Mini City Magazine contributor Jessica Herberger is here today with some tips on how to set up a school at home structure that works for you and your kids during the school closure.
SETTING UP YOUR FAMILY & YOURSELF
-You can all do this!
-DO NOT go seeking out every homeschool resource you can. Your goal is NOT to recreate a homeschool scenario. The best and healthiest thing for your kids is to create a SCHOOL-AT-HOME environment. There is a difference! The goal is to help your kids survive/thrive in the current environment so they can return to school easily.
-By day three of this new experience you will for certain have a really bad day and so will your kids. You are all still going to be ok!! Just as an aside, homeschool Moms and kids do not possess an extra measure of patience so do not tell yourself that lie.
-If at all possible figure out where schooling is going to take place: living room, kitchen, office, bedroom, etc. Pick a place-it will help to have one designated.
SETTING UP YOUR DAY
-Pick school hours within the confines of any established online activities from your school. When time for school comes to an end you can save the rest for another day. Hours should replicate their time in school.
-Understand that your child will not and should not be actively “schooling” the whole time within the designated hours. THIS IS GOOD.
-Decide what are and are not acceptable uses of their time during school hours when they are not actively working on school work. For example: postpone video games until after 3p.
-Resist the urge to pack the schedule. Resist the urge to pack the schedule. Resist the urge to pack the schedule. Kids have lots of downtime during traditional school. They walk between specials, they wait while things get set up, they have quiet time while the teacher helps others one-on-one. They need time to decompress throughout the day.
-Start the morning together. It will be valuable to have a team meeting to review what is going on with everyone’s schedule and to remind everyone that you are in it together.
-Post your schedule for the day. Pick a few times where things are scheduled to happen.
-Be prepared for the constant request for snacks and ignore it. Have a snacktime or two or three and lunch time established. If you have any special treats or snacks on hand slide those to your student at unexpected moments :)
OUR TYPICAL DAY (this is JUST what works for us-but it may give you a starting point)
9:30-morning time. We gather kids and myself to review the day and do a few simple things together. Handwriting, calendar review, read aloud book all take place now
10:00a- all kids do math.
Break for snack
11:00a-English. This is often big kids reading on their own before they work through grammar with me while our little guy works on reading skill.
Everyone gets free time once English is done and I prep lunch.
Full Disclosure: lunch is one of the worst things about schooling at home in any variety. My tips are make it easy and feel free to serve the same thing every day.
1:00p- History/Science/Art. One of these happens in the afternoon. They are all VERY valuable but they do not need to all happen daily. Yup, that's right.
3:00p- School hours are done and everyone gets to have some free time on their own.
SETTING UP FOR SUCCESSFUL ONLINE LEARNING
Tips for helping your child succeed with zoom, google classroom and similar.
-have kids practice first. You can log on to zoom or skype and have kids practice with a family member or friend. It is weird to see yourself and pay attention to someone else simultaneously but this feels less strange the more they practice
-have them use the bathroom before the class starts
-have a drink handy
-ensure all supplies are available: paper, pens etc
-set them up in a quiet place if at all possible
-let them know you will check in (out of sight of the video camera) to make sure they dont need anything, and then be sure to do it
Jessica is an author and speaker focused on encouraging women to live with peace, joy and freedom. She works from home and also homeschools her three kids. Jessica believes community and friendship are incredibly important as are books, music and that first cup of coffee in the morning.
Connect with her on Instagram @jessherberger
