Families with kids that are home from school....

[Dumbo777]

Just curious.... Are you maintaining a schedule with your kids? Making them get up at the same time as they would for school and keep them on a schedule, or are you doing an early summer type deal where they can sleep as late as they want? We are taking a rest day today and I am going to try (fingers crossed) for a reasonable schedule. I am also wondering what we should do for daily activities.....

 

[quandrea]

Not this week. It’s March Break here. Next week we will. But we homeschool so it’s business as usual next week. Only difference is my eldest who goes out to high school part time will now join us. I think the routines are important.

 

[lanejudy]

We're doing a modified schedule. Not necessarily up and out quite as early, but it isn't vacation time either. DD's teachers sent home quite a bit of work and I planned out a schedule to attack all of it over the next 2+ weeks (current plan is out thru 4/6). It looks to be ~4 hours of work a day, give or take. So we're doing 2 hours in the morning, lunch break and outdoor play, then 2 hours in the afternoon.

If your child(ren)'s teachers didn't send home work, I'd recommend finding some online resources and mix it up a bit rotating the subject area and type of learning. Try to do some "real life" applications to learning as well -- using math to make a shopping list with the grocery flyer, measuring for cooking, etc. And plan that they do some reading each day -- I think most elementary schools recommend 20-30 minutes depending on grade level.

Good luck!

 

[Anchored]

This week is our scheduled spring break so I am taking it easy on them. My brother is also in the hospital with COVID symptoms waiting on results so it's just a different life for us right now, as he coaches my son's team and they were together every day before he got the fever.
Next week, I will see what our school puts out with regards to distance learning and go from there.
It shouldn't take the full 8 hour school day to home learn, so I will probably not wake them up early, since I am working from home and start at 7am. I will likely focus on them in the afternoon/evening because I am single mom and can't do it all they can sleep in, then do chores and leisure until my lunch break probably

 

[Tink_83]

I need them in a schedule - the first few days have been chaos so I’m sitting down today and coming up with a schedule. Today is also the first day school is sending out homeschooling packets. So I’ll try for a schedule Thursday and Friday and modify as needed from there.

But this working at home, watching and caring for a 7 year old and a 2 year old, and now homeschooling them is harder then it sounds.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We started a schedule today. The plan for “school days” is:

7:30 wake up, breakfast, TV time, brush teeth, get dressed

9-11:30 math and science

Noon lunch and “recess”

1-3 ELA and social studies

I pushed bedtime to 10pm since my kid is a night owl and can get more sleep in the AM now.


We will make adjustments as needed. We won’t do school work on what was their field trip day next week. We are doing a virtual field trip.
We won’t do school work during spring break.

 

[wasnotafan]

We did hs for a couple of years in middle school. Find what works for you. DD is a sophomore now and is handling her own work and schedule. She has become a night owl and mostly does her work from about 8PM-1AM and gets up when she wants and does fun stuff during the day. It works for us. She had a pan of brownies backed for dinner when I got home yesterday.

 

[Always teaching]

If you are looking for things to do that are academic, many websites are offering a free subscription for parents or teachers during this difficult time, such as brainpop, study island, abc mouse. Scholastic has posted daily lessons based on a students grade level as well. Websites that are always free, such as prodigy math are good options too.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I’ve been letting my kids sleep til about 9 (they’d sleep til noon if I let them) then after eating and teeth they work on online school stuff for 3 hours then I take the younger ones outside for a while. My high schooler is supposed to exercise every day as her home gym assignment so she’ll usually do that then as well. Then I get to listen to how bored they are for the rest of the day!

 

[xlsm]

Definitely a schedule! A loose one, but still scheduled. I let them sleep until 930 but then make them get up and shower before coming down to do the online work their teachers have set up (they're both in high school).

Next week is their scheduled Spring Break, so I may let them skip stuff since they'd technically be out of the classroom anyway.

I'm also having them do more focused work on Khan Academy in their "core four" classes, b/c they have some AP classes and still need to be prepping for tests. Plus, I don't feel like I can effectively help them with their math, or challenge them.
They're being great and not complaining, thankfully.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

I'm finding it extremely hard. I have 4 children aged 1,3 7 and 8 and it's just so hard to follow the older two with their work load while the two younger ones want attention. I don't know how home schooling mums manage. I think it's gonna be majorly tough

 

[TwoMisfits]

I'm finding it extremely hard. I have 4 children aged 1,3 7 and 8 and it's just so hard to follow the older two with their work load while the two younger ones want attention. I don't know how home schooling mums manage. I think it's gonna be majorly tough

It's hard, but it's doable. Once you find your routine, it gets a lot easier.

One word of advice - take an hour to yourself every night, if possible. If you have a spouse, let him/her watch the kids. If not, pop in a video and leave your door open. Bubble baths with my favorite magazine got me through many a bad day. Reading a book on a bed did as well. Pretty much anything that let me feel like an adult while shutting out kid complaints, even for a little while. Homeschool parents call it "making sure you take time for yourself" - without that, you can overwhelm fast.

Okay, and a 2nd word of advice - don't stick to a school schedule of 6 hours of learning. One, you don't need it...and two, you'll burn out. Get 1-3 hours of focused learning in, depending on your child's age level, and then let them self-direct for 1-3 hours later (legos, audiobooks or regular books, nature walks, arts and crafts, learning videos, etc). The longer hours should be HS-level...none of mine under high school have ever done more than 4 hours of time/day...

 

[Dreams&wishes]

It's hard, but it's doable. Once you find your routine, it gets a lot easier.

One word of advice - take an hour to yourself every night, if possible. If you have a spouse, let him/her watch the kids. If not, pop in a video and leave your door open. Bubble baths with my favorite magazine got me through many a bad day. Reading a book on a bed did as well. Pretty much anything that let me feel like an adult while shutting out kid complaints, even for a little while. Homeschool parents call it "making sure you take time for yourself" - without that, you can overwhelm fast.

Okay, and a 2nd word of advice - don't stick to a school schedule of 6 hours of learning. One, you don't need it...and two, you'll burn out. Get 1-3 hours of focused learning in, depending on your child's age level, and then let them self-direct for 1-3 hours later (legos, audiobooks or regular books, nature walks, arts and crafts, learning videos, etc). The longer hours should be HS-level...none of mine under high school have ever done more than 4 hours of time/day...

Thanks for the advice, I will try. My husband is homeworking so it's all on me really, as I have to focus on the two younger ones not going to disturb daddy while he has his conference calls... The 7& 8 are not able to do work by themselves yet. The weather is terrible so they can't even go out for a play...

 

[Tink_83]

Anyone here also trying to keep up with work demands. I manage a team and am trying to telework while teaching my 7 year old and taking care of the 2 year old. My ya and is 100 percent telework now as well. Anyway since we were exposed via my husband to COVID19 we can’t send the youngest to daycare right now. If anyone has solutions for also getting work done that is working for them that would be helpful if you’d share. I think if I were just playing SAHM for a while it wouldn’t be so bad but literally every coworker I talk to sounds about to crack and we are only into day 3...

 

[aml1676]

I have a kindergartener, and I guess we're following a loose schedule? I'm also taking the opportunity to sleep late - as long as I'm "at work" by 9, I'm good. I've been getting up around 8:30 and letting her sleep until she gets up, which is usually between 8:30 and 9. Then she has breakfast while I log in and start work. She has free time until 10, when she's been participating in a "virtual playdate" held by a local kids website, and then after that she does her school assignments. She has a packet with enough pages to do 3 per day - math, literacy, and writing. Then lunch, followed by a YouTube readalong (her teacher sends a link every day). She can do yoga in the afternoons when it rains, or play outside if it's nice. I still have conference calls I have to be on almost every day, so we're just working around those. I'm trying to keep an eye on screen time so that she doesn't just become one with the couch and tablet, but I'm not being too stringent - these are weird times, and I'm not a teacher. I'm not homeschooling my kid, I'm just trying to make sure she doesn't lose skills she's gained over the school year.

 

[sponica]

Anyone here also trying to keep up with work demands. I manage a team and am trying to telework while teaching my 7 year old and taking care of the 2 year old. My ya and is 100 percent telework now as well. Anyway since we were exposed via my husband to COVID19 we can’t send the youngest to daycare right now. If anyone has solutions for also getting work done that is working for them that would be helpful if you’d share. I think if I were just playing SAHM for a while it wouldn’t be so bad but literally every coworker I talk to sounds about to crack and we are only into day 3...

Based on my conference call on Monday, my research group has just accepted productivity will take a nose dive until the schools reopen. Our first goals were figuring out WHAT we could do. We had to figure out what to do with our studies (we've suspended some of them, are trying to see if we can gather data remotely for another one) and then prioritize things over the next few weeks. The project we were going to launch in 2 weeks is probably on the back burner for now...it doesn't make sense to spend what little time we have on something that might not even be feasible.

I think one of my managers is doing work at night after the kids go to bed (manuscripts/etc)

 

[TEM1234]

Anyone here also trying to keep up with work demands. I manage a team and am trying to telework while teaching my 7 year old and taking care of the 2 year old. My ya and is 100 percent telework now as well. Anyway since we were exposed via my husband to COVID19 we can’t send the youngest to daycare right now. If anyone has solutions for also getting work done that is working for them that would be helpful if you’d share. I think if I were just playing SAHM for a while it wouldn’t be so bad but literally every coworker I talk to sounds about to crack and we are only into day 3...

ABC mouse has very basic stuff that your 2 year old may enjoy ( if you are ok with screens for them.) that might give you shorts spaces of time to be productive without a 2 year old underfoot

 

[Dumbo777]

Thanks for the advice, I will try. My husband is homeworking so it's all on me really, as I have to focus on the two younger ones not going to disturb daddy while he has his conference calls... The 7& 8 are not able to do work by themselves yet. The weather is terrible so they can't even go out for a play...

Hang in there girly.

 

[Funfire240]

I am hoping to set up a little more of a schedule. THis week sure has been about adjustments. My kids are 4th and 6th grade. They've stayed home some and stayed with family. As of today DH is on shut down so he will be home where they can be home and set things a little better. Thankfully I have been able to stay working too in my office but not sure how long it will last. I am taking some time off to get things in order at home. for now, they are doing the assignments given for the specific day but not much extra. Today however they had a free day with their grandparents.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Just posting to say our schedule was successful today. Fingers crossed that continues.