Tips for Schooling and Working at Home
All five of us, my husband, myself and our three children age 10, seven and almost five (this is, I am told, is a very important distinction) are all under one roof all the time. We have been every day since October. No, we aren’t crazy preppers and we certainly aren’t your stereotypical homeschooling family.
Homeschooling isn’t easy when you choose to do it, let alone when it is forced on you. photo credit: Raya on Assignment
We just made a decision in October that my husband was going to stay home and homeschool the kids while I worked at home from the corner of our bedroom carved out as my ‘office.’ Prior to October, I had been the one homeschooling the kids while my husband ran his contracting business and I hustled on the side with running coaching and Rise.Run.Retreat. We made the switch because my business was growing and it just felt right...for us. As a former high school English teacher, I felt well-equipped to teach and with a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, my husband wanted to bring his keen insight into the family dynamic and create a place where our children could thrive.
When people ask us about homeschooling we’re honest, it’s not easy and it might not be for everyone. Homeschooling is a huge challenge even when you choose to do it, but when you’re forced to stay home for work and school when you’re not accustomed to it, as is the case now due to heightened precautions regarding our public health as it relates to COVID-19, it is an even bigger challenge.
Try to include the youngest child and make them feel as if they have an important role. photo credit: Raya on Assignment
Often times it’s not the schooling that’s the problem, it’s the relationships, that attitudes and the dynamic between parent and child that prove to be most difficult. We certainly don’t have all the answers and we’re not perfect, but here’s a glimpse at how we do things:
Be Clear on the Outcome
As with any endeavor, it’s important to start with the end in mind. And while the ‘end’ is particularly uncertain you can still create intention about what you will all be doing at home. When we think about our reasons for homeschooling they center less around scholastic achievement and more around emotional and mental well-being. Our goal is for our children to feel encouraged, to grow in confidence and ultimately to thrive. We consider the actual school subjects secondary to this goal, because if a child is encouraged and confident they will follow their curiosity and learning will naturally occur. Consider what it is you want to accomplish as a family during this uncertain time. How do you want to feel on a daily basis? How could this odd and scary situation actually be turned into a beneficial one?
Bring the family together and figure out what you want to get out of this time. Even the youngest has something to offer when it comes to ideas.
Activity: Sit down as a family and brainstorm your goals and objectives. Use this opportunity to bring positivity and hope to a situation that is anxiety-provoking and uncertain. Ask your child what makes them feel most encouraged or confident. Then ask yourself how you can recreate these situations at home.
Create a Schedule and Follow It
Create a framework for your day by building a routine and schedule you can all follow. Try to keep your schedule and your child’s schedule as normal as possible with set times for waking, eating and getting dressed etc. Your first assignment to your computer savvy child might be to create a visual schedule for each day that provides structure by clearly defining daily activities. The certainty of a routine can create security and comfort not just for your child, but also allow you to have specific and certain work times as well. Be clear about designated work times for each school subject. It’s also critical that this schedule provides frequent breaks to move, be outside or engage as a family. Our daily schedule integrates work with regular play, we don’t adopt a ‘get your work done then you can play’ mentality, but instead encourage breaks for creative play and time outside between work.
Our daughter created these visual schedules.
Activity: Sit down as a family and come up with a daily schedule that incorporates your normal daily activities as well as time for schoolwork, play and movement.
Start the Day with a Deposit of Attention
When my kids were seven, four and 22 months my husband was working long hours and we were living temporarily in a small apartment. At the time I was a contributing blogger for Women’s Running Magazine, doing a bit of freelance writing, managing my own blog, coaching a full roster of athletes and starting Rise.Run.Retreat. and we were in our third year of homeschooling. It felt like I had so much to do and no time to do it. I would try to squeeze in emails and writing sessions in the in-between moments or at nap time. My attention was constantly divided. But I began to notice a pattern. If I started my day focused on my to-do list and jumped right into things while the kids ate breakfast or played, by lunch time everything seemed chaotic and my stress levels were through the roof. However, if instead of jumping right into what I was supposed to do, I designated an 30-60 minutes of undivided attention towards the kids by the afternoon they were happily playing on their own while the youngest napped, allowing me a couple hours of mildly interrupted work time.
Making a “deposit” of attention early on in the day pays huge dividends later on in the day. Your child will feel more secure and be more compliant later in the day. To be honest, it might not work every day, but I found that it worked more days that not and so I started to structure my day to first make that deposit of attention in the form of playing or reading aloud to my kids, before I even cracked open my laptop.
Activity: Brainstorms ways that you can connect with your child each morning. This connection might look different depending on their age, maybe that means reading aloud to your littles, or playing Legos or for your older kids sitting down and watching that DIY YouTube video with them. Whatever it might be, think of a few tangibles ways you can connect before you start working.
When They Work, You Work
Do you remember the old adage they tell new moms shortly after giving birth? Sleep when they sleep. The same applies to being at home with your kids and balancing schooling and working from home. Work when they work. When our children are tuned into their studies that’s when my husband and I have our laptops out and are working. Our youngest, who has the shortest attention span and the biggest capacity for wiggling sits and draws, plays with playdough or heads off to the other room to play on his own. If you have older ones who are school age and littles who are not school age, this is probably the biggest challenge. I get it. When my youngest was still in diapers and I was homeschooling the older two, it was the hardest thing I had ever done. I noticed the biggest difference when I worked to include our youngest in what we were doing, giving him a smaller version of what the older kids were doing.
Activity: If you are working from home set clear boundaries around your work. Explain to your children what you have to do and what it “looks like” when you are in “work mode,” modeling for younger children so they understand what work-mode really looks like. Then give them a chance to model what it looks like when they are in “school mode.” Ask them to show you what they look like when they are at school, concentrating and working hard.
Use Online Resources to Explore and be Creative
Your school may use an online program that you can access while you are at home, but if not there are quite a few helpful resources out there including online schools, lesson plans, and free printable worksheets. We try to be aware of total screen time (not just for school but also TV programs as well) and balance those with analog activities and time outside. Here’s a list of resources that we have found helpful
School Resources
Power Homeschool - This is a paid, online curriculum for K-12
Time 4 Learning - Another paid K-12 curriculum, their dashboard allows you to demo the programs prior to signing up
HomeschoolShare.com - This is a great FREE resource for unit studies (a topical study) and lapbooks. We’re big fans of the printable lapbooks, they have 350 topics ranging from Ancient Greece to pirates to Sea Turtles.
Teachers Pay Teachers -This resource is actually geared towards teachers and I’ve even written curriculum for the site myself, however there are countless lesson plans, worksheets, and resources here available for purchase. The great news is that you’re helping a teacher out by buying directly from them!
K5Learning.com - This is another FREE resource that offers printable worksheets and lessons. You can easily search by grade and subject to find exactly what your child needs.
There are many online resources to tap into.
Podcasts
Pickle - our kids are big fans of this ethics podcast for kids. They enjoy the topics, questions and theatrical discussion of thoughtful issues.
REI Wild Ideas Worth Living - we are big fans of this podcast and the many guests with wild and amazing stories who join host, Shelby Stanger.
How I Built This - we started with Ben and Jerry’s and Five Guys episodes because those were brands our kids recognized, but now they are hooked on these stories of how familiar things in everyday life were started by ordinary people with an idea.
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls - our daughter is a huge fan of this podcast and listens to episodes on repeat.
Additional favorites: Wow in the World, Stories Podcast, This Podcast has Fleas, What if World
Encourage Creative Play
While have a set schedule and pretty clear boundaries around work, we also encourage creative play throughout the day. This provides a break from screen time (if your child is doing any online learning) and gives them an outlet for their creativity. Playing pretend outside, cooking in the kitchen, building Legos, crafting cards to send to loved ones: these all count.
Activity: sit down as a family and come up with weekly themes or activities that align with your kid’s interests or current lessons. Have your kids recall their favorite days from spirit week at school and duplicate those days at home. Crazy Hair Day, Pajama Day, Backwards Day (and make Pineapple Upside Down Cake!), have fun with it.
Get Outside
Our typical day includes over an hour outside (weather permitting) mid-morning. We explore the woods, ride bikes and go for walks. You might not have these natural resources at your door, but could you sit on the front steps and count the number of species you see? Listen to the birds and try to figure out what they are. Identify the plant trying to grow through the cracks in the pavement? Having time outdoors is critical for our mental health, so if it is safe and prudent in your area, be outside when you can.
Finding time to get outside for fresh air and movement is critical if it is safe and prudent to do so in your area.
Activity: Create a nature walk bingo sheet (or print this free one) and go for walk (only if this is prudent and safe in your area) and see how many you can identify.
Getting Along
Your disposition and level of patience are going to set the tone for everything at home, no matter what kind of plans you have. It is essential that you come to the situation from a place of personal peace. Taking care of your own emotions, anxiety, disappointment, anger and frustration is critical before even trying to implement any of these suggestions. Do you need to have a quiet moment in the morning before everyone else gets up? Make it happen. Do you and your partner need to communicate about your feelings and how you’re going to tackle responsibilities in a new way? Make the time and make it happen.
Finding time for personal peace is critical.
And it when it comes to relating to your children, you have time which is one of the essential advantages to successful parenting. So often we revert to raising our voice and enter into conflict with our children because we are pressed for time. They have to put their shoes on NOW or else we will all be late. The hurry is temporarily suspended and so there’s an opportunity, an invitation, to bring peace and patience to any conflicts that do arise.
Activity: Set aside time to figure out what you need to cultivate personal peace. Meet with your partner for a dedicated conversation, sharing what you each need in this uncertain time. Create a routine that supports you and makes you feel at peace. Need a little help? Check out my downloadable PDF guide for creating a Sustainable Morning Routine HERE.
Additional Parenting Resources
We are big fans of the following books:
Positive Discipline A-Z (this is a quick reference guide for specific behaviors)
Have questions? We’ll be going LIVE on Instagram (@sarah.canney) at 12 pm EST EVERY DAY THIS WEEK to answer questions, share our stay-at-home-family experience and generally be as helpful as possible! Or drop your question HERE and we’ll be sure to respond during the LIVE.
Be well,
Sarah