A Guide To Homeschool Tips In Today’s Coronavirus World

The coronavirus has made it so that parents who had no intention of homeschooling or distance learning their child suddenly have to manage their child’s virtual and home-based education while also working from home. For the first time homeschoolers, it can be difficult to create order and structure for your kids as the home environment can be distracting. After all, they have the TV, their toys, and more within arms reach. While many public and private schools offer virtual classrooms for their students, it can be difficult, especially for younger kids, to pay attention when not in class. If they’re not absorbing all the information, your child could fall behind in their assignments and learning objectives. 

If you want to make sure your child doesn’t fall behind when it’s time to go back to school in person, you’ll need to take some time to diagnose potential issues. That also means carving out time in your work schedule to make sure your child is actually completing their lessons and taking part in the virtual classroom. Homeschooling your child doesn’t have to be a struggle, but you can make it easier by following the tips below. 

Create a Designated Learning Space

Learning from home comes with its own set of challenges. While you don’t need to duplicate a classroom environment complete with desks and a chalkboard, you should section off some space in your home specifically for learning. Much like working from home, having an area dedicated solely to school can help your child focus on schoolwork. Not only that, but it will also help keep your child’s study materials organized so you and your child can find workbooks and supplies easily. We recommend to setup a place away from the bedroom or your kids mattress.

The study space can be anywhere in the house. It can even be the kitchen table if you don’t have any other space available. The point is to keep everything in one place and have a designated area where they can return their materials. If you do have some empty spaces in your house, you can easily set up a school ‘zone’ along an empty wall. Much like your home office, you want to make sure this area is conducive to learning by removing distractions and making it a pleasant area to be in for a couple of hours. Add some decorations to liven up the area and let your child pick a couple themselves so that they have some ownership over the space. You’ll also want to choose an ergonomic setup to encourage proper posture. If you have multiple children you should try to give each child their own dedicated space so that they are not distracted by their siblings. It doesn’t have to be a large amount of space, but some distance is important, especially if your children are far apart in age.

Follow a Daily Schedule

You don’t need to follow the exact same schedule your child had when they went to school, but you should have some kind of schedule for them to follow. Most people thrive when they have some structure in their daily lives and kids are no different. For most parents, the school will likely provide some schedule and daily routine as they offer virtual classes at set hours. However, if you don’t organize your child’s time outside of these virtual classes they’ll likely get distracted and fall behind on their coursework. 

You can get as detailed (or not) with your schedule, but you should make sure the schedule makes sense for you, your child, and your family’s routine. That might mean you need different schedules for each child based on their own personality. If your child is a morning person, then it might make sense to start early. If they don’t get going until later on, you should try to plan some schoolwork for the afternoon.

If you’re not sure how to create a schedule you can try out the following tips:

• Color-code the schedule by type of activity or school subject. That way you can see what your child needs to work on at any given day or time. It’s also helpful for younger kids as the colors make it easy for them to decide what they need to do.

• Try out different types of schedule formats. If you have multiple children, you can use a schedule with multiple columns for each child and highlight times/projects where the kids will be working together or coming together for meals. You can use this schedule even after the kids are back in school physically as you can keep track of their activities and see where there are any conflicts.

• Make sure to have a schedule for you and your partner as well. If you can, try to schedule shifts and alternate between who is on working duty and who is on teaching duty. That way neither of you is spending the bulk of their day monitoring the children.

• Schedule in some time for independent play. It might be harder, especially for the younger kids, but if you are consistent they will adapt. Just make sure to schedule this at the same time every day.

• Try to stay adaptable and realistic. The daily schedules are meant to help guide you and your child through the day, but it doesn’t always go as planned. Instead of planning your schedule around activities, plan it around chunks of ‘time’ so things like independent learning time, outdoor time, homework time, quiet time, etc.

Map Out The School Year

Your child’s school likely has specific benchmarks and goals that your child should reach whether that’s a big project or test. At school, the teacher will likely prompt their students to study or work on their project, but at home, that role is now delegated to you. If there are a lot of mid-year or year-end projects, it can be daunting to you and the kids. How will you get it all done in between work and just helping your kids with their homework?

While the daily schedule is helpful for keeping your kids on track, a more comprehensive overview of the school year might make more sense for you when it comes to keeping your kids on track. Rather than just mark the date for a test or project, it’s best to break down these tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. That way, they don’t fall between the cracks and you can check your child’s progress based on the benchmarks you’ve set. If you’re not sure about the benchmarks, you should reach out to your teacher to see if they have any suggestions. Most will provide you with general guidelines and base knowledge that your child should know by mid-year and end-of-year. If your school district uses Common Core Standards, you can look up your child’s grade and see what is expected of them.

Set Learning Goals Together

For the most part, your child’s school will have specific goals that need to be reached by the end of the year and are measured by either year-end projects or tests. While you might not be able to change the school’s expectations, you can still set goals with your child that can help them improve their educational experience. Setting these goals will make it more likely your child will achieve their learning outcomes and will help you align your day-to-day schedule. 

As the teacher, you’ll need to outline some key learning objectives for your child ahead of time. You should work with your child’s teacher for a better understanding of your child’s abilities and their strengths and weaknesses. From there, you should also make sure to check out the state and national requirements to ensure you’re hitting all the benchmarks. Once you have some broad objectives, you can then sit down with your child to get their input. Giving your child some control over their learning is hugely beneficial as it gets them more invested in their education. Plus, it’s an excellent opportunity to teach them goal-setting skills and best practices such as the SMART method of asking whether the goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.

Take Learning Beyond The Classroom

Just because regular school takes place in the classroom doesn’t mean you have to follow the same setup. In fact, you can do a lot of teaching outside of the classroom during your everyday life. Not only does it make the lessons more ‘fun’ it also allows your child to apply what they have learned to the real world. Some great activities include:

• Practicing baking and cooking. This can be great to explain the chemical reactions that happen when adding baking powder, baking soda, etc. It’s also a great way to figure out proportions.

• Simple budgeting. Not only will this help your child in the long run as they’ll be able to balance their checkbook, but it will also hone their math skills as they add and subtract line items.

• Going hiking. It’s not healthy to sit for 8+ hours a day without moving. That goes for your children as well as you. So take some time out of the day to move around. Not only does hiking get you so much needed exercise, but it’s also a great way fo your child to observe the world around them. You can point out the bees pollinating the flowers and maybe even try to identify different birds by their calls.

• Visiting the library. Reading is an essential skill all children need to learn as it will greatly improve their prospects in life. Borrow some books from the library and then read them out loud to your child. If your child is too old to be read books, take some time to read the same book, and form a book club to discuss major points of the story.

The best part is that everything can be used as a learning experience if you’re creative enough. Be flexible. You don’t always have to do learning lessons outside of the ‘class,’ but it’s a good idea to grab onto one if your child shows interest.

Make Learning a Family Activity

Share your excitement for learning with your children by joining them. Maybe there’s a subject that everyone enjoys or maybe you’re an expert in something that you think your children would love to learn. Or maybe there’s a subject that your child wants to learn that you also don’t know too much about. All of these are great opportunities to come together as a family and learn.

There are plenty of ways to involve the entire family and make learning fun. You can go to the zoo or aquarium to learn more about ecology. There are plenty of educational board games that can improve your child’s geography or cooperation skills. Apps like Duolingo can gamify learning a new language. You can both learn a new language and see who earns the most points. Or, if you have some time to spare, you can jump into a video game like Minecraft, which teaches children creativity, problem-solving, self-direction, and collaboration among other skills.

Collaborate With Other Homeschoolers

Remember, you’re not the only one struggling with teaching your kids at home. There are hundreds of other parents who are going through the same thing. There are also many parents who were already homeschooling their children before the pandemic. Just because you’re in charge of your child’s education doesn’t mean you have to do it all alone. In fact, even teachers bounce ideas off of each other at school. So why not take a page from their book and get in touch with the parenting community? 

If you’re not sure where to start, do a quick search to find local parenting groups in your neighborhood. If you are already a part of some, reach out to a few of the members to see if they have any resources or suggestions. You can also specifically search for homeschooling communities as they will likely have a wide range of resources that they can suggest. Whoever you choose to reach out to, make sure to collaborate and share tips or information. This will make the process easier on you, but will also enrich your child’s experience and education.

Ease Into School

Once schools start back up after summer break, it will take your child some time to get back on track with the schedule. Instead of rushing back into the full lineup, ease back into it if possible. Focus on one or two subjects in the first week and then start ramping the number up for each progressive week. This way, your child won’t be overwhelmed by the amount of work they need to do. Of course, they will still need to attend their virtual or in-person classes, but you can run on a slightly reduced schedule afterward at least for a little while.

Keep an eye on your child and check in on them from time-to-time when school starts back up. If they’re feeling overwhelmed or seem demotivated, see if you can pinpoint the issue. You might also need to chat with their teacher to see if there are any topics they are struggling with. It’s important to address the issue immediately with the teacher and then try to gradually solve the issue at home so you’re not bombarding your child with too much information.

Distance Learning and Homeschooling Can Be A Challenge Without These Helpful Tips

Distance learning and homeschooling can be overwhelming, especially in the beginning. Not only do you have to handle your own workload, but you also need to be an attentive teacher to your child. Luckily, there are many resources you can find for parents and students that can help make the transition a bit easier.

Perhaps the best tip during these times is to relax and have fun! It might not be the ideal situation, but this opportunity to be more involved in your child’s education means you’ll see your child learn and grow right before your eyes. You can celebrate their success when they finally understand how to solve an issue or just take the time to enjoy their company. Kids grow quickly, so cherish the time that you have with them before they fly from the next!

Karen A Mulvey is a personal social blogger and mom with 14 years of experience in the every day world of motherhood and sustainable product research. Karen is on a mission to help everyday families select sustainable, non-toxic organic products, stop stressing about uncertainties on sustainable home goods and apparel, and start living the life they’ve always wanted.

Follow Karen at @karenAmulveycs | Karen A Mulvey

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