Written by itscoolmom Founder Sara Edgar
Have you recently found yourself at home with your kids for an extended amount of time? Are you now responsible for solely teaching your kids while they are out of school? This can seem very overwhelming for most parents but I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be!
For the last several years I’ve been homeschooling my girls so I’ve learned a thing or two about taking on this role. Below I have put together some quick resources and tips for surviving at home as your children’s teacher! So take a deep breathe, relax, and read on!
FIRST THINGS FIRST
What’s the one thing that stays the same when your kids are at school? You guessed it! A schedule! This is so important for your children and your sanity!
This schedule does not have to be anything intense. It can literally be a few hours carved out each day. The key is that it’s the same few hours.
Our typical school day starts out like most kids days. The girls are usually up by 7am, get their breakfast, get ready for the day, and ALWAYS make their beds!
We typically start our first lesson around 9am. Now, I know you’re probably wondering well what if I work? It’s okay, I work full time too. The girls get all of the work they can get done on their own while I work. This includes arts and crafts, exercise, and any computer based resources or lessons. If you have younger kids doing school work when you don’t work may be a better option.
I usually also get something out for them to play with quietly whether it be building legos or playing with play-dough. Whatever I have out changes each day. The girls usually work for about 3 hours until lunch time and then finish out the day after that! If there are any lessons that they need help with, we take care of those after I’m done with work.
TAKE BREAKS
Taking breaks is super important because children have a very short attention span. It also depends on the child and age. For instance, my oldest who is now in 4th grade, would rather work and get things done. She doesn’t want as many breaks. While my youngest who is in 2nd wants breaks all of the time.
The best thing to do is play it by ear. Sometimes even you will need a break as frustration kicks in here and there. All of which is completely normal! Your breaks could even incorporate some of the additional learning resources as most of them are setup like a game.
ONE ON ONE INSTRUCTION
Your children are generally in school for about 6 to 7 hours a day. Not all of that time is spent on school work and instruction. The benefit to working with your kids one on one is that you are able to maximize your time and theirs. Instead of doing a traditional 6 hour day of school, instruction time and one on one work can be cut down to about 4 hours of work.
Now, if your kids are older, the amount of time that they will need help with will be a lot less compared to a child who is younger and needs more help with reading and directions.
If you find that your child is getting all their work done very quickly either one of two things are happening. Either their lessons are easy and they understand what they are doing. Or, they do not necessarily care and just want to get the work done quickly. This is something you will just have to be aware of and adjust accordingly. If they are legitimately just mastering their lessons, see if any of the free resources adds a little difficulty to their studies!
GET CREATIVE
Your kids will really dislike doing their school work if it’s just sitting at the table for a few hours completing worksheets. It’s super important to integrate some free online platforms to help break up the standard work.
Below, I have added a few resources but the amount of resources out there are endless! You also don’t just have to limit it to computer and worksheets. Come up with your own arts and craft projects, science experiments, and even your own phys ed workouts. You can find a lot of great ideas for those things on Pinterest!
ADD YOUR OWN SPIN
Teaching your kids can be fun. Think about all the things you’ve wanted to teach them or talk to them about that you haven’t had the time to do! Guess what, now you have that time!
Make a list of the things you want to accomplish while you’re home with your kids. Maybe it’s working on chores, cooking together, taking up a fun new activity, or just spending quality time with one another. The sky is the limit! The best part is that you get to decide what that is and you have control over your day!
Make sure you find the moments to enjoy that time with your kids because TIME is one thing you will never get back! If you need any additional support or just someone to chat with, please reach out and send me an email!
𝙭𝙤𝙭𝙤,
𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙈𝙊𝙈
HELPFUL RESOURCES
Here are a few great FREE resources that you can use to break up the monotony of the regular school work. There are many more free platforms available but this is a decent start!
Math:
English Language Arts
Science:
Social Studies:
For All Subjects:
Photo Credit: Coffee Cup
Bruno Cervera on unsplash.com
Photo Credit: Crayon Box