Short Term Homeschooling: How to Get Started.

2020 has been a crazy year. My kids are a mix of homeschoolers and public schoolers. This spring we were all home ALL THE TIME and it felt like it. This plunge into short term homeschooling wasn’t easy.

If you don’t know me, I’m a teacher and a homeschooler. I currently teach online and teach classes for homeschoolers – well until everything went online.

I’m lucky to live somewhere warm so we spend a lot of time in our pool and my youngest learned to ride a bike, but schooling has been tricky. Even as seasoned homeschoolers, I found emergency homeschooling of our youngest a challenging adjustment.

I know you might feel exhausted and overwhelmed so I wanted to give you some tips.

My youngest was a kindergartner this spring and to say that distance learning and kindergartners don’t mix is an understatement. She HATES computer work. So what did I do?

Luckily, I I found myself digging through our boxes of old curriculum, buying some workbooks, and resources from TPT to help us both avoid tears. I know you might not have a reservoir of boxes to choose from – stick with me.

My boys were in middle school They usually do a mix of classes at a tutorial and classes with me. As we know, this spring was anything but business as usual. Their tutorial classes moved to an online platform and everything else was pretty much the same. If you don’t count the nonstop questions about logins.

This short term homeschooling got extended through the end of the school year and now it looks like it might be going into fall for us. So I’m switching gears and thinking about other factors to make this work and not just surviving.

Temporary Homeschooling is Temporary

If you feel confident that your kids are going back to full time public school as soon as it is safe, then keep that in mind. You might be choosing to pull your kid and homeschool this fall because virtual learning just wasn’t working.

My little one loves going to school and we had no plans to homeschool her for first grade, but we also want to do what is best for her.

If you are pulling them and then returning them, I have some suggestions:

1. I highly suggest using a curriculum that aligns with your state’s standards of education.
2. Consider your time. Are you working? Are you working from home? Will you need help from another adult(s)?
3. Don’t worry too much about extras. For right now, focus on the academics they must do and throw in activities that they enjoy and you feel are safe.
4. Have some compassion for yourself and them. Realize that this might not be anyone’s first choice in your home, but you have your reasons. Let me save you some mental anguish – You don’t have to do it like anyone else.
5. Create a routine and style that works for your family and don’t worry about some Pinterest perfect version of homeschooling that you see. You have the ability to make your situation the best it can be and that isn’t by holding on to unrealistic expectations of yourself or your kids.
6. Be confident. You aren’t creating the wheel. There are lots of great homeschooling resources out there, but you may want help eliminating the ones that won’t work for your routine and style.

Not sure how to make homeschooling work for your family?

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Emergency Homeschooling Made Easy

Everything feels a little uncertain and out of our control. These are times when routine can be essential for everyone’s mental health although they might be resistant at first. In the spring, we focused a lot on bare minimums. Many of us are doing some version of hybrid schooling.

This is an emergency situation. You probably wound’t think about redecorating the living room if the kitchen is on fire. It is okay if your family needs to focus on the basics.

For our youngest kids we need to focus on trying to maintain and build their skill levels. Create a minimum baseline for essential skills – my little one has to practice her sight words, read a story, write something, and do some math daily. We alternate something for the other subjects. She told me today that a sight word worksheet was fun – try lots of things but start SIMPLE.

For your older kids, they can do a lot of this on their own with the help of virtual classes and online learning. However, kids that have been in school or scheduled by an adult, may need help creating a new schedule to work for them.

>>>>Fill out the form below and I’ll send you a homeschool schedule template for Google sheets. <<<

Once you have the academics covered, think outside the academic box. This is a great time for teaching them how to sew on a button, make a cake, or put a chain on a bike. A journal of what it was like to live during this time in history is a great project and discussions about current events with the family can be encouraged.

Short Term Homeschooling is a Season.

If you keep in mind that this is a season (and it will pass) you can let go of some of the stress. Finding something that fits your needs and the demands that you have on your own time is essential.