There's a panic in the air. Yes, the virus and all that, but I'm referring specifically to the "Oh no! I have to homeschool my kids for the next month!" panic.
Let's be honest with each other. You don't want to homeschool your kids; you want to keep them occupied for 8 hours a day while you figure out how to work from home. If they're doing something vaguely educational during those hours, you'll feel much better about your parenting.
We (@sjbrinley and I) have been working from home for over a decade, and we've been homeschooling our two children (ages 11 and 8) since pre-school. Everything I can tell you about how we organize our schedules and our curriculum DOES NOT APPLY.
Effective homeschooling takes planning; it takes attention; it takes commitment. Homeschooling is interactive; it is social. It is not easily accomplished under quarantine, while you're worried about the plague, while you're facing upheaval in every aspect of your life.
Let's lower our expectations a bit. We're not looking for "effective" homeschooling this month; we're looking for "passable" homeschooling. Indeed, let's not even call it "homeschooling"; let's call it "poorly supervised self-directed learning at home".
Aside: If your kids are under six years old, you have my condolences. You need a nanny; they're not going to supervise themselves all day. In this context, you are the nanny. Good luck.
With a more realistic goal in hand, we can put together a plan. Some key objectives:
• minimize planning time
• minimize screen time
• minimize instructional time
• minimize whining and boredom
• minimize planning time
• minimize screen time
• minimize instructional time
• minimize whining and boredom
Start off by establishing boundaries. Spatial boundaries first, then temporal boundaries. Where are you going to work? Where are your kids going to work? Make sure you put walls and doors in between. Then close the door.
Doors are your first communication boundary. If a door is closed, the person on the other side is probably busy; try not to interrupt. If it's urgent, knock and wait for a response. If it can wait, put a sticky note on the door, send a text, or post to a family Slack group.
Kids should learn to respect the door. Parents should learn to respect the door. If you're not working, open the door. Remember that you live with these people; it's a good idea to see them occasionally.
Your family needs a new routine. Write it down, print it out, post it on the wall so everyone knows what the routine looks like. What time do we eat meals? Who prepares them? What should we do between meals? What chores need to be done? Who's responsible for doing them?
Spread out your day a little bit. Spend a little more time together at meals. Work a little bit in the evening; you won't be able to fit 8 hours between 9 and 5.
If you have two parents at home, designate who will be "on call" for emergencies at any given time. This can be a regular schedule, or a sign stuck to the refrigerator.
What does "school" look like? It does not need to be a solid block of time filling up the entire day. Your kids will learn more in two or three hours of focus at home than they learn in a day in the classroom.
Schedule a few hour-long blocks through the day for academics, but also schedule some blocks for other activities: go outside, read a book, do something creative, play a game, call a friend.
Do your kids have friends? I'd wager they'll start to miss each other after a few days. Set up virtual play dates. Use Facebook Messenger, Google Meet, Zoom, FaceTime, etc. If you coordinate it, your kids will figure out how to make it effective.
Curriculum is a big question. What should your kids be learning? You're the only one who can answer that, and finding that answer may be your most difficult task. Start with what they were learning in school, and look for resources to continue that.
Ask your kids what they want to learn. Maybe this is a good time to take a break from multiplication tables and focus on history (or vice versa). You don't need every subject every day, or even every month.
Khan Academy has some great resources and some sample schedules that might help you. docs.google.com/document/d/e/2…
Your kids need some sort of direction. Give them goals appropriate to their abilities and personalities. My kids work great with detailed checklists. Yours might like more nebulous objectives.
Recommend some books for them to read. I would normally recommend your local public library, but it's probably closed right now (if it's not, avoid it anyway). It's probably time to look into a Kindle Unlimited subscription or some such. (Affiliate link: amzn.to/2x1ZzPL)
You can't go to the library, but it might be worth checkout out its website. Look for online resources your library subscribes to; they'll make a great supplement to your curriculum.
Set up separate Netflix and YouTube profiles, and fill them with educational videos. Science and nature are popular topics (David Attenborough's gentle voice is a charming addition to any home), but you'll also find history, documentaries, cooking, music, and more.
Don't be afraid of screen time. Some of it is good, engaging, educational. Some of it is mindless, repetitive, desensitizing. Emphasize the former, but allow some breaks with the latter.
One of our stated objectives is "minimize planning", and here I've told you to make detailed plans. :shrug: You get what you put into it. The more you plan up front, the less ad hoc planning you have to do in the middle of your work day.
Your kids are not going to learn the same things they would have learned in school. You are not going to be as productive as you were in your former routine. It's not because you're homeschooling; it's not because you're working remotely. It's because everything is upside-down.
