I hope everyone is safe and healthy!
That said… it seems people are worried, angry, sad, panicked, inconvenienced, etc. etc. (insert your own description) about suddenly finding themselves dealing with having children home – the decision from the powers that be to close public schools – most likely eventually, worldwide. You did not choose this- you want/need your kids in the normal traditional school setting. You do NOT want to do school at home – not in a million years! I would like to humbly offer some hard won advice: DO NOT try to duplicate the public school classroom setting/expectations at home!!! Take a deep breath – everything will be alright. As far as kids missing the last couple months of school goes – as far as being behind, not learning the right things, oh my God, how will this effect their future?!? In the grand scheme of things – they will not be missing much. Honestly. They are not ‘losing’ anything, and in fact this time at home with family could be loaded with many ‘gains’. You can make what you want out of this bizarre situation you find yourself in! Your school may have provisions in place to continue with ‘normal’ classroom work. That’s great – online learning can be very effective! It worked absolutely wonderfully for my kids. You can also take this time to improvise things to learn and have some fun! I will not list them here, but there are tons of online resources- a simple google search will show you a plethora of math, reading, science, writing and language programs and games. Your kids will still learn- stay engaged – have fun! You can also go old school…teach them to address a letter, sew, cook, bake, garden, go for hikes-learn about nature, play Monopoly, draw, paint – the list is endless! I'm not saying it will be easy; however, it is necessary at this point. And you can make the most of this time you suddenly, unexpectedly find yourself having at home with your children. And if for some reason, this situation creates in you a desire to further explore the possibility of making the switch to school at home permanent- please read my book! (available on Amazon and through my website: thesmileyacademy.com ) It’s encouraging, and will go a long way to helping you see school at home can be done- and done well – with extraordinarily good outcomes!
-Janell Smiley is one of our most encouraging homeschool columnists and author of ...As Long As You Don't Turn Them Into Weirdos.
We wish you the best as you get through this crisis. Please visit the homeschoolerpost.com website for more help on getting through your time at home. Many families are looking into what is available for homeschool families and you can find that support on our page. Build your community now that you are home or just share resources. Want to share your story? Contact us today at Publication@hsc.org.