During a global pandemic, every one of us has been affected in some way or another. But if you are the parent of school aged children, I think the pandemic has likely hit you harder than it has for most. While we are all concerned about our health and the health of our friends and family, as well as our job security, parents of school aged children have an additional burden. You must also make sure that your children continue to be educated at a time when in-person learning is greatly reduced, if it is happening at all, while simultaneously figuring out how to continue paying your bills. So, if you have become your child’s teacher this past year, hang in there, you are almost done and hopefully you will find some of these suggestions helpful to keeping your kids engaged and yourself sane!
The parents I continue to hear from have shared how difficult it is to be with their children not only more hours of the day than they (and their children) are used to, but to now be placed in the role of teacher. Some very unwillingly. Having additional expectations for their kids regarding schoolwork has increased stress for many families. Not only is parenting during a pandemic hard, but having to also teach has really placed a heavy burden on these same families. Parents may not be confident in their understanding of the curriculum or the platforms being used, and even those who are, report that their kids are not listening to them and are fighting them all along the way.
Teachers have degrees for a reason. They are trained to understand and facilitate curriculum. They know how to adapt and modify when necessary, so that every child has the best opportunity to learn. Most parents are not knowledgeable in those areas, and why would they be? Parents did not need to be, until now. So, with only about 3 months left of this school year, you are almost there, parents – tips to finish your homeschooling year strong!
First and foremost, Make it fun! – There are so many ways to make learning fun for kids. Is learning and doing schoolwork going to be fun every moment of every day for them? No. But it isn’t during regular school either, so they need to learn to deal with that regardless of where the learning is taking place. But here are some suggestions to hopefully make things a little more enjoyable until the year is over.
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Spelling
- Write words with Wicky Sticks. They can be manipulated to form letters to spell out words with waxy, pipe cleaner looking sticks that are reusable. The same can be done with playdough.
- Shaving cream – Spray shaving cream on a large cookie sheet and let them draw their words in it with their finger, or a paintbrush for those with sensory issues.
- Make them colorful –Practice writing the words with colored pencils rainbow style. Every word can be a different color or you can get one crazy crayon that does it all. If you save these tools for only spelling practice it will be more effective than if they are used all the time. That way the novelty does not wear off as quickly.
- Magnetic Letters– The words can be spelled out using magnetic letters on your refrigerator or that same cookie pan you used for the shaving cream!
- In the car– While you are driving around doing errands give your kids their spelling words verbally and have them spell them back to you. That way they are practicing them orally. If you bought a white board for traveling book buckets (shared in a post a few weeks ago) (here), you can also have your kids write their spelling words out on the white board while in the car which is a second skill (writing.) If you bring along the Wicky Sticks (tactile) on your errands, you are thereby including a third skill set for your child to practice their spelling; all while going to get groceries. 🙂
Reading
- Make a fort – or another cozy little fun spot to read. If they have a place all their own to go when it is time to read, they may just enjoy doing it more. It can be a cool pop up tent, or it can be as simple as a blanket draped over a few chairs. Add a flashlight and a snack and who wouldn’t want to go read?
- Partner read – For kids that are not really interested in reading on their own, they often enjoy reading with someone else. For younger kids it can be that they read one sentence and you read one sentence. For older, or more advanced readers, they can read a paragraph or even a chapter at a time and then you do the same. How often do you read with your older kids? This is a great way to connect with them and to know what types of things they are reading. As parents we are always looking for conversation starters with our teens, am I right?! You may be surprised how interested they are in doing this with you.
- Stuffed animal – What if you do not have time to read with your child? Or your child is the type that does not want you to read with them and they prefer to do it themselves? Maybe you just don’t fit in the fort…😉 Regardless of the reason, a stuffed animal, doll or favorite toy of some sort can be another good option. The child gets the benefit of feeling like they are not reading alone. Younger kids might like this super cute forest treehouse that comes with one animal for each school day of the week.
Math
- Only have visible a few problems at a time -If just seeing an entire page of math overwhelms your child (this would be me) you can take a piece of computer paper (nothing on it for less stimulus) and put it over some of the problems. Maybe you go line by line. In other words, you cover everything but one row of problems. When they complete the row, the paper is pulled down to reveal the second row. That helps some kids to not feel defeated before they have even started because they are only seeing (and therefore worrying about) a few problems at a time.
- Set timers – I discussed different ways to use timers a couple of posts ago. (To read that post click here). I think timers can help make math especially fun. Ask the child how long they want to set the timer for and then see how many problems they can do in that amount of time. Or ask how long they think it will take them to finish a certain page and see how close they came.
- Manipulatives – If you are doing math that involves counting or place value, or any other math that you are able to involve manipulatives, you should try. There are so many different types and not only do manipulatives give kids a visual representation that helps with number sense (as opposed to just paper/pencil work) the colors and shapes add to the fun.
Break up the day – Some kids have a difficult time sitting and focusing for long periods of time. You know your child best. This can be a challenge for many kids in a school setting and I would imagine even more so in a home setting, so think about breaking up the day.
- Use a timer to set how long they work, and if they work until the timer sounds, then they could get a break for a set amount of time as well. The times will vary depending on the age and attentiveness of the child. For littles, or kids with shorter attention spans, you may only be able to set it for 15-20 minutes and then need to give a 45-minute break. You may be thinking that doesn’t seem like much work time and it isn’t. But think about quality over quantity. Prior to doing this, the expectation would be that they are on task the entire working time before they get the break. Would you rather have 2 hours of quality instruction and work time a day, or 6 hours of pulling teeth and having not much to show for it in the end?
- Depending on your child, shorter intervals might be best. Maybe work 15 minutes with a 5-minute Lego break at the table in between. Some kids do not transition well so leaving the work area and engaging in another activity might make it MORE difficult for them. If that is the case, it may be a better option to stay put but change to a “preferred” task for a few minutes. Again, you need to set the expectation ahead of time, so they know they have to work for 15-minutes and then they get a 5-minute break. If they do not transition back without a problem when the timer sounds, then the Lego break (or whatever desired activity has been chosen at the same table) goes away and it is work time only.
- For older kids, the same thing can apply but with longer work time expectations. I would expect a productive work time and good output (assignment completion) before I would OK a video game or phone break, for example. If they know that the desired activity will not happen until the work is done, they will be more apt to do the work.
I used to explain to kids at school that breaks are only for people who work, otherwise there is no reason for a break. Often kids would try to negotiate with me and say that if I let them play, or do such and such, THEN they would do the work. That isn’t how it works folks. No work = No break!
Parenting is hard. Teaching is hard. Covid is hard. So parenting, WHILE teaching, DURING covid is obviously EXTRA HARD. But if you mix things up a bit by trying some new, fun strategies and keeping the expectations firm while adding in breaks for effort and productivity, this year will be over before you know it and you will survive. You got this!!
