I never wanted to be a homeschooling mom. In fact, I used to joke that I didn’t homeschool because doing so would make me stop liking my children. And yet, here we are.
Because I’m an anxious person who likes to strategize and make lists, I put together a homeschooling schedule within minutes of finding out our schools were closing for a month. (If you are familiar with the enneagram, this is peak 3 behavior under stress.) It gave me some small feeling of control in what feels like a very out-of-control world right now. I thought I would share it here for anyone else who needs help structuring their days and keeping their children’s brains from total atrophy. Not to mention just keeping them out of your hair. (And if you have to leave the house to work and your kids are old enough to stay home alone, may I recommend these cameras that allow you to peek in from an app on your phone. I have them and they allow me to monitor my kids remotely, which always gives me a little peace of mind when I have to leave for long stretches of the day. It’s also helpful in nailing down exactly who left that dirty peanut butter knife on the counter that no one will claim.)
My value in this list was to create tasks that required little to nothing from me, that my kids could do independently. I will have to work from home throughout the school closure so I’m not able to sit and teach my kids. Luckily, there are plenty of great online resources for home education, and I’m leaning on the ones we’ve used before.
My kids range in age from elementary to high school, but all of them are old enough to read and use a computer. My initial plan is to let them self-direct with this list, Monstessori-style. You can do things in any order you want but you have to get them done. If I find they need more direction, I will use the same list but schedule the timeframe for each task.
If you are interested in making your own list, you can make a copy of my google doc and modify it to meet your own needs. I’ve also uploaded a printable version of mine here.
Here’s a bit about each resource we are using:
- MATH: Do Khan Academy for 30 minutes – Khan Academy is free, it’s self-directed, and you can create accounts and get alerts on your child’s progress. And if your child’s school happens to use Illustrative Math textbooks (as mine does) the lessons parallel their textbook. Their lessons go through each grade level and then in high school break out into different math courses from Algebra all the way up to Calculus. We’ve used it to supplement math fluency at home and it’s such a great program
- LANGUAGE ARTS: Read a book for 30 minutes – This one is pretty self-explanatory.
- MUSIC: Using youtube, learn a new song on guitar, bass, or piano (you will show your work after dinner) – There are tutorials on just about every song and instrument on youtube. Most of my kids have a basic knowledge of guitar chords and I’m actually excited about having the time to learn more. My plan is to have each kid present the song they learned in the evening. They are as mortified as you can imagine about this idea but whatever. I’m a homeschool mom now. This is who we are.
- Organize something – We are going to “Kondo a corner” every day, whether it’s a drawer or a desk or a cabinet. – We will just spend a few minutes on this each day but by the end of this four weeks this house is going to be so organized. This is my silver lining. We all have to find one right now.
- HISTORY: Watch an episode of Crash Course in World History – I’m going to be relying on Crash Course for both history and science, because I think it is such a great resource. It’s exactly what it sounds like . . . fast-paced animated lessons that are engaging and interesting, and they are free on youtube. Each lesson is about 10-20 minutes and they build on the previous lesson. These are also great since my kids have a wide age spread but the format works for any age. If you don’t have a way to play youtube on your home tv, a simple Roku stick for $30 will give you that access. We are going to focus on World History because that’s what two of my kids have this year. That series has 42 lessons so we may have to double up some days to get through it) They also have a series on US History (48 lessons in total) and Government (50 lessons in total).
- FUN: Play video games for 30 minutes – One splurge I’m making is ordering extra controllers for our X-Box so everyone can play at the same time.
- PE: Do two songs on Just Dance – You guys. I cannot believe this school shutdown is happening in the midst of some of the heaviest predicted rain of the year. For now, Just Dance will be our exercise. Once it clears up, I’m hoping to take us on some hikes or walks on the beach.
- Watch a news program (The Daily Show counts) – My kids actually enjoy watching The Daily Show, and it’s an entertaning way to keep kids informed on current events.
- SPANISH: Do 20 minutes of DuoLingo – If you haven’t yet discovered this app, it is AMAZING. One of my kids is taking Spanish at school and it has really helped him study.
- ELECTIVE: Watch one class on Masterclass – If you are going to make any investment to make the next few weeks towards stimulating your child’s brain over this break, I would recommend buying a Masterclass pass. For $15 a month you can get access to hundreds of really incredible classes. My son is currently taking a music production class from DeadMaus. I’m taking a writing class from David Sedaris. There are tons of topics, from space exploration to cooking to photography. It’s perfect for “electives’ and fun to watch as a whole family, too.
- SCIENCE: Watch an episode of Crash Course in Earth Science – Again, I just love these. They also have Crash Course series on Biology (40 lessons in total) and Chemistry (47 lessons).
- Watch a TED Talk of your choice. – I’m honestly curious to see what they will choose. We have a Roku which has a whole channel dedicated to TED Talks, and they’ve curated some of the best.
- WRITING: write a 2-page opinion paper on something you read or watched today – I don’t know, guys. I’m not a teacher. I just know they probably need to write something each day and this seemed easy. There are probably better writing prompts out there somewhere, but I’m gonna let myself off the hook from trying to find them.
If you are facing kids at home for the next few weeks and homeschooling is new to you, too, I’m curious to hear what your plans are!
This is FANTASTIC AND SO USEFUL FOR MY TWO TEENAGERS. THANK YOU!
THIS IS GREAT. A TIP from a teacher ON THE WRITING PIECE IF YOU’D LIKE (FEEL free to ignore): writing can be done for many purposes. You may want to assign THEM (or let them choose) A purpose that they’re trying to achieve FOR their writing piece (convince someone if their opinion, summarize information, entertain/draw someone in, etc). Or you can check what type of WritING they’re doing in school and have them focus on that. Just a suggestion to make the writing piece a bit more effective without adding too much work on your part to create assignments OR anything.
Thanks for the great info!