If you plan to homeschool long-term or permanently, focusing on this alignment might not be quite as important or impactful. Common Sense Media. (Note that this is not a comprehensive list.) (n.d.). SheKnows.com. Retrieved March 19, 2020, from https://www.headspace.com/covid-19, Khan Academy (2020). 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. Educators have never taught during a global pandemic, much less taught remotely or taught some students remotely and some in person at the same time. Digital Compass. (2018). (n.d.). You are the parent, and you know what is best for your children. (Various factors played into our decision, but one major factor for us was for the girls to have the option to participate in sports, clubs and other activities, and we were living in a location where they were districted into good schools.). Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://www.digitallearningcollab.com/state-virtual-schools, HSLDA. Considerations for Schools. Just take one step at a time and focus on one goal at a time. If you want more information prior to pursuing this option, your best bet is likely to reach out to the school or district directly for more information about what the portfolio review might look like, what kind of support and guidance you can expect from them, etc. 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. A great list of them compiled by STEAMsational is accessible here: https://www.steamsational.com/free-printable-homeschool-planners/. 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). A visual representation of the five dysfunctions Lencioni identifies is shown below. Weathering the Storm. Florida is more strict, but does have umbrella schools that allow for smoother navigation of the requirements. Common Core Resources: Textbook & Publisher Resources. You will need to research your options in your area if this is a deciding factor for you. 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. Welltrainedmind.com. There are also many online tours of national parks, zoos, and aquariums. 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. The first consideration is the age levels you are teaching. 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. If your student is overloaded with work, have them work with their teachers and administrators to request extensions or accommodations where needed. The state regulations say that families MAY submit a Notice of Intent to homeschool and participate in portfolio reviews. These can be accessed here: https://www.headspace.com/covid-19. We cannot control what this pandemic has become or is about to become or the ripple effects it may cause. 30 Gratitude Games and Activities for Kids to Practice Thankfulness. An example of this is a new kindergartener starting homeschool in the first year of school eligibility. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/, Common Sense Media. If this was or is you, trust me, you are not alone. A big lesson learned in this transition is that no matter what homeschool curriculum you choose, there will be differences in what they learn there and what is covered in the public school curriculum, thus, some material will be repeated and there will be gaps to be filled in other places. The key is not to be happy or unhappy about the approaches, but to be informed. 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. What is Montessori Education? 3) All members of the team should remember that discomfort leads to growth and work on being ok with being held accountable, with hearing feedback that they dont really want to hear, and with giving honest, constructive feedback to other members of the team when things arent working well. 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. While you are determining how much time you want to dedicate to your work, also consider if there are specific days or times of day that you have regularly scheduled meetings, deadlines for regular work, or other time-specific restrictions. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://www.k12.com/. Given the current closure of public schools, many publishers are providing content online for free, as well. Grownandflown.com. Note that this option and how it is implemented differs greatly per state. Common Sense Media provides two different options for digital citizenship education. 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. The pause for them is a huge change and requires adjustment, but provides an opportunity for us, as parents, to teach them how to slow down and be ok with being bored or finding their own activities. (2020). 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 is the option rated as highest risk by the CDC) (CDC, 2020). Awake and Mindful has collected five yoga videos for kids that might be one option for a calm activity to start off the day. There are so many options available to teach every subject, and many are free. Its challenging to ensure everyone is on the same page during a normal school year, but even more challenging during a global pandemic. I present to you the conference call activity challenge for today (03/17/2020): Conference Call Bingo (with your kiddos)! Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/resources-for-families-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic, Earthcam. While I worked and homeschooled, I had a variety of types of jobs, all technical/knowledge-working jobs, some with more flexibility than others. Common Sense Media, for example, provides a list of Kid-Safe Browsers and Search Sides, accessible here: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/kid-safe-browsers-and-search-sites. When we homeschooled, for earlier years, where I had many conference calls, and the kids were younger, we used videos for most of the elective subjects and studied each subject almost every day. They already do for other meetings and for lunch, right? Always be appreciative.). Game Reviews. The reality is that we need to accept that nothing is going to be perfect in this imperfect situation, so for the perfectionists out there (like myself), if we are surviving and our families are surviving, we are doing the best we can, and that is good enough. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/age-appropriate-chores/, Grown and Flown. Bauer, S. W. (2016). 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. (n.d.). SheKnows.com. The fourth consideration is the schedule of the subjects you have selected to teach. 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. 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.). The last thing we need is to waste time searching for books, pencils, paper and other supplies while we are trying to work and homeschool. Yours will too. The most effective approach I found was to create a basket of schoolwork for the toddler and let her choose her schoolwork from the basket. In Connecticut, the only thing you are legally required to do is file with your local board of education a letter of Notice of Withdrawal. Patrick Lencioni wrote a book called, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, which gives a simple, straightforward way to think about what is needed for teams to function well and to thrive. Roblox. 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. (Note that this is an unpopular opinion and not promoted or frequently supported in the traditional, long-term homeschooling community, though, so questions about this option in these traditional groups or distribution lists may not be met with the most positive reactions.) Examples of delivery modes include DVDs, online learning games, online video lessons, printable lessons, workbooks and textbooks, fully online classes, and instructions posted online that allow you to create your own. 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. If you have decided that you are not yet comfortable physically sending your kids back to a school building, thinking through some of the following questions might be helpful in deciding between distance learning (assuming this option is available/offered through your school) and homeschooling: 1) Do you want to choose your own curriculum, make your own lesson plans, etc., or do you want to assist your children in completing teacher-assigned activities? 5) Choose activities to start your day off on a calm and positive note. When I started homeschooling and working from home, we had one preschooler and one toddler. Youre Probably Homeschooling Way More Than You Need To. One option is for grades 3-5, called Digital Passport, and is accessible here: https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-passport. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.earthcam.com/events/animalcams/, National University Library. Yes, movies sometimes work, but how about something possibly more fun (for you and for them)? The first major hurdle for the transition was figuring out what grade they should be in. Our mission is to keep your basement dry without being in your basement. They are asking because they truly care about your children and your input. Carter, Christine. 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. ), 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. Focusonthefamily.com. Common Sense Media includes reviews of some books, as well. How School Closures Can Strengthen Your Family. So, how do we, as a team of parents, educators, and administrators, work together as a high performing team and not fall into the 5 dysfunctions of a team identified by Lencioni? It is important to remain aware (and equally appreciative for any help they provide) that the schools and school districts are not required to assist homeschooling families, and that submitting an intent to withdraw (and/or an intent to homeschool) does have a direct impact on their budget, as they are funded on a per-student basis. These are accessible here: https://awakeandmindful.com/best-kids-yoga-videos-on-youtube/. 2) Develop open lines of communication between parents, educators and administrators. To this day, we stand by that rule and have had very few issues. If yours has not done so, or you would like to supplement the work provided to your kids, there are many approaches to doing so. Others split them into pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten, grades 1-2, grades 3-5 and grades 6+. You will need to determine, based on the number and ages of children, your work schedule, and any other constraints, what subjects you want to teach and can manage to do so with minimal stress. Either way, some people are going to be happy and some unhappy, regardless of the plan or approach that is taken. (This is in no way intended to imply that they wont help you, since we have always experienced the exact opposite, especially when in direct contact with teachers, administrators, etc.
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