When Pinterest launched, hundreds
of topics became available in a fairly organized way. However, there is so much
of it, how would you know what to look for? Well, I've spent hours on Pinterest
collecting things. I might have it. I kept a sampling of homeschooling
references and these are now serving as a starting point for me to give you
some ideas.
Why do I have these? I had little
kids once. I also have a couple brilliant friends from college roomies whose
families were homeschooled and have found many other friends like them since. I
love, love, love and admire what they do.
I picked a few things that seemed
the most relevant for y’all right now.
1)
Do you have
to do this 24/7?
No. Check out Mary's blog article
about homeschooling three days a week.
Here was her schedule:
Monday – Core Lessons (full day of
schedule and schooling)
Tuesday – Core Lessons (full day
of schedule and schooling)
Wednesday – Field Trips (zoo
science classes, parks, museums and nature centers)
Thursday – Core Lessons (full day
of schedule and schooling)
Friday – Day Off (errands,
housework, catch up)
You can take some inspiration from
this and even divide up the time, if you can, with someone else. You get a day
and a half and then they do. Maybe.
2) How do I
deal with infants AND homeschooling?
Maybe this article will help. Cliff notes version:
- Keep Lessons Short and Breaks Frequent
- Spend Time with the Littles First - cuddles or a tickle session
- Have Some “School Time” Only Activities - If you pull out things
that they don’t normally get to touch or play with, it usually keeps them
pretty enthralled. This is like only watching a certain show at the gym. You
have to go to see the next episode.
- Create a Baby-Safe Zone for Roaming and Play
- Include Them - someone else can learn how to change a diaper. LOL.
J/K. Everyone is welcomed to sit and
listen or play quietly while listening.
- Babysitting practice for older siblings
- Take advantage of nap time.
3) How do I
keep this interesting for older kids? Break up their daily homework.
One noun. Madlibs. Here is a link
to free printables. They learn and laugh. They can Google others.
4) Two words.
High Schoolers.
Never too early to start a
college, scholarship or job application. LOL.
Have them write a song, movie
script, play, movie review, makeup review. Tell them to start a TikTok or YT
channel but figure out the cost of new equipment. Make them do math on the comps
they have to pull and the tax they calculate. Reward: $50 for a game plan of
any kind. Money talks.
Also, pay them to take photos of
things to list on eBay or give them a cut.
I know these aren't formal lessons
per se, but there are learnings to be had between their actual reading or
science. What if they looked up cliff
notes or other people's essays on the Internet for the topics they are
studying? I'm not suggesting they plagiarize. BUT, if they looked for what
other people did and short versions, and read them, they're still making
progress. Make sure they don't plagiarize, please. They can take
inspiration. You can talk to them about
how 'taking inspiration' works in the real world.
5) I just
can't.
Then don't. Hire a teacher or friend
that isn't teaching right now or has bandwidth. Give them your conference line
for a couple hours a day.
I don't have pictures today, but I
leave you with a fun game and a clip of some answers I found on IG.
The game is...tell us (in the comments below or on social) what your kids are
doing, but refer to them as your "co-workers".
