(This is the option rated as highest risk by the CDC) (CDC, 2020). Best Kids Yoga Videos on YouTube. We also chose to provide our girls with education regarding proper behavior online, rather than feeling the need to constantly police them and their online activities. (This is in no way intended to imply that they wont help you, since we have always experienced the exact opposite, especially when in direct contact with teachers, administrators, etc. You will need to research your options in your area if this is a deciding factor for you. In all honesty, because we got sick of answering the question of Can we watch? questions, we came up with a specific rule to guide their choices. You will need to determine the best balance and schedule for your family based on the ages you are teaching, the subjects you have selected, and the modes you have chosen to use to teach those subjects. Another point to consider is that you have every right to make the time spent educating your children as high a priority as any other meeting, so schedule it. If you have chosen to homeschool instead of opt into distance learning through your school, and the option is temporary, you may wish to file the notice of intent to homeschool and proceed to work closely with the school to ensure the smoothest transition back into the school when the time is right. One way to focus and be able to sift through all of the options is to decide what modes you wish to use to teach each of the subjects you selected, and limit your searches to the selected mode for each subject. Weathering the Storm. Retrieved March 19, 2020, from https://hellobestow.com/blog/gratitude-games/, Headspace. Our girls were homeschooled since Kindergarten, and I chose materials for each individual subject for each girl, and planned the curriculum and lesson plans myself throughout this entire time. State Virtual Schools. While you are working on a schedule more customized to you, your kids and your work schedule, two companies, Khan Academy and Scholastic, have recently provided lesson plans and activities free for children who are now staying home due to school closings. CommonSenseMedia.org. But, there is also so much that is fully within our control. They already do for other meetings and for lunch, right? Our children need to be able to disagree and question things when concepts or instructions arent clear to them. A lesson I learned the hard way many times is that they cant both be done (effectively) at the same time. K12. School and schoolwork does not have to be an all-or-nothing situation. Making sure others respect your time is actually easier than it might seem at first. Instead of trying to convince your kids why they should be quiet and calm during your conference calls and hoping for the best, you might try giving them specific activities to keep them busy during these times. The last thing we need is to waste time searching for books, pencils, paper and other supplies while we are trying to work and homeschool. Common Sense Media. To this day, we stand by that rule and have had very few issues. ), 2) Do you (and your student) want the ability or option to participate in after school activities? Retrieved March 19, 2020, from https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html, STEAMsational. More details about the rating systems used for the Common Sense Media ratings can be found here: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/about-us/our-mission/about-our-ratings. Before you start, identify an award they will earn if you get a bingo and/or if they black out the entire card by meeting the criteria of each bingo square on the entire bingo card. This is not true, legally. Roblox. No one knows what the right answer is to any question or problem right now, BUT, we can all try things, fail, get back up, and try something else. Retrieved March 19, 2020, from https://www.steamsational.com/free-printable-homeschool-planners/, The new challenge to keep the kids occupied during conference calls is: FORT MAKING!!! (2020). Some states and districts are surveying parents to find out their comfort level with the options listed above (or others, depending on the state and district). (2020). (n.d.). Small wins go a long way. AnimalCams. What Are the Non-Core Subjects?. I will gather and post a list of the supplies I always kept on hand soon. Retrieved March 19, 2020, from https://www.headspace.com/covid-19, Khan Academy (2020). Calling it schoolwork for the toddler made her feel like she was getting to do something cool that her big sister was doing, while really just doing what she would have been anyway. Remote Learning with Khan Academy During School Closures. There are also many online tours of national parks, zoos, and aquariums. Everything you need to organize your area is probabily already in your home. All movies, for example, have ratings from Common Sense Media, as well as a kids rating and a parents rating, but even more helpful are the details provided by Common Sense Media behind their specific rating. You will need to decide, based on your family values and rules about electronics and screen time, your work schedule and flexibility, ages of your children, and learning preferences and styles, what modes are best for you for each student and each subject. Youre Probably Homeschooling Way More Than You Need To. (n.d.). For example, if you choose to homeschool or opt for distance learning to start with in the fall, will you want to send your children back to school (this year or in the future)? In work environments, especially when working on projects, everyone has clearly defined roles and responsibilities which are laid out on a project plan. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://www.k12.com/. What Ill provide below is a brief overview of some of the options for planning the work, starting with four considerations for doing so. 2) Block off the appropriate time for schoolwork on your work calendar and communicate these expectations to your manager and coworkers. One combined list of these is accessible on EarthCam.com, here: https://www.earthcam.com/events/animalcams/. The answer to this question can provide further guidance for what choice might be best for you and your family, on top of the obvious comfort level with sending them to a physical school building in August or September. Lets face it, we are all in survival mode right now, and trying to claim anything else would be misleading. Hopefully, you have found this content helpful, and are on your way to planning a (relativelythey are our awesome kids, after all) calm, fun and enjoyable adventure educating your children at home while working. Enjoy! SheKnows.com. (n.d.). As you wrap up the day, after allowing your kids to play and relax for the first day, take three deep breaths and smile, knowing that you completed some planning and organizing, and that you are on your way. These can be accessed here: https://www.headspace.com/covid-19. The reality is that we need to accept that nothing is going to be perfect in this imperfect situation, so for the perfectionists out there (like myself), if we are surviving and our families are surviving, we are doing the best we can, and that is good enough. Think about other ways that you can work to promote trust, constructive conflict, commitment, accountability, and attention to results as part of your students learning team and pick one item to focus on at a time. While we await final proposals for opening of schools in the fall from states and local districts, we are all asking what if? What if schools open as usual in the fall at full capacity? What if schools are opened in a virtual-only format to start the school year and transition to blended or alternating schedule formats, or even full capacity later in the school year? In fact, they have created a launch page for the current times, accessible here: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/resources-for-families-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic, Common Sense Media. At those times, my kids were at the ages where they needed more hands-on help and their school workload was higher, so it worked well for us. This can be important if you are deciding between temporarily homeschooling your children and opting into distance learning (especially in middle school or high school grades). The ability to have an open and honest discussion with their teacher, administrator, or even boss, is a skill that will only help them in their future. We have never parented (or helped our kids with remote learning) during a global pandemic. Organizing any extra items needed (for science experiments, for example) over the weekend for the entire week will also help make your work/homeschool days flow much smoother. However, with everything clearly defined and with trust, constructive conflict and commitment, holding each other accountable for their respective parts becomes much easier, and does not need to involve finger pointing or other negative non-constructive behaviors. These options are completed at a time and location of your convenience and have assigned teachers for all classes, as well as providing official transcripts and grades, just like on-ground/in-person school options. This is a great time to have the conversation with your manager about the priorities of the work currently assigned to you, the hours they expect, or require, you to be available, and where flexibility does (and does not) exist in your schedule, workload and work-related responsibilities. Given the current closure of public schools, many publishers are providing content online for free, as well. Current Homeschool Laws. While you are on a conference call today, have your kids stand next to your whiteboard or sit next to you coloring or doing some additional activity, and work with them to complete a bingo card based on what is said or done on your conference call. In my personal opinion, consistency in accountability, especially for online learners, is fundamental to their success, I believe, but it takes everyone involved being on the same page to maintain an appropriate level of accountability. If your remote/distance learning/homeschooling is only planned to be temporary, keeping as close to the curriculum their classmates are learning in school will make for the smoothest transition when the time comes for them to go to school and join their classmates again. So, what options are there? You can use an existing bingo card, plenty of which are posted for free online. https://medium.com/taskworld-blog/lencionis-5-dysfunctions-of-a-team-330d58b2cd81. For those who are not experienced or knowledgeable about publishers used for K-12 education, the National University Library System has a list on their website, accessible here: https://nu.libguides.com/CommonCore/ccss_publishers. Welltrainedmind.com. You dont have to wait until plans for the fall are released to figure out what you are comfortable (and not comfortable) with. You can research options for full-time online schooling, which some states offer for free (Digital Learning Collaborative, 2018). Its important that parents, educators and administrators clearly define what the goals are and monitor progress toward those goals. 2) Identify the subjects you would like to teach each of the children. If yours has not done so, or you would like to supplement the work provided to your kids, there are many approaches to doing so. 3) All members of the team should remember that discomfort leads to growth and work on being ok with being held accountable, with hearing feedback that they dont really want to hear, and with giving honest, constructive feedback to other members of the team when things arent working well. For example, Connecticut only requires a notice of withdrawal, legally, but does recommend (only a recommendation, not a legal requirement) a notice of intent to homeschool and portfolio review. KEY POINT: You do not have to replicate your full workday and the full school day, so give yourself a break and get rid of that expectation right away. If you want more information prior to pursuing this option, your best bet is likely to reach out to the school or district directly for more information about what the portfolio review might look like, what kind of support and guidance you can expect from them, etc. ), Have your parent/guardian take a picture of your fort, with the list of equipment used and post it to Twitter using the hashtag #fortchallenge and tag @HomeschoolWork. Write a list of the equipment you used to make your fort. Greater Good Magazine. Awake and Mindful. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews, Focus on the Family. This is when choosing distance learning through the school, working with the school on curriculum or even taking advantage of optional portfolio reviews, or employing a certified teacher in a pandemic pod could work out better than doing what we did with creating a custom curriculum. Other paid options exist for states which do not offer state virtual schools, like K12, ConnectionsAcademy, although many others exist, as well (Connections Academy, 2020; K12, 2020). (n.d.). A few of the things that are currently within our control are: 1) our reactions to the current situation, 2) our attitudes, 3) our schedule and 4) our space. Homeschool Laws By State. Many of our kids had packed schedules of school, sports, and other activities, with barely enough time to grab a sandwich in the car for supper. Others split them into pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten, grades 1-2, grades 3-5 and grades 6+. The pause for them is a huge change and requires adjustment, but provides an opportunity for us, as parents, to teach them how to slow down and be ok with being bored or finding their own activities. These are legally optional. Khan Academy has provided help and getting started pages for their content here: https://www.khanacademy.org/about/blog/post/611770255064350720/remote-learning-with-khan-academy-during-school, and the lessons themselves are accessible here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSZhOdEPAWjUQpqDkVAlJrFwxxZ9Sa6zGOq0CNRms6Z7DZNq-tQWS3OhuVCUbh_-P-WmksHAzbsrk9d/pub, Scholastic has provided schedules and lessons here: https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html. Coronavirus (COVID-19). (n.d.). When you get stressed or overwhelmed, just remember that surviving is all you and your family need to do right now, and the rest will all work out eventually. Awake and Mindful has collected five yoga videos for kids that might be one option for a calm activity to start off the day. 30 Gratitude Games and Activities for Kids to Practice Thankfulness. Age-Appropriate Chores. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://www.connectionsacademy.com/, CRHE. Always be appreciative.). Considerations for Schools. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://hslda.org/content/orgs/, K12.com. 5) Choose activities to start your day off on a calm and positive note. (2018). Here are a few suggestions of where we might start: 1) Develop (and ensure everyone knows and understands) clearly defined goals. If your student is overloaded with work, have them work with their teachers and administrators to request extensions or accommodations where needed. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/kid-safe-browsers-and-search-sites, Common Sense Media. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://hslda.org/legal, HSLDA. (n.d.). Patrick Lencioni wrote a book called, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, which gives a simple, straightforward way to think about what is needed for teams to function well and to thrive. There are many options for finding safe content online for kids. This includes finding appropriate websites, movies, games, and applications, teaching your children about online safety and digital citizenship, and knowing how to distinguish between free, safe content and free, unsafe content. The first major hurdle for the transition was figuring out what grade they should be in. Homeschool Organizations. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://welltrainedmind.com/a/what-are-the-non-core-subjects/?v=7516fd43adaa, Common Sense Media (n.d.). Others may be planning their own lessons and activities. These extreme stances come with equally strong language, which can be misleading to the new or uninformed, so it is important to make sure you fully understand the true requirements before making decisions, finalizing your plans, and submitting any notices or documentation. Its important to have an honest conversation with your family and make the decision that is best for you, and to communicate that through these surveys. Just take one step at a time and focus on one goal at a time. In Connecticut, the only thing you are legally required to do is file with your local board of education a letter of Notice of Withdrawal. However, we can control our reaction to it by staying safe, keeping our family safe, and following the Center for Disease Control (CDC) (2020) guidelines posted here: In my experience homeschooling and working full time (from various locations and time zones), the biggest lesson I learned was that I needed to be organized, but also flexible. The rule for our girls was that they had to look at all movies, games, and apps up on Common Sense Media and bring them to us prior to asking the question of whether they could play, watch or download something. At this point, state and local boards of education are doing the best they can with the little information they have to plan for something none of us have ever had to deal with before. We made a decision years ago to provide some independence and ownership of content decisions to our kids, specifically for movies, games, and apps. The CRHE and HSLDA do a great job of keeping up with the current state regulations and how they are implemented (along with your legal rights and options as a homeschooler) (CRHE, n.d.; HSLDA, n.d.). For parents looking online for content for their children, who may not be familiar with different websites, movies or apps, or unsure how to tell what might be safe or age-appropriate, this post is for you. For example, one was created by E. Gilliam, and is accessible here: https://www.conferencecallbingo.net/blog with the printable version accessible directly here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xbwyrg21rbg79fj/conferencecallbingo.pdf?dl=0. (n.d.). Educators have never taught during a global pandemic, much less taught remotely or taught some students remotely and some in person at the same time. 1) Draw out a rough daily schedule (or weekly, if your daily work schedules vary), allocating specific times for work and for schoolwork. Stay home and stay safe. A template for this can be found on many of the CT homeschooling group websites or Facebook pages. (n.d.). that you will be bound by? If you have decided that you are not yet comfortable physically sending your kids back to a school building, thinking through some of the following questions might be helpful in deciding between distance learning (assuming this option is available/offered through your school) and homeschooling: 1) Do you want to choose your own curriculum, make your own lesson plans, etc., or do you want to assist your children in completing teacher-assigned activities? As parents, educators, and administrators, (and our children) we are all part of a team with a common goal of ensuring that our children are safe, cared for, and that their learning is promoted and supported in all ways possible. The best resource we have found for determining age-appropriateness of movies, games, applications and some websites is Common Sense Media, accessible here: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/. (2020). (2020). Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.earthcam.com/events/animalcams/, National University Library. For those that had more meetings than others, I allocated the time for the meetings first, and then figured out what schoolwork I could fit in. Schedules created and posted in a common location provide clarity to everyone involved and help the parents avoid questions like what are we doing today? and what subjects are we working on today? There are many free printable planners and schedules available online. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/about-us/our-mission/about-our-ratings, Common Sense Media. What if schools open in a blended format, where schedules are alternating day to day or am/pm? The two most commonly tested subjects in standardized testing tend to be math and language arts, so when we homeschooled, we put the most emphasis on these two subjects, integrating the others as appropriate and as possible. The activities in the basket could be anything from printed mazes, cut and paste activities, manipulative for counting, coloring books, etc. It is important to understand the risks and the comfort level you have with those risks, and, depending on the approach taken, the health risks for your children and for you (and for everyone in your household). Either way, some people are going to be happy and some unhappy, regardless of the plan or approach that is taken. There are so many different aspects and layers of trust, as well. What is Montessori Education? Remember the CDC guidelines and be innovative in your organization and space planning. (2020). (Note that we do still have the requirement that they add us on all social media accounts so that we can monitor their activities there if we choose to do so.) What can your student do to promote these team functions also? (Also, in Connecticut, if your children were never enrolled in a public or private school, no notice of any kind needs to be filed. How might this impact your childs motivation to do their schoolwork? ), 3) Do you think you might want to send your students back to school in person either some time this year or in future years? There are so many options available to teach every subject, and many are free. Decorating Amazon boxes and used soup cans make great arts and craft projects and excellent organizers! There are a few things to consider. There are many misconceptions about homeschooling, in general, but especially with working and homeschooling. Retrieved March 16, 2020 from, Center for Disease Control (CDC). The state regulations say that families MAY submit a Notice of Intent to homeschool and participate in portfolio reviews. (2020). Common Sense Media, for example, provides a list of Kid-Safe Browsers and Search Sides, accessible here: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/kid-safe-browsers-and-search-sites. (n.d.). The fourth consideration is the schedule of the subjects you have selected to teach. When trying to decide what is best, there are always multiple considerations. The public school administrators where we are were extremely helpful in working with us to determine the best placement. If any of you are like me, you started your working and homeschooling balancing act by trying to explain to your children how important work is, and how you have to focus (and they have to be quiet) while you are on work calls. Coronavirus Closed Schools: 27 Activities to Keep Kids Busy During School Closures. Thats all any of us can do, and the only way we are going to figure out what will work is for everyone to be comfortable communicating and providing constructive feedback when things are not working. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/2218929/how-many-hours-homeschooling-per-day/. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/, Montessori Northwest. Many other options exist, just be sure that you are accessing them through sites that you trust. (Remember: If you dont know where you are going, any road will get you there. For later years (grades 3-5 and 6-8) we elected to study math and language arts every day, and study science, history/social studies, art and music one day per week each, leaving the additional day (which happened to be Friday for us) for making up work we didnt complete earlier in the week. As part of a successful, high-performing and well-functioning team, we have to work together as a team toward common goals, just like a sports team or a project team in an organization. In sports psychology, life coaching and other venues recently, youve likely heard the term locus of control or phrases like control the controllables. Situations like the pandemic we are currently experiencing bring to light the true meaning of these phrases, as there is so much that is truly out of our control. How might it impact their learning? SheKnows.com. (Note that this is an unpopular opinion and not promoted or frequently supported in the traditional, long-term homeschooling community, though, so questions about this option in these traditional groups or distribution lists may not be met with the most positive reactions.) 5) Understand and be honest and open about what you (and your student) can and cannot reasonably take on and complete given everything you have going on outside of school responsibilities, and be open to working with your student and their teachers and school administrators. The first consideration is the age levels you are teaching. Digital Compass. In my previous post, I noted that some schools and some districts are providing work for their students, which is great! (Parents, dont be jealousyou can make forts, tooand even take your conference call from inside your fort, if you want to.). Commitment is built on a foundation of trust and constructive conflict. Are you comfortable sending your children to school in the fall if they are physically opened for attendance? Your child or children will be perfectly fine with a couple or a few hours of school-related work and other fun, educational activities while you focus on work. Scholastic Learn at Home. The state, on the other hand, wants to have as much control and oversight as possible, in many cases. As homeschoolers, they worked at their own pace in different subjects, which was great for their education and learning, but made the transition to an age-based grade-level determination a challenging one. An alternative is to make your own bingo card that might be more age-appropriate, like one with silly words or um and uh, for example, that might be easy for little ones to pick up on during the call. Having a dedicated space will allow you to put everything away in a neat and orderly fashion after every day, so that it is available and easy to access the following day. So, how do we, as a team of parents, educators, and administrators, work together as a high performing team and not fall into the 5 dysfunctions of a team identified by Lencioni? You will need to determine what is best for you and your children. Retrieved March 16, 2020, from, Zao-Sanders, Marc. When I started homeschooling and working from home, we had one preschooler and one toddler. Well, the best approach comes down to whether this is a temporary or long-term/permanent option for you and your family. (Various factors played into our decision, but one major factor for us was for the girls to have the option to participate in sports, clubs and other activities, and we were living in a location where they were districted into good schools.). They also expect to have to make up for missed learning in the fall for this last spring, especially for the younger students in lower grades. They are used to having their days and activities planned out for them months in advance. 2) Develop open lines of communication between parents, educators and administrators. How We Rate and Review. Khan Academy Schedules for School Closures. Common Core Resources: Textbook & Publisher Resources. You can ask the school about options for continuing distance learning (if they dont already include that as an option in their fall plans). Educators need to be able to express concerns to parents and administrators when things arent working for them, their class, or even particular students. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://responsiblehomeschooling.org/policy-issues/current-policy/, Digital Learning Collaborative. You will need to determine, based on the number and ages of children, your work schedule, and any other constraints, what subjects you want to teach and can manage to do so with minimal stress. Science and art took the most preparation because we conducted experiments and made a variety of art and craft projects, so we split these days, so that they were not back-to-to back, allowing for some planning and preparation time in between. If you are teaching one child, you can skip this section. These are all considerations when building a foundation of trust in a remote or distance learning team with all parties involved.