Homeschooling Youve Got This

Homeschooling You've Got This Homeschooling: Youve Got This 24 Mar 2020 Ewan Anderson The first thing to say on this subject is  â€"  you  can do this.     Just remember;  you are not a  teacher  and no one is expecting you to be. However, in what are  truly exceptional circumstances, we all  must  pull together and give it our best shot.     So,  we have  compiled  some ideas that will help you to occupy and educate the  children while you  try to keep up with your own work.     Find Your Own Way   There are  two basic approaches  to tackling home schooling. You can take a more structured approach, or you can adopt an autonomous mindset to your “teaching”.     Neither is wrong, it is a purely personal preference and will likely depend on the age and stage of your children.   A structured approach involves following, where possible, the school  timetable and curriculum. This will tie in with the work sent home by the school and help with reintegration when the children return to full-time education.     If you prefer a slightly more  relaxed approach your  teaching,  enabling the  children to learn by  exploration and  their own endeavours  -  by all means  give  it a shot.     Neither approach is  wrong  and it is unlikely your children will fall to far behind either way.                         Plan Your Week   Whatever  approach you take  it will be worth crafting a plan.     This may seem  obvious  -  and is  almost certainly  something you do on a regular basis at work - but  the scope of your weekly work schedule needs to include a teaching  plan.     Take some time to plan your week  and include you children in this. Ask them about the tasks they want to cover and when they would normally do them at school.  This is going to be hard enough, but if you  are following a  less  structured approach and you  have to spend time thinking up the next task while you have phone calls to make and emails to answer it is going to become a nightmare.     Perhaps on a Sunday afternoon, just sit down with the kids and all the resources you have home from the school and plan out what the week looks like.     It is important to try and maintain some level of  routine  even if you are adopting a  more child-autonomy  approach. We’re not suggesting they  have to  turn up to the dining room ‘desk’ with a school uniform  on but  look at  maintaining a break time  and  lunchtime  will help structure their day.  Try to have a finishing time around normal school hours and give the kids a break.     Remember, they’re not  â€œworkin’ nine to five”.   Get Creative     There is a general rule of thumb that you should focus on the core subjects;  maths and English. While this is obviously very important,  you need to leave some room for creativity.     While this is not everyone’s strong suit  -  and there is a  reason  we are not all teachers  -  challenging the creative side of their  little  minds  will keep them occupied for quite a while.  However, be  prepared for the mess  and don’t get stressed out about it.     Perhaps you could help them feel at home  in  this new school by creating a  new  school badge.  Ask them to  name the school and  design  the uniform.     For the slightly older kids look at gamification.  How can you encourage a bit of competition  with a prize  at the end?     Creative learning, while it may not seem like learning to you and  I,  is what inspires the mind and  retains their attention.   You could of course take it to the next level and introduce them to the  real world as this ingenious mother  tried to do with an educational  plan centred around housework!     Encouragement is key   Your kids will be finding this every  bit as weird as you are finding it. While you  are  maybe  juggling  a number of  issues  in terms of work and other stresses, it is important your children feel they are  doing well.     Encourage them and reward success. Remember growth is success and they will  all be at  different  levels  that you perhaps don’t quite  grasp. So  be patient and keep up the positivity.   Remember  also  that you are not there to give them the answers. You are there to help them discover and  learn. Make sure you are asking open ended questions  and get them to tell you what they have uncovered. They will love to give you a report on  what they have learnt, perhaps you can help them pull together a  Powerpoint  that they can present.     Maximise your resources   There are lots of resources out there and your kids will probably know most of them. Depending on their age  you will need to find the right online  resource,  but a few good examples include:     BBC Bitesize  which covers all age  groups     BBC Teach  which has similar resources for all age groups   Also, try  using Skype, Zoom or Teams to help them keep up with their classmates, it could be a very lonely time for many children when they don’t get to see their friends.     You will do a great job   This is completely alien to most of us so keep in mind that  you will not always know what you are doing. You will need help and support from your  teachers  and you will do a great  job.     Try and add some structure to your day,  include the kids in the decisions,  and make it as fun as you can.