Is school shut and now you suddenly have to help your kids learn at home? Or are you looking for alternatives to school? This could be a stressful time for you or you may be very happy that you won’t be having to do the school run for a while. Either way, these resources could help you in your journey ahead helping your kids learn from home.
Have you helped with homework? Then you can help your kids learn at home.
If you have helped your child with homework before then you can help them learn from home for a longer period of time. The difference will be that you may need to have more of a plan to get the work done. So thinking about the space you need to learn for extended periods of time will be helpful. The space you use to get homework done should be adequate, even if it is the dining room table! You will just need to make sure the learning is finished before you need to use the table again. So the bonus there will be no homework to finish at the end of the day because the learning has been done! Learning from home is often quicker than in school because time is not being used to change classes and disruptions can be minimized. Setting up a daily schedule for each child can help with planning their time. Something that can be laminate and used again or a small whiteboard is helpful. Classroom teachers often use reward systems to help motivate their student’s behaviour and achievement you can also use this at home.
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Learn for mastery.
At home, time can be allowed for the child to learn at their own pace. They don’t have to wait for others to finish work in the classroom and if they need longer to master the learning they can take the time to do this. Sal Khan is an amazing teacher who has set up a free online learning platform called Khan Academy. I found this really useful when I began homeschooling because you can use a parent account to do some learning before you need to take your child through the learning. Check out the website here https://www.khanacademy.org/
Sal Khan also has an excellent TED talk which I recommend watching.
Learning Resources
If your school is closed your teachers should be pointing you in the right direction for resources. If you are taking up homeschooling there are thousands of resources you can access the hard part is deciding which ones your child will connect with. I found that Facebook groups specific to homeschooling in my area were very helpful and also looking for homeschooling websites that are in your country was a great place to start. One web site that I use a lot is Teachers Pay Teachers. They have many free resources or you can just buy lessons or units of work as you need them.
Follow Interests
Your child may have more time to follow some of their own interests at home. Do a stocktake of the resources in your house that you can use for activities. For example, you may have art supplies, craft supplies, games, and sporting equipment. Get your child to use their imagination. Can the kids make an obstacle course in the back yard? Do you have a swing or basketball hoop that rarely gets used? Do you have a recipe that the kids may like to cook? Can you search for how to draw online and start doing some art at home? There are thousands of ideas on Pinterest and other social media platforms so we have no excuses for having no idea how to occupy ourselves. There is time to become an expert at a skill. Don Bradman was one of the best cricketers in the world and he practiced with a golf ball and a stick against the rainwater tank! So you don’t need to go out and spend a lot of money just get the kids to use their imaginations.
Working and homeschooling
I still work part-time even though I homeschool full time. Being a nurse I work shift work so schoolwork is scheduled around the shift work. My husband and family have been supportive and help me juggle what I need to get done to be able to work. I would prefer not to have to continue shift work and that desire is what has lead me to start my online business. So far my journey has lead me to an excellent online education and business group which has helped me set up this web site and navigate the online world. Here is the link to a free online course with Stuart Ross if you are looking to start an online business or just learn some more about working from home.
Feel free to contact me through my contact page if you have any specific questions that you may like to ask.