We cannot control what this pandemic has become or is about to become or the ripple effects it may cause. Your next steps are: 1) Identify the age groups of the children you are educating and whether they need to be planned separately or if the plan and content can be the same. Our children need to be able to disagree and question things when concepts or instructions arent clear to them. (n.d.). An alternative is to make your own bingo card that might be more age-appropriate, like one with silly words or um and uh, for example, that might be easy for little ones to pick up on during the call. schoolwork has to follow the school day/week schedule, the schoolwork has to only include academic subjects, the kids have to be working on academic work the entire time, socialization is an afterthought when homeschooling, the kids are responsible for schoolwork and parents need to continue all of the housework. See below for our experience transitioning our kids from homeschooling to public school and considerations/lessons-learned that you might find helpful. What Ill provide below is a brief overview of some of the options for planning the work, starting with four considerations for doing so. What Are the Non-Core Subjects?. Commitment is built on a foundation of trust and constructive conflict. Resources for Families During the Coronavirus Pandemic. (n.d.). If you are unsure, Common Sense Media is a great place to start. In work environments, especially when working on projects, everyone has clearly defined roles and responsibilities which are laid out on a project plan. Many state and local education-related publications have language that indicates that the notice of intent to homeschool and the portfolio reviews are required. (Remember to make the award something you can make, give or do with them at home, and that they can have or do after your conference call is over.). Yes, movies sometimes work, but how about something possibly more fun (for you and for them)? Well, the best approach comes down to whether this is a temporary or long-term/permanent option for you and your family. On top of a foundation of trust is constructive conflict. at the schools themselves, but something to be aware of when asking them for assistance of any kind. Some organizations group activities in the following age groups, for example, Kindergarten to grade 2, grades 3-5, grades 6-8 and grades 9-12. Find a fort posted by someone else and draw a picture of their fort and estimate how many people you think could fit in their fort. (n.d.). A visual representation of the five dysfunctions Lencioni identifies is shown below. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/kid-safe-browsers-and-search-sites, Common Sense Media. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://www.digitallearningcollab.com/state-virtual-schools, HSLDA. In my previous post, I noted that some schools and some districts are providing work for their students, which is great! Many parents are waiting for the school or school district to provide the details of the lessons your children will be assigned while they are out of school. (2020). All movies, for example, have ratings from Common Sense Media, as well as a kids rating and a parents rating, but even more helpful are the details provided by Common Sense Media behind their specific rating. We have never parented (or helped our kids with remote learning) during a global pandemic. Many of our kids had packed schedules of school, sports, and other activities, with barely enough time to grab a sandwich in the car for supper. Roblox. As of now, you at least have an idea of how much time you want to allocate to work and to homeschooling and have identified an area where you can store and organize schoolwork and related supplies. Parents need to be able to bring concerns to educators and administrators when things arent working for them and their children. 3) Clear out, setup and organize your dedicated storage area for your schoolwork and related supplies. 4) Ensure that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and identify how each will be held accountable and how opportunities for improvements will be identified, evaluated, and implemented. Accountability is the forth level in the pyramid identified by Lencioni, and aligns closely with constructive conflict and commitment. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.roblox.com/, Wiess, S. R. (2020a). Florida is more strict, but does have umbrella schools that allow for smoother navigation of the requirements. We homeschooled in many different locations, including a multifamily house where we had a full room dedicated to homeschooling, my parents house where we had an area in the basement, our family members kitchen counters, and even an RV, when we traveled around the US. Schedules created and posted in a common location provide clarity to everyone involved and help the parents avoid questions like what are we doing today? and what subjects are we working on today? There are many free printable planners and schedules available online. Without clearly defined roles and goals, it is difficult to hold team members accountable for their contributions to the team and to the teams success.
Our girls were homeschooled since Kindergarten, and I chose materials for each individual subject for each girl, and planned the curriculum and lesson plans myself throughout this entire time. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.sheknows.com/parenting/slideshow/2173553/coronavirus-school-closings-keep-kids-busy/1/, Wiess, S. R. (2020b). Attention to results is the top and smallest portion of the pyramid. ), As you think through the answers to these questions and others, I would like to share about our personal experience with the transition from homeschool to public school in Connecticut only a few years ago. Some states and districts are surveying parents to find out their comfort level with the options listed above (or others, depending on the state and district). You can make, download and print your own bingo card at sites like BingoBaker, accessible here: https://bingobaker.com/ Yet another alternative is to keep your call off speaker, but let your kids mark off the square on the bingo, and you tell them when the criteria has been met. To commit to common goals, everyone on the team has to be aware of the goals, understand why those goals are important, and be aware and accepting of their role in helping the team attain those goals. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://nu.libguides.com/CommonCore/ccss_publishers. Lets face it, we are all in survival mode right now, and trying to claim anything else would be misleading. Having a dedicated space will allow you to put everything away in a neat and orderly fashion after every day, so that it is available and easy to access the following day. For gratitude, an easy option to start your day would be to talk about three good or positive things. While the kids play, you can plan your day(s). Retrieved March 19, 2020, from https://www.steamsational.com/free-printable-homeschool-planners/, The new challenge to keep the kids occupied during conference calls is: FORT MAKING!!! They are used to having their days and activities planned out for them months in advance. Decorating Amazon boxes and used soup cans make great arts and craft projects and excellent organizers! The state, on the other hand, wants to have as much control and oversight as possible, in many cases. (Remember: If you dont know where you are going, any road will get you there. The first consideration is the age levels you are teaching. School and schoolwork does not have to be an all-or-nothing situation. The state regulations say that families MAY submit a Notice of Intent to homeschool and participate in portfolio reviews. Think about other ways that you can work to promote trust, constructive conflict, commitment, accountability, and attention to results as part of your students learning team and pick one item to focus on at a time.
The truth is that our kids (or any of us, for that matter) have never learned or gone to school (in person, hybrid or online) during a global pandemic. The best resource we have found for determining age-appropriateness of movies, games, applications and some websites is Common Sense Media, accessible here: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/. Making it clear that it was a big kid privilege to sit at the table with us to work on schoolwork was also helpful in motivating (relatively) quiet focus. In these times, I found educational videos that could fill the spaces, where my children could still be learning, but I was able to focus on the meetings and my work. Enjoy! Looking at these from a more positive lens, as opposed to negatively identifying them as dysfunctions, the list of what teams need to thrive include: The foundation of working together as a group, especially in a stressful, unclear, unpredictable situation like remote learning during a global pandemic, is trust. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-passport, Common Sense Media. Being completely clear on goals, roles, and contributions can promote commitment and team cohesion. 30 Gratitude Games and Activities for Kids to Practice Thankfulness. If this was or is you, trust me, you are not alone. Before you start, identify an award they will earn if you get a bingo and/or if they black out the entire card by meeting the criteria of each bingo square on the entire bingo card. Retrieved March 19, 2020, from https://hellobestow.com/blog/gratitude-games/, Headspace. Administrators need to be able to raise concerns when they see inactivity and absences, to agree or disagree with reasons behind them, and then for everyone to be able to constructively discuss options for solutions, and even test out different solutions (and yes, sometimes fail and try something else). We ended up placing them in lower grades than the work they were working on as homeschoolers, both because of their ages and because we knew the work would be easy for them, allowing them to focus on the major personal and social transition with less stress. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/2218929/how-many-hours-homeschooling-per-day/. You can research options for full-time online schooling, which some states offer for free (Digital Learning Collaborative, 2018). Then, your stress levels went through the roof when it didnt all go smoothly with calm, quiet kids and dedicated focus for you. (n.d.). If you would like to explore this option, a great start is to review your state on both the CRHE and HSLDA websites, start searching for local and regional homeschool associations (the HSLDA has a great resource for this, as well), and begin searching for curriculum options (which can come in fully pre-packaged curriculum options to fully customized curriculum that you pick and choose from resources on publishers sites and Amazon.com book sales, for example) (HSLDA, n.d.2). Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/resources-for-families-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic, Earthcam. One is that everyone (or nearly everyone) you work with is in the same boat right now, so they understand the need to balance, and you shouldnt be shy about sharing what you are trying to accomplish. ), 4) If you choose homeschooling instead of distance learning, are you fully informed of any reporting requirements, regulations, etc. (n.d.2). Its challenging to ensure everyone is on the same page during a normal school year, but even more challenging during a global pandemic. When you are planning your days, you will first need to decide how much time you want (or need) to spend with your focus dedicated to your work (in meetings, for example), and how much time you want to spend homeschooling your child (or children). This includes finding appropriate websites, movies, games, and applications, teaching your children about online safety and digital citizenship, and knowing how to distinguish between free, safe content and free, unsafe content. For parents looking online for content for their children, who may not be familiar with different websites, movies or apps, or unsure how to tell what might be safe or age-appropriate, this post is for you. Montana requires a notice of intent to homeschool to be submitted to the local Superintendent of Schools, but does not require any other forms or portfolio review, etc. Trust that everyone is doing their best (whatever their best looks like on a given day) and trust that everyone has the childrens best interest at heart are a couple of others. While I worked and homeschooled, I had a variety of types of jobs, all technical/knowledge-working jobs, some with more flexibility than others. Literally blocking it off on your calendar and communicating your schedule with your bosses and colleagues will make sure you are all on the same page and that everyone will respect that time. CommonSenseMedia.org. The first major hurdle for the transition was figuring out what grade they should be in. A template for this can be found on many of the CT homeschooling group websites or Facebook pages. If your remote/distance learning/homeschooling is only planned to be temporary, keeping as close to the curriculum their classmates are learning in school will make for the smoothest transition when the time comes for them to go to school and join their classmates again. Smoothing the transition in our new reality. Everything you need to organize your area is probabily already in your home. This can be important if you are deciding between temporarily homeschooling your children and opting into distance learning (especially in middle school or high school grades). How Timeboxing Works and Why it Will Make You More Productive. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/, Common Sense Media. 
Awake and Mindful. Digital Compass. Educators need to be able to express concerns to parents and administrators when things arent working for them, their class, or even particular students. The answer to this question can provide further guidance for what choice might be best for you and your family, on top of the obvious comfort level with sending them to a physical school building in August or September.
Starting your day with gratitude and calm activities has been said to start your day off on a positive note. (2020). Uncertainty and lack of direction and why can cause unnecessary stress and a lack of commitment. Headspace, a mindfulness and meditation app, is providing a series of their meditations for free in the midst of the current situation. At this point, state and local boards of education are doing the best they can with the little information they have to plan for something none of us have ever had to deal with before. Trust that everyone is working toward a common goal, for example, is one type of trust. What is Montessori Education? With the quick pivot to distance learning in the spring, and the large disparities with technology access and related issues, the schools and districts are still working to get some students caught up on their work from the spring. While we await final proposals for opening of schools in the fall from states and local districts, we are all asking what if? What if schools open as usual in the fall at full capacity? The third consideration is the mode you wish to use to teach the subjects you have selected. (n.d.). 
Almost three years later, I can tell you that it was the right choice for both of them, without a doubt. However, we can control our reaction to it by staying safe, keeping our family safe, and following the Center for Disease Control (CDC) (2020) guidelines posted here: In my experience homeschooling and working full time (from various locations and time zones), the biggest lesson I learned was that I needed to be organized, but also flexible. Khan Academy Schedules for School Closures. There are many options for finding safe content online for kids. It is nice to have a separate table, countertop, or other area that you could leave your work out on all the time, but in most cases, this is not an option. They are asking because they truly care about your children and your input. There are also many online tours of national parks, zoos, and aquariums. Others split them into pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten, grades 1-2, grades 3-5 and grades 6+. Free Printable Homeschool Planners. 4) *BONUS* You can also take an inventory of what you have for school supplies (paper, pencils, pens, markers, crayons, glue, scizzors, stapler, tape, whole punch, etc.). It is important to understand the risks and the comfort level you have with those risks, and, depending on the approach taken, the health risks for your children and for you (and for everyone in your household). Kid-Safe Browsers and Search Sites. Although Im not fully convinced that this is the best approach to managing your time, the concept of Timeboxing is similar to the approach Ive recommended above. (2018). (2020). I was in the same situation as many of you, having to figure out what to do to keep the toddler busy while working with the preschooler. On a sports team, each team member (player, coach, manager) has to understand their role in the teams success to be committed to being the best in that role that they possibly can, thus maximizing their contribution to the team and the teams progress toward that goal.