homeschooling during pandemic?

[delsur]

Hope everyone is safe and healthy.

Questions for parents out there juggling remote work and home-bound children. My kid is 9. Our district closed the schools abruptly with no plans, work packets, or guidance. I've given some minimal homework to do throughout the day such as reading, writing, and math, but mostly it's play and free time. But I've started to get overwhelmed and anxious as so many parents around me began to share their super structured homeschooling schedules, from 8-3 based on the curriculum, endless options for websites and paid virtual activities, suggestions for virtual book clubs and playdates, and so on. My take on this was that once the school reopens, they will have to pick up from where they left off--not that individual families would power through the curriculum. Is this a bad take? Am I being too relaxed? I'd love get some perspective from outside my text message and facebook threads.

Thank you!

[dr_codex]

Hope everyone is safe and healthy.

Questions for parents out there juggling remote work and home-bound children. My kid is 9. Our district closed the schools abruptly with no plans, work packets, or guidance. I've given some minimal homework to do throughout the day such as reading, writing, and math, but mostly it's play and free time. But I've started to get overwhelmed and anxious as so many parents around me began to share their super structured homeschooling schedules, from 8-3 based on the curriculum, endless options for websites and paid virtual activities, suggestions for virtual book clubs and playdates, and so on. My take on this was that once the school reopens, they will have to pick up from where they left off--not that individual families would power through the curriculum. Is this a bad take? Am I being too relaxed? I'd love get some perspective from outside my text message and facebook threads.

Thank you!

Hi Delsur,

My offspring are 8 and 4. We were shuttered a few days ago, and only today got any kind of lesson plans. Both my spouse and I teach higher ed, and have worked as nannies. Honestly, we're going to roll with this. Most software companies (ABC Mouse, and the like) are making things free for a while. DM me if you want access codes. As long as you have access and a device -- not a given for all, I know -- there's a world of autodidact material available. It's harder for my 4-yr old, who cannot read and so needs more hands-on help, but we'll cope.

Honestly, the thing that I cannot replicate is the reason that I would never homeschool -- the social element. (Not having a person gym sucks, too.) It's hard to separate teacher role from parent, and really hard not to have access to playgrounds, parks, pools, churches, and all the other places where interaction is supposed to happen. If you can find a way to build that in, in any form, it will be worth more than a few problem sheets or apps.

Hive mind, any thoughts?

[polly_mer]

We're not doing any formal academic activities for Blocky (age 11).

We're just doubling down on family activities we do anyway:

* reading

* cooking

* playing board games with complicated enough rules that critical thinking is a thing.  Many of the games have maps on which real-world knowledge helps a lot (e.g., don't take coal to Newcastle; mountains and rivers make great natural barriers; there's a reason you don't invade Russia in the winter).

* family movie night with pauses for internet searches on history, technology, and other questions that naturally arise

* Blocky-led science explorations that are safe enough to do at home that I don't even really have to supervise

* Skype to far-flung relatives

We're extra lenient during the day on Blocky doing group games through the Xbox (each kid is at home and all interactions are virtual) to get social contact without physical contact.

Any true academic content that only happens in school will be happening at school in the fall if not sooner.  Blocky still has a long way to go.  I'd be much more concerned if Blocky were enrolled in, say, calculus II and needed to keep up practice or were early in studying a foreign language.  It's pretty easy to have natural activities at home that will keep his pre-algebra skills up along with basic social studies.

I am still on the hook for a full-time job done from home mostly during business hours so I can respond quickly to my colleagues who are doing the same thing.  If I wanted to be an elementary-school teacher with formal lesson plans, then I'd have a different job.

[delsur]

Thanks for the great ideas!

[mamselle]

Not quite related, but I'm teaching all my music students online, either using Zoom for the kids, or letting the adults do more focused practice and re-re-recording to send me tapes for commentary.

Along those lines, you could do what homeschooling families do (I've taught for a couple) in which they  farm out topical study based on what individuals are strong in, to share the wealth/burden/onus/fun.

You might think about getting different people (tutors, parents, etc.) to do a subject matter presentation to several kids in the same class in school is possible for, say, four different primary subjects (usually math, reading, science, and history/social studies, for example) for an hour, with a half-hour's assigned follow-up work that they email in for grading/feedback/correction, give them 1/2 hour off, they start the next subject.

I'm using a different Zoom sign-on for each lesson at the moment (this is the first week I've done it) but I'll probably go to a different repeating meeting for each student, since they're at set times (well, usually...) and then the setup will be easier.

I was just thinking of starting a "Zoom learning curve" thread....if there's interest, I might do that.

M.

[polly_mer]

We're currently on a Cary Grant kick for movie night by Blocky's request.  Who knew that a mandatory viewing of Arsenic and Old Lace would go over so well?  Mama did; that's why that particular "scary" movie was chosen.