April 2, 2020
You are CRISIS-Schooling, NOT Homeschooling

You are CRISIS-Schooling, NOT Homeschooling

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With public school closing due to social distancing, parents are being told that they are homeschooling their children until the pandemic passes.  You parents are working hard for sure, but you are getting a VERY skewed view of what you think homeschoolers do!

Suddenly homeschooling? Well actually... you are not a homeschooler at all! If school at home isn't working here is how to get some balance and make social distancing work

School at Home

Right now parents accross the country and around the world are doing school at home due to social isolation. It was a ncessary step to slow the curve and save lives! It has been interesting to see what everyone is donig for schooling at home:

  • Form of Elearning – parents are told students have a mandated 5 hours in front of a computer screen a day. They check in with a teacher on google classroom (or similar program), complete assignments the teacher has left for them, and tell the teacher when they are done for the day so their attendance can be taken.
  • Homework School – other parents were sent home with a stack of school books and a list of what to read/complete at home.
  • Extended Vacation / Unknown – finally some parents have been sent home for an extended spring break and were told they would let them know what would happen if this quarntine continued beyond 14 days.
  • Good luck – some school districs have given little to no guidance on what kids should be learning at home

Now please hear me, this is NOT the fault of the teachers! This whole thing has come up very suddenly and teachers have been, and continue to work very hard to make learning fun and engaging  on a very new platform. Some teachers are still reading stories online to their classes and some schools are having spirit weeks. Many educators are working more hours than they ever did teaching from a classroom. These teachers are rockstars and are going above and beyond because they love their students! They are taking the lemons they’ve been dealt and they are trying as hard as they can to make lemonade for your kids.

So be patient with them. Thank them for the extra effor they are taking. If you have concerns and feel the workload is too much or unattainable – talk to them! This is all new to them too and they don’t know it isn’t working unless you tell them.

Okay… now let me tell you why schools closing does not = homeschooling.

Homeschoolers .  .  .

  • get to choose their curriculum! We don’t sit in front of a computer for 5 hours. We pick a program that works best for our family and our children. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. So as you feel overwhelmed with the amount of school work your child must complete, please do not think we homeschool families do that same thing. Sure, we learn the same material you do in public school, but in a variety of formats like reading lots of books, hands-on activities, and much less (sorry, there is no other way to say it) busy work.
  • do not stay home all day! Right now we are all stuck in our homes with the exception of getting outside for walks / fresh air (as long as we stay 6 feet away from those not in our family). That is NOT the norm for most homeschoolers. You make think we sit at home all day, every day ,and “do school” at little desks in our house, but let me assure you – we don’t. We are a very social group! We have  go to the library, plan lots of fieldtrips, meet with other homeschoolers at various coops, take piano / instrument lessons, art classes, gym / sports instructions, volunteer in our community, playdates at the park, and more. We just get to squeeze these in during the day when your kids are sitting at their desks.
  • are full-time homeschoolers! With few exceptions, homeschoolers have a parent devoted to instructing their children. Someone who picked the paterial, spends time teaching the lesson, plans fieldtrips, and is use to the routine. You private and public school parents have other responsibilities. So many of you are having to work from home AND teach your children at the same time! That is CRAZY and really …. not possible! You can’t do everything!
  • had a choice. Not everyone wants to or is equipped to homeschool. There are lots of family dynamics or obligations that go into a decision to homeschool your child. If you are doing school at home you did not choose to. There was no strong conviction about why you felt homeschooling was a better fit. Strong convictions are choices and we always make time and make things work that are important to us. This was not your choice, it was thrust upon you. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed and that this is NOT THE CHOICE YOU WANT!

HELP! I don’t want to Homeschool

So your school at home isn’t working? That’s okay; I get it! It was a spur-of-the-moment, forced decision and you are already booked with a full-time job! You are not a bad mom (or Dad) if it is stressful, overwhelming, and if you are down-on-your-knees praying school opens back up tomorrow! You were dealt an impossible hand.

But, you do have choices. It can get better.

  1. Communicate with your school. Sometimes simply talking to your teacher or school administrator and letting them know it is too much is all it takes. Again, this is all unchartered waters for everyone!  If you have extenuating circumstances like one of you is a health care worker, someone is ill, etc. make sure they know that too. Teachers are people too and they understand. (Most teachers are also juggling 2 jobs – teaching AND school-at-home).
  2. Pull Back. If your school doesn’t have strict guidelines, don’t put added stress on yourself! Let your kids learn by reading (try my free booklists – Amazon still delivers!), playing an educational game, watching National Geographic channel on Disney +,  make projects with Kiwi Crate, let kids PLAY, and spending quality time together. Trust me – 2 months of less structured school will NOT ruin their education. I promise! They just might become more relaxed, well read, and develop new different interests. If they fall beind, they’ll easily catch up in math and grammar when this pandemic is behind us.
  3. Get Help. If you don’t have school work, or what you were given isn’t working for you, we have tons of FREE resources to help you through the isolation period and beyond. Our no prep worksheets and fun activities will have kids EXCITED to learn. Scroll down to see links by grade and by subject!
  4. Officially Homeschool. This is probably a little extreme unless you feel some sort of conviction to homeschool in the first place, but if your school is being stringent and you feel trapped, you can officially pull your child from public school and begin homeschooling. Again, with the state of the world, I would go about this unless you have strong convictions on becoming a homeschool family or you are having BIG issues that are not being addressed. I heard one parent who said the teacher kept calling at night threatening that their child was getting a zero if they dind’t turn in work within an hour. If you have tried to talk to the teacher and administrator, this is an option to you. See HSLD for state rules on regulation. Find out how to homeschool here.

 

School Worksheets

And no matter what you choose – we are here to help! We have over 1 milliion free worksheets, games, and activities for students Prek-8th grade. You can see printables by grade; simply click on the thumnails below :

Preschool Worksheets  TONS of free kindergarten worksheets and kindergarten games to help kindergartners learn math, alphabet, literacy, word families, sight words, counting, addition, history, science and more with free kindergarten activities  free 1st grade worksheets for practicnig math, english, science, history and more  Grade 2 Worksheets and games to make practicing math, english, science, social studies, art, and more FUN!

over 3000 pages of free third grade printables to help students in grade 3 practice math, english, grammar, history, science experiments, and more  grade 4 worksheets, games & printables 2000+ grade 5 worksheets including free printable math games, english grammar activities, science, geography, history, music, science, and more #5thgrade #grade5 #homeschool 2000+ pages of grade 6 worksheets, games, and activities to make learning math, english grammar, language arts, history, geography, science, music and more fun #grade6 #6thgrade #homeschool

grade 7 /8 free printables

Or find my free school worksheets by subject – click on a thumbnail below:

4000+ free math worksheets, games, and activities for elementary age kids  3000+ free language arts worksheets, games and activities to make learning english grammar fun for elementary age kids  Science Experiments, printables, lessons, and projects to make science fun for kids from preschool, pre k, kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, and grade 6

Tons of hands on units filled with educational history for kids and free printables  Famous Artists for Kids - SO many super cute and fun projects for kids of all ages Bible Crafts for Kids

Each of these pages are filled with so many resources, you can’t download a pdf file of everything at once (you may laugh, but many have asked!).

  • Click on the grade thumbnail
  • Scroll to find the resource that works for your student / family and click on picture or title
  • See the complete resource and if that was what you are looking for, go to the bottom of the post and click on the text link that says >> Download << OR  for subscriber freebies just enter your email address in the box to confirm subscription and download. Easy Peasy! So many freebies in one place – take your time and browse -It’s all FREE!

Whatever you decide, know we homeschoolers are happy to help. Your teachers are here to help. We all need a little grace and to relax expectations so that we call get through the next several weeks (or months) without a panic attack  😉

40 fun April Kids Activities! So many fun spring activities including frogs, rainbows, rain, easter, and more! #kidsactivities #spring #preschool  April Stories for Kids  Fun april crafts for kids

Looking for more fun ideas with your family? Try our 40+ April Activies for Kids or these fun April Crafts for Kids. Spend time reading together as a family with our April Stories for Kids, Childrens Books to Read, or our Bookcase Reading Logs to have a friendly family reading contest.

15 Ways to Avoid Social ISOLATION as you Shelter at Home 75 Conversation Starters to help families stay Connected with Grandparents During Social Isolation 10 Things Parents MUST do in Social Isolation - in this uncertain time when kids are anxious, miss their routine / friends / activites... here are some things parents must do. And it has nothing to do with masks or hand sanitizer #stayhome #flattenthecurve #covid19 #coronavirus #moms

Plus don’t miss our other great articles on surviving the pandemic:

50+ FREE Brain Breaks for Kids Schooling at Home in COVID-19 Isolation - simply print, cut apart the pages in the pdf file. These will help kids focus better, and get the breaks there bodies need from5 hours in front of a computer doing public school at home #stayathome #covid19 #brainbreaks #schoolathome #freeprintable FREE Printable hand washing posters - we have girl and boy super hero wash your hands poster in color and black and white to print, color and put by every sink in every bathroom in your house, school, classroom, etc. to stop the coronavirus, flu, and germs from spreading!  Over 1 million FREE printable worksheets for toddler, preschool, pre k, kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grdae, 5th grade, and 6th grade students to make learning fun! Includes worksheets for kids (free worksheets, homeschool worksheets, and free worksheets) to practice math, english, grammar, science, history, alphabet letters and more! The best free printable worksheets for kids!

Over 30 Fieldtrips for kids in social isolation from coronavirus and doing school at home

Happy Schooling at Home!



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