Emergency Homeschooling: Why You Don't Need to Panic

Hi there!  I'm so glad you stopped by.  I want you to imagine I've invited you over for coffee and we're sitting trying to talk about homeschool while our kids play loudly wherever we happen to be.  Because honestly, that's how I've had this conversation before.  :)  While now it might look like us sipping coffee in our own cars in a parking lot parked next to each other and our phones on speaker, or us live chatting on our computers, I'd give you pretty much the same advice.

First, let me give you a little of my background so you know where I'm coming from.  I have a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction.  I've worked in classrooms for over 20 years (YIKES!)--whether as an aide, a teacher, a volunteer--in public schools, private schools, Sunday schools--infant through adult.  I've taught in California, Oregon and Thailand.  I've taught gifted students well beyond their grade level.  I've taught students struggling with learning colors.  I've taught students who don't speak the same language as me.  I homeschool my four boys ages: 7, almost 6, 4, and 2.  And yes, I homeschool them all.  So, while I don't currently homeschool middle or high schoolers, I have taught them.  I know something of what you are going through.  And I know something of what your teachers are going through.  That's where I'm coming from.

So, here's the advice I'd give whether you were considering homeschooling starting in the Fall, whether you were like my cousin a few weeks ago and were pulling your kids from a school that wasn't meeting their needs, or whether you've been thrown into it without preparation.

1. Don't recreate school at home!
When people find out I'm a teacher and I homeschool there are a lot of questions.  I've known I would homeschool long before I ever had children.  I didn't want to send them to someone else to raise while I raised other people's kids.  It just didn't make sense to me.  I also didn't want them to waste their childhood in a classroom waiting on other kids to do what they were supposed to do.  I've taught little kids.  I know how much time is spent waiting for someone to tie their shoe so they can line up!  :)  And while I do spend a lot of time waiting for kids to even find their shoes, it is on our own schedule.  We DO NOT homeschool from 8:00-2:30 or whatever your school schedule was.  (My next post will be about what our homeschool schedule actually does look like.)

Sheridan Superhero Academy

2. Combine age groups and subjects.
One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that our whole family can do it together.  I know my boys are close in age, but even within two to three grades you can combine science, history, art and music.  If your kids are very spread out in age, you can still have them learning about the same time period through books at their age levels.

Art project time

Some kind of science experiment...probably of their own making.

3. Reading is learning.
Read aloud.  A lot!  Find some books around your house and read them.  Audio books count too!  Scholastic will now deliver your book club orders to your door so you can still order using your teacher's class code.  Audible has their children's and young adult's books free right now with no sign up.  Vooks is a great read aloud site that you do sign up for but is free.  If your child's class uses EPIC!, ask your teacher if you can get the log-in information to use it from home during this time. (It only works during regular school hours, but you can also sign-up for your own subscription.)  You don't have to have any fancy curriculum.  Just read.

4. Learning happens all.day.long.
That's why you don't have to stick to the regular school schedule.  Outside play?  That's P.E.  Cooking?  That's math and science.  Laundry?  That's Home Ec.  Seriously!  Matching socks while folding laundry is actually a preschool level skill.  A bedtime story counts as part of reading.  Singing along to your favorite songs on the radio is music appreciation.  Look for the learning you are already living and count it!

Puzzle time and critical thinking skills

Working on fine motor skills through coloring

Cooking something...chocolate so it must be good!

5. You CAN do this!
Trust me when I say that I know you are equipped to do this.  You were your child's first teacher from the time he or she came home with you.  You've already been homeschooling--you just didn't call it that.  You love your kid(s) more than anyone else does--even their teachers, which is saying a lot!  :D  You may not feel like the smartest parent or the most organized.  Don't be!  I can't tell you how many times my boys tell me to ask Google or Siri when I don't know the answer to something.  I don't know everything.  That's ok.  I learn right along with my boys.  It's also ok to feel like you are failing.  Being a mom is the hardest thing I've ever done!  It's way easier for me to teach a classroom full of other people's kids than to teach my own.  But it's so rewarding to see my own kids just get something.  Or to hear them talking about something we learned weeks later as they play.

I know this isn't the educational path you chose.  But I know that you can make the best of it.  Enjoy this time with your kids when you can't do anything else.  If there's one thing I've learned looking back at old class pictures, it's that time goes by so fast, and they grow up before your eyes.  Those little preschoolers I taught everyday are now going into high school!  Those 5th graders are getting married and having their own kids!  How are your kids going to remember time home with you?

Veteran homeschoolers: Anything to add?