Home-schooling tips
Now that school systems all over the country are shutting down amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, home-schooling is getting a strange new respect, or at least a lot of fresh interest.
Sample daily schedules for home-schooling have been popping up all over Facebook since last week.
As someone who has home-schooled two kids, now 9 and 3, since the beginning, I have some advice for newbies: Don’t over-think it.
Millions of anxious parents are worried that their children will fall behind academically. That’s a valid concern, but don’t bury them with what you think approximates the classes they’re missing. If you have any expectations of replicating your child’s classroom experience, throw them out the window. (Lysol them first, of course, and then throw them out.)
It’s not going to happen. This is very hard for you. It’s even harder for the kids. Getting the same sort of classroom focus at the kitchen table is impossible to begin with. But children suddenly kept out of school on a snow day that could last two months are going to be especially distracted.
Don’t worry about the house. It’s going to be a mess because it’s going to be lived in a lot more. I have two tornadoes in my house who thought it was a good idea to play badminton in the living room last night.
Home isolation is a good opportunity to teach your children basic life skills they won’t learn in traditional school. Teach them to disinfect and wipe down surfaces, mop the floor, cook their meals and do laundry. It builds character, and you get a clean kitchen.
Screen time is your friend. There are a ton of educational apps, documentaries and other online offerings by professionals who are better teachers than you are. My daughter is already on an online video-based curriculum for her regular subjects. (It’s called Power Homeschool, and it’s fantastic.)
It can be hard for younger kids who aren’t on social media to connect with peers. Try to set up an online play date with their friends. Do the same for your socially distancing self. Grab some wine and FaceTime some pals.
Let your kids get bored. Let them spend hours playing with Legos. Let them read comics. Let them draw pictures all day. So much is beating up the world right now; don’t go beating up yourself.
It’s going to be okay. Your kids are going to be okay. Algebra will happen eventually.