Covid-19 Schooling

Hey friends. I’m glad you are here. As many of you know, I homeschool my 3 boys, who are in 3rd, 6th, and 8th grade. What you may not know, is that I said I would never ever homeschool. I also said that I would never ever move to China, but more on those stories, and lessons learned on saying never ever later…

So, here I am. Reluctantly homeschooling my boys, but truly loving it on most days. And here you are. Walking down a path you maybe never saw coming.

I have been thinking of starting a blog for years. I had the name picked out, and often wrote posts in my head. But it never materialized. There was a lot of moving that happened, and my priorities were usually with the boxes and getting everyone settled. I dreamt of launching it on the first day of spring… my favorite season. I just didn’t expect the first day of spring to look like this, or my first post to be of this nature.

A lot of friends and acquaintances have reached out to me privately about what our homeschool looks like. Here is what I have said to them, and what I would say to you if we were sitting down over coffee, or on my back patio while the boys were at one of their many recesses… It is going to be okay. You do not need to figure everything out right now. We are all reeling from what all of this means and what it will look like. Now is the time to lean on the Lord, and lean on each other (from an appropriate social distance, of course). Take a week or two and process what is happening. We all have a lot to grieve.

Maybe your school will send work home and resources for your child. Great. Do that. Maybe they don’t. If that is the case, please remember it is the middle of March. Now is not the time to purchase a full homeschool curriculum. It is so easy to get overwhelmed with all of the resources that are available. That makes homeschooling easier than ever, but can also make you feel like you aren’t doing enough.

As the weeks progress, I will be posting more about what our days look like, and what works for us. For now, I hope you will let your kids absorb their new normal, let yourself absorb your new normal, play a little more, get outside a little more, and rest a little more.

If you are looking to get started on schooling at home at this point, a few thoughts on free resources for now:

Bible

We are reading through the Bible in one year as a family using the YouVersion app. I love that the boys can leave questions and comments in the “Talk it Over” section and we discuss it over dinner.

Math

If you have an elementary student, I think most of you have some sort of program in place for Math facts. Whether it is IXL, Reflex Math, or any of the other programs out there, keep doing that. It is something that is familiar, and that is good right now. If you have middle school or older, check out Khan Academy. Let this be a time to sharpen some skills that may be weak, or stretch into something new and challenging.

Language Arts

We are using The Good & the Beautiful for Marine Biology and Handwriting this year. I love her curriculum because it truly is just that- good and beautiful. I think of Philippians 4:8- “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”. This is the framework I use for our homeschool in general, so it is a good fit for us. The Marine Biology unit is free to download, along with Language Arts units for 1st-5th grade!

The Good & the Beautiful Marine Biology

The Good & the Beautiful Language Arts Level 1

The Good & the Beautiful Language Arts Level 2

The Good & the Beautiful Language Arts Level 3

The Good & the Beautiful Language Arts Level 4

The Good & the Beautiful Language Arts Level 5

I would also encourage you to let your kids free write/journal. This is a great way to process what is going on around them, and will provide great memories later on!

Reading

Read great books. We are so lucky to live in a time when we can access ebooks and audiobooks in just a few seconds.

Science

Make an “I Wonder” journal. My kids are constantly asking questions, and if they had their way, we would probably stay there all day every day. So, if they have a question- regardless of the subject, it goes here. Write it down. Then, take a deep dive later to learn more about the topic!

Now is a great time to get outside, go on plenty of walks/hikes, and start a nature journal. Write and draw what you see. Plant something and watch it grow.

History

Spend some time going over American History by watching the fun and educational Liberty’s Kids series on YouTube! This has been a favorite for all of my boys when they were in elementary.

Crash Course is also free on Youtube and my boys love it.

Read books that cover a certain topic in History.

Foreign Language

Duolingo!

Coding

My boys love Scratch through MIT.

You can check out their work here: L, C, S

High School

Speaking of MIT, if you have high school students or students that would love a challenge, make sure to visit OpenCourseWare, where you can attend many of their college level courses online!

If you have any questions or need specific advice, please feel free to reach out to me. We have learned a lot through trial and error, and I am happy to share what has worked and what hasn’t for us!

Deep breath. Although most of us never saw this coming, God did. He is still here, in this season, and He is good!

Next week: What does our day actually look like? Where do household chores fit into all of this? What curriculum are we using? And more!