as guitar lessons, cooking classes, and more, so even as a homeschooler we too are longing for our school days at the park and school days out and about learning in the world we live in.  As I was scrolling through pictures for this post, I even saw many days where we were going about our day and reading in the car, reading and learning on the go.  I came across pictures of us with our books at our local car tire shop.  I know most people think homeschoolers stay home all day and do not go anywhere similar to a "shelter in place" but that is so not the case. 

I have had some friends ask what I do with my children for homeschool and asking for links, and tips.  I wanted to start off and say, I am sure by now you have seen the color coded schedules and all the lesson plan tips.  I am a big routine person and I thrive on structure and schedules.  Although I think schedules and a plan of action is important, I want to encourage you to take it one day at a time.  Do not overwhelm yourself thinking you have to schedule out every school subject.

This is hard on everyone, we all are having to find our footing in this new season we have been thrust into.  It took me an entire year to really feel like I had a homeschool system in place, so take the pressure off yourself, and give yourself grace over these next few weeks.

Do what you can! One day at a time!  Instead of looking at "all" you have to do, or "all" the subjects pick TWO a day to work on.  Math and Reading in my opinion are the two majors we want to keep our kiddos brains actively working on.  Math and reading can look different depending on the age.  It does not have to be book work, or curriculum.  You can do math while baking, you can practice math while cleaning and organizing.  If they are in the elementary age, practicing their multiplication facts is a great way to stay active with math.  If they can read on their own, just have them read, even if it's a book on their favorite sports player, or their Diary of Wimpy Kid Series, or Dogman Series.  If they are younger read their favorite book to them.  Let them create their own Arts and Crafts, just pull out the supplies and let them be creative.  You do not have to go out and buy a ton of supplies, use what you have.  

Give yourself and your kids grace, I know how much this has affected adults and the weight that is on many minds, imagine our kiddos, who sense and feel our stress and concerns on top of their own worlds looking completely different than a week ago.  

Learning, can take place with so many everyday ordinary things, such as cooking, coloring, drawing, building with Legos.  If you have a Word Search book or can print from the internet, crosswords are great, again depending on the age, for 5th graders, look up a crossword or word search of the State Capitals.  

Instead of thinking they have to sit at a desk/table from 8:30-2:30, just aim to do a learning activity for 30 minutes, than take a 10 minute break.  Then hop back into it and have your kids help lead where you go especially if they are older.  What do they get excited about?  Reading, History, Science, spend the majority of study on what interest them, then take the things that may be more difficult like math or writing and do that in thirty minute increments. Tackle a "needs improvement" subject then enjoy a fun thing, you can go back later in the day if you need to spend some more time on something they need work on and then follow it up with a reward, free time, Disney+ time or if weather permits some backyard fun.  Break out the board games, puzzles, build a fort, have Lego building contests, have a dance party (aka P.E.) and enjoy the extra time with your children.   

Have them look up things that interest them on YouTube.  Science and Art, they can search "How to draw animals", "How to draw people".  I am so grateful for the internet because you can pretty much find some free printable or teaching video on just about any school subject.  4-H is a great resource for hands on Stem Lab ideas.  Right now there are even more resources being made available with the situation at hand.  The Kennedy center has organized a daily Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems.  They will be posting videos everyday at 1 PM ET and they will be available online for future viewing.  This is a great way to have art class with an art instructor free of charge right in your home. 

Saint Patrick's Day happens to be today, have them research the history of Saint Patrick and write a paper on him.  Bake green foods, make shamrock shaped foods, have fun with it!  If they love sports, have them research about their favorite sports player, and write on that.  Search for Writing Prompts by grade level and you will find a ton of free printables and resources.  

One of the biggest tips as much as I enjoy a pajama day, have them get up each morning as if they were going to school, have them get dressed and eat breakfast.  I have seen from experience, my son puts more effort and stays more focused when he is up and dressed and in the school mindset.  

Do what works for your family and your sanity.  Look for one daily accomplishment as you start this week and then as you find success you can go from there.  Again, after realizing how much I overscheduled in our first year, now I try and do Math and Reading every day, and than Science two of the days and History two of the days.  So a sample week would look like this, along with sprinkling in P.E.
Monday - Math, Reading, and History after lunch.
Tuesday - Reading, Math and Science after lunch.
Wednesday - Math, Reading and History after lunch.
Thursday - Reading, Math and Science after lunch.
Friday - Math, Reading, Guitar practice, Art, Cooking or extra curricular activities.

And again, if you do ONE thing each day that is quality learning time and quality time spent together, than give yourself a huge pat on the back.  We want quality over quantity.  

I know our first year of homeschool I overscheduled and it did not effectively accomplish my ultimate goal of spending time together, and developing a love of learning.  We want our kids to have a passion to always be learning, to always be researching, that is a life skill that will go with them and benefit them all their life.  We do not want them to dread learning.  So keep it simple and make it fun.  

Kids are resilient, they will bounce right back! While I don't think we should sit in front of the TV all day or be on our electronic devices all day, I also don't think we should expect them to sit at the table all day doing school either.  It's all about balance!  If they need some screen time and you need a break, have them look up free coding games, there are a ton of free learning Apps again depending on what grade your kids are in. They will feel good about having some device time and you can feel good about it since it's something educational, so rather than just letting them play Fortnite have them search up an educational game or App.  FamilyEducation.com has a list of 21 Free Educational Apps for Kids.  

If you can wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast together, have them do some reading, depending on their age maybe 20 minutes reading after breakfast.  Then do some Math, flashcards, printables, online resources, or if they have access to their school books.  Do 30 minutes of Math, take a morning recess break, play in the backyard, go for a walk together and then search up some art on YouTube or a at home Science Stem lab, do that and then take a lunch break.  If you feel done with doing school 9-Noon than that is fine, call it a day.  If they feel like they can tackle something else, do some practice typing, after lunch, or a work on a History project, or go back to do some reading after lunch and then call it a day.  

If you have a little one, have them practice writing their name.  Play with play dough, practice counting, singing the ABC's, read their favorite book to them.  Keep it simple and make it fun. You can print out free tracing worksheets on CreatePrintables.com.  Remember the rule of thumb is kids can stay focused as many minutes as their age.  So if you have a five year old, do something for 5 minutes and then play hide and seek and then come back to book work or writing for 5 minutes, that is okay.  If they can stay focused longer, grab the moment, look for the quality moments of learning. 

Remember to schedule in breaks for you moms and dads.  Many of you will have to "work" from home while you homeschool your kiddos.  It's okay to have your kiddos find things that they can work independently on.  Even as a stay at home mom, I had to realize this and find my way in this, laundry, and cleaning and blogging, and whatever else needs attention too and that's okay.  I had to lay off my perfectionism and my A type personality control issues, and learn to let my then 5th grader do a 5th grade job on a project without having my complete oversight.  I needed to allow him to take ownership of his education, especially if you have an older child, have a conversation about needing their help.  Needing them to put forth the effort.  

It can be hard transitioning especially if you are used to working in the workplace with adults, and are used to giving directions and then trying to direct your children and multiple children at all different levels.  Have your older kids "play" teacher, and help, buddy your kids up to work together on a subject or project.  

We have curriculum as a homeschooler, but these are on-line resources that we love and have used over the years.  I have a 7th grader and a preschooler, so these are geared for middle schoolers and elementary age.  I will also be using these resources for my 5th and 3rd grader if their school closes.
You can "Google" any subject and grade level and you'll be sure to find something you can use.  Feel free to e-mail me at (theblogaboutitall@gmail.com) or message me on Social Media if you need help finding something or need some direction or just some encouragement, I am happy to help. 

FREE Simple Educational Resources
Khan Academy (I use this daily for my 7th grader especially for Math and Science)
Education.com (Free printable worksheets for preschool through 5th grade)
STEM Lab Activities (You can search by topic and grade)
CreatePrintables.com
JumpStart.com
ABCya.com
CircleTimeFun.com
National Geographic for Kids
Scholastic 
YourChildLearns.com
LearningGamesForKids.com
Free Kids Crossword Puzzles
FamilyEducation.com (21 Educational Apps)
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems

Introduce Typing:
DanceMatTyping
TypingTycoon

Storyline Online is a great resource where Emmy-nominated and award winning actors read to children.  PBSKids is a great resource if you have a little one. 

Depending on how long this lasts, and if you want to order some books from Amazon, the "Who Was Book Series for Kids" is excellent.  They are inexpensive between $4-$7 and easy reads.  
Who was Walt Disney, Who was Harriet Tubman, Who was Amelia Earhart, Who was Albert Einstein, Who was Leonardo da Vinci, Who was Thomas Alva Edison, and there are so many more! 

Need to get them moving and active check out our local Sacramento Studio T, they are giving FREE temporary ALL ACCESS Dance Pass to Studio T's PassToClass to keep you dancing and active! A hip-hop dance inspired P.E. and rainy day recess alternative.  They will be doing LIVE Video events on Wednesdays and Fridays you can find all the times and links to the live social media posts on their website at StudioTDance.com.

I know that we will all get through this season and we will come out stronger on the other side.  Focus on the positives and take one day at a time.  Since we live in California and have never really experienced a "snow day" of school canceled and never experienced a "hurricane" season, I guess this is what the rest of the country experiences from time to time of "shelter in place".  Stay grateful and see this "forced pause" as a good thing.  We all live busy on the go lives and this experience sure does remind me to be grateful for the little things.  Reminds me of how much I miss the simple things of meeting a friend at Starbucks and taking my kiddos to the Chick-Fil-A playground and park. 

Another little reminder although we are encouraged to practice social distancing, don't go through this alone.  Call your family and friends, keep in touch over the phone, facetime, social media.  I am sure you have seen the video of the people in Italy singing together from their balconies, it is a beautiful site of community.  I am joining in a fun community thing I saw on our local community Facebook Group where we are displaying a Shamrock in our window, and the local community kids can either drive through the neighborhood and see how many Shamrocks they can find, or maybe while they are on a short walk with their family they can spot some.  I had my four boys color their own Shamrock and I am looking forward to seeing others throughout our community.  

I hope these links and resources will help you over the next few weeks.  If you have family or friends who are now homeschooling their kiddos, send this link to them.  Thank you for reading if you’ve enjoyed the content you’ve read above please share with your friends.  

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