Are you currently homeschooling against your will because of the coronavirus outbreak? If so I would first of all like to encourage you. Take a deep breath. You CAN do this!
I’ve been seeing a few other articles similar to this one circulating, but one of the problems I see with some of them is that they are a complete deviation from what you’re kids have probably been studying, and what your kids teachers have been telling you to do. Many of them are overwhelming to me (and I’ve been at this gig for 10 years)!
The advantage to the tips I’m giving in this post are that I don’t believe they will be a deviation from what your kids have been accustomed to. Instead they will be working with your kids teachers and enhancing what your kids have already been learning and doing in public school, plus some of these will TAKE A LOAD off of YOU. One of the tips will not only take a load off parents but entertain the kids and give them something enjoyable to do at the same time.
History In The Making
Today was a big day. I called my kids in from their regular activities to watch history unfold as President Donald Trump declared a national emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Then I went to work on this video because I knew many parents are going to be looking for simple, clear cut directions.
I’ve recorded a video for you with details explaining how to start emergency homeschooling midyear, and you’ll want to be sure to watch the video, but I’ve also included some quick references for you to come back to so you don’t have to keep re-watching the video.
I’ve also included some helpful resources for you and will be returning to this post to keep it updated for you.
How To Start Emergency Homeschooling Midyear
Before I give you the tips that I have for you I want to drive one point home. What you are experiencing is NOT true homeschooling.
When a parent decides to homeschool it is usually something they’ve had time and an opportunity to make a conscious decision to do. They’ve had time to plan, and prepare.
What parents are going through in an emergency homeschooling situation is more like being thrown into the deep end of a pool without being taught to swim.
I want to emphasize a couple things here. One is the need to relax. If you are feeling pressured, step back. Breathe.
Secondly, is that with true homeschooling it takes up to six months to truly get a good grip on the process for most parents. So if you feel like you are drowning and like things are not going well, this is probably a normal feeling!
This is where I want to tell you that if your child learns even just one thing a day, if they read just one book, watch just one educational show on YouTube….that is SOMETHING!
Please, don’t overwhelm yourself, and if you start feeling overwhelmed know it’s time to step back, breath, and know that it’s okay if all you are taking right now are tiny baby educational steps with your kids.
Step 1, Talk to your school district & teachers
Most schools are implementing e-learning, so if your school hasn’t yet it’s likely they will. This will mean you’ll be all set!
Simply skip down to step 3 and 4!
If you’re school isn’t implementing e-learning, check out step 2.
Step 2, Look into K-12 programs and local programs your area has
PLEASE NOTE; When I did the video I was unaware K-12 was nation wide and that they did a press release and they are making adjustments just for families disrupted by the coronavirus.
If you decide not to do this, check into what your area has to offer. For example, our area uses a program (it might be the k-12 program-I’m not sure) for homeschoolers where the state provides curriculum and a teacher that kids and parents can meet with once a week for check in’s and support.
Tip-If you join your local facebook homeschool group on Facebook someone will be able to plug you in with what your area has to offer.
Step 3, These can be used in addition to step 1 and 2
When it comes to learning time lets say you are faced with something you have no idea how to teach and your kids teachers aren’t available at the moment to answer the question.
Or let’s say you’re doing K-12 and need resources beyond what it offers. Or if you are not using K-12, or say your kids finished with the schoolwork their school assigned for the day and are bouncing off the walls and you want to keep them busy.
Check out YouTube and Khan Academy! These are awesome tools!
Here are some of our favorite YouTube channels that my kids just eat up;
Homeschool Pop
Ted-ED
Smart History
Free School
EngVid
BONUS TIPS! If you would like to keep some records of what your children are learning with these resources-or if you would like to reinforce what they are learning-or simply have a fun activity, have elementary/middle schoolers draw pictures or write a few sentences (older kids) about what they learned from these video resources. For high schoolers you could have them write a short report.
Another tip is to use these resources on weekends and even through the summertime to help your kids stay sharp for their return back to school.
Step 4, What Your Child Needs To Know Series
Okay, I think every homeschool and public school family can benefit from these regardless of the situation, time of year, or circumstances! Even if your kids are going back to school in two or three weeks I still recommend these!
I talk all about them in the video but you can read my review of these books HERE. We love these books!
Note that these will help keep your kids on track with core knowledge. They would be GREAT to keep your kids from losing too much information during the “summer slide” backwards too.
If you cannot find these at the library you can get them here. Again, if your kids are bouncing off the wall these would be GREAT to give them, and will be in line with their current education at school. I’m pretty sure their teachers will love you for getting these and once your kids start reading them they’ll get some sent home with more happy faces and stars once school resumes!
*This post contains affiliate links.
Step 5, Get a system in place
Although you want to keep it loose at first (maybe even taking a couple days off before you start schooling at home), you will want to establish a routine for when your kids are home. This will especially be the make or breaker for parents who have to work and have kids that are old enough and can do school at home alone.
As a homeschooling mom of 6 (teen to tot), and as one who’s run home based business and schooled through newborn phases and managed the home I can emphatically say the only way anything get’s done is with systematic routines. By far the most successful thing we’ve found to manage routines is our chore chart system, you can learn more about it HERE.
If your children are stepping out of school into a homeschool setting be sure to check out my chore chart system, and subject cards so your kids have direction and know what’s next throughout the day.
Additional Resources
Whichever method you choose to begin homeschooling, there are just a couple additional resources that you’ll likely find helpful in your journey.
Teachers Pay Teachers is a great resource that you might find helpful if your child is needing additional help and worksheets on a particular topic. Some of the worksheet’s require a small payment but many of them are free.
If you would like to delve deeper into some subjects you’ll want to check out Love At Home ED where you can find unit studies on specific subjects.
I hope, How To Start Emergency Homeschooling Midyear, has been helpful to you! Please share this post for others and if you have questions please comment below or CONTACT ME and I’ll do my best to answer them!
If you would like you can browse my other homeschool related posts below.
Conclusion
Always remember that it’s more important to have fun than stress. Take confidence in your parenthood. You are your child’s parent, and remember you know your child best. You probably know what they need most! Is there something you know how to teach that you know your child needs to learn? Is there something your child is passionate about and want’s to learn more about? Go with it!
I hope this has been helpful, please let me know what you think and how you are getting through this crazy time!
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A lot of parents needed this! Thanks for sharing.
My sister has been worried with the disruption of classes and been asking about homeschooling. Just sent the link of this post to her.
Thank you for sharing these.Very helpful and timely with the ongoing crisis that we have.
These are great tips! I never could have imagined that I would be in the situation where I had to homeschool…but here I am doing it!!!
This is perfect! Stressful time for those having schools cancelled for the rest of the year! I know we definitely needed this!
This is really helpful. I have to admit, tho, I am currently crisis-schooling. This has not been easy for me.
This is so incredibly helpful! I know so many mamas that would love this resource – thank you for this!
These are great tips! It has been crazy here since I’m not used to having the kids home. But we’ve been coping okay so far!
Such a helpful post for parents worried about their kids education. Great way to keep them engaged at this time.
We are having to do this on our own. Our school district told the teachers not to do any extra videos or send any resources other than what it listed on the district website. Luckily when I’ve reached out to teachers on an individual basis they have told me where they left off and what to keep learning.
This transition has been so hard on students and parents alike. Thank you for sharing some tips that may help others!
It is good to have a plan in place to keep the kids busy and learning as well. We are fortunate that our schools are working to get a learning system in place.
Thanks for this, I’ve been talking with a lot of moms lately and they’re so overwhelmed with how to keep the kids learning with all of this mess is going on. I’m so thankful for resources like this post, and others to come up with a lesson plan for my 5-year old.
yeah this is NOT my jam! The first week my son was sick, so it was all a mess, but this week we have had more of a schedule. My daugthers teachers get paid good money to have to deal with her all day LOL, now i Have to! She drives me crazy. she wants to do what she wants to do…
Talk about a topic everyone is interested in right now! I’ll have to check out the Needs to Know books, they sound very helpful.
It’s a bit scary to think of having to start knowing nothing and being thrust into it. These look like good resources for those parents.
This is super helpful for where we are right now. I really hope this passes quickly.
So glad you wrote this post for everyone figuring out what to do during this time!
We’re currently scrambling. We have some help from our teachers and luckily my kids are lower elementary {kinder and second} so we’re managing but I’m definitely saving this for ideas!
It’s not as hard as most people make it out to be. In fact, this crisis is affording them so many things we, as year ’round homeschooling families don’t have.
Thank you so much for these great suggestions, Shayla – esp the reminder about Teachers Pay Teachers (which I knew about but had forgotten). Our one daughter is technically on spring break this week and the other (in public school)’s teachers have been forbidden from giving ANY guidance to parents until the district figures out what it’s going to do/how to handle this mess, so we have been totally winging it so far LOL!
I used the “What Your Child Needs to Know” books when my kids were younger, and they were really good.
Thanks for sharing. This was super helpful. I’m definitely going to incorporate some of these resources into my daily routine.
Thankfully, my daughter’s school was prepared and implemented e-learning. This is helpful though.
This is super helpful now that schools are closed
love this post.. and since my kids are both teens and their schools have already promised to send out lesson plans /virtual lesson options that they are figuring out currently/assignments etc by mid-week, i am mainly focused on keeping it together 🙂
This is such a great resource for a definite time in need.
I love this post! It truly made me feel better and less anxious about everything. Thank you! I love the chore chart.
This is so helpful. There are going to be so many parents anxiously trying to figure this out!
This is very helpful to parents like me who I’m sure share in my anxiety. I have seen a lot of resources made available for free for parents because of this outbreak. It’s nice to see so much encouragement and support!
This will definitely help some parents out, this situation is so scary as is but thinking of school on top of that must be terrible
I hope it helps too. You are right, so many parents are overwhelmed right now.