Home Schooling Tips

Are you suddenly having to home school your kids?

 

Working from home and suddenly homeschooling two elementary age children has been a challenge on many levels.

One thing that has helped tremendously is my background of volunteering at the local elementary schools for the better part of 18 years. I was reflecting on several things that the teachers implement to get through the day with 20 + kiddos.

 

1. They have a schedule – the kids know math is at a certain time, language arts, recess, lunch, snack time etc. and do well in that circumstance.

2. They take breaks. They understand that kids can hit a wall sometimes and forcing them to work through that can be defeating. There are multiple times I have seen teachers stop what they are doing, open up the outside doors, and have the kids run a few laps outside. The kids come back from the change of pace and fresh air in a much better mind set.

3. Do you need a break yourself? Schedule some reading time. Make sure part of the day you schedule the kids to read a book, not much supervision required for that and it might even be quiet during that time and help you recuperate.

4. Make sure and schedule any google meets where the teachers are giving ‘zoom’ meeting style instructions to the class. The teachers are getting much more in the swing of doing so and the instruction has been fantastic to help spell out the expectations of the week to the kids, as well as to help with any technical difficulties the kids are having accessing online resources.

5. The teachers also implement ‘go noodle’ typically throughout the day and let the kids get up and exercise.

6. Videos are OK to use! Brain pop is an awesome tool and there are many more. We just looked up on the national geographic website the information about meteorites since there was just a meteor shower that could be seen from Berthoud this past weekend. They had a great video explaining what they are. Another benefit of this was that the kids had a say in picking the subject as a ‘special’ project that they were very engaged in.

7. Take a walk – teachers get breaks during recess and lunch time – and need them. Even taking 5-10 minutes to take a walk around the block will help you not go crazy.

 

Thank You Teachers!

I know the teachers are also in a very unique circumstance right now. Some having their own children at home that they are responsible for teaching, in addition to their classrooms. I would like to thank them deeply for all that they are giving of themselves in working through a totally unexpected situation, with learning curves and technical issues, and yet they are still there doing the best they can for our families. 🙂

 

Some Helpful Websites:

https://www.khanacademy.org/ – You can sign up as a parent account and add kids under you – this is AMAZING for math concepts and kids can do classes in a systematic way and you will be emailed updates as they master skills (it’s free!)

https://www.prodigygame.com/  – A game style math lesson website

https://www.adventureacademy.com/ – low yearly cost and is totally worth it – virtual cartoon campus with more activities than your kids could ever accomplish and is based on grade level and age.

 

How about learning another language?

https://www.duolingo.com –  (free options available)

https://www.memrise.com/ –  (free options available)

Have some additional tips? Send them over!

info@berthoudhelpingberthoud.com

Home School Kids