Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-passport, Common Sense Media. 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. If you are teaching more than one child, you will need to decide, based on their ages, maturity levels and possibly reading levels, whether you need to plan separate work for each, or whether you can plan once and have them all working on the same work. Others split them into pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten, grades 1-2, grades 3-5 and grades 6+. It is important to remember this. We have never parented (or helped our kids with remote learning) during a global pandemic. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://welltrainedmind.com/a/what-are-the-non-core-subjects/?v=7516fd43adaa, Common Sense Media (n.d.). Common Sense Media provides two different options for digital citizenship education. Always be appreciative.). Schedules created and posted in a common location provide clarity to everyone involved and help the parents avoid questions like what are we doing today? and what subjects are we working on today? There are many free printable planners and schedules available online. 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. On top of a foundation of trust is constructive conflict. 3) Clear out, setup and organize your dedicated storage area for your schoolwork and related supplies. Accountability is the forth level in the pyramid identified by Lencioni, and aligns closely with constructive conflict and commitment. Greater Good Magazine. Carter, Christine. Its also important to understand what is and what is not likely to happen in the next year curriculum and academic-wise and how that might impact you and your children. Before you start, identify an award they will earn if you get a bingo and/or if they black out the entire card by meeting the criteria of each bingo square on the entire bingo card. (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.) Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/, Common Sense Media. How Timeboxing Works and Why it Will Make You More Productive. (2020). Harvard Business Review. ), Have your parent/guardian take a picture of your fort, with the list of equipment used and post it to Twitter using the hashtag #fortchallenge and tag @HomeschoolWork. See below for our experience transitioning our kids from homeschooling to public school and considerations/lessons-learned that you might find helpful. To step back and take a look at what this truly means, it is helpful to have a lens through which to view this team and the relationships and responsibilities of the members of the team. The fourth consideration is the schedule of the subjects you have selected to teach. Uncertainty and lack of direction and why can cause unnecessary stress and a lack of commitment. (n.d.). The public school administrators where we are were extremely helpful in working with us to determine the best placement. You dont have to wait until plans for the fall are released to figure out what you are comfortable (and not comfortable) with. To avoid things becoming disorganized, piling up, getting dirty during meals, etc., it is best to dedicate a shelf or whole bookshelf to the schoolwork, books and all related equipment. Just take one step at a time and focus on one goal at a time. There are also many online tours of national parks, zoos, and aquariums. 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. I present to you the conference call activity challenge for today (03/17/2020): Conference Call Bingo (with your kiddos)! Coronavirus Closed Schools: 27 Activities to Keep Kids Busy During School Closures. You will need to research your options in your area if this is a deciding factor for you. You can ask the school about options for continuing distance learning (if they dont already include that as an option in their fall plans). Making it clear that it was a big kid privilege to sit at the table with us to work on schoolwork was also helpful in motivating (relatively) quiet focus. There are so many options available to teach every subject, and many are free. Calling it schoolwork for the toddler made her feel like she was getting to do something cool that her big sister was doing, while really just doing what she would have been anyway. Or, are you not comfortable sending your children to school at all until there is a vaccine, for example? 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. Without clearly defined roles and goals, it is difficult to hold team members accountable for their contributions to the team and to the teams success. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.sheknows.com/parenting/slideshow/2173553/coronavirus-school-closings-keep-kids-busy/1/, Wiess, S. R. (2020b). For those who are not experienced or knowledgeable about publishers used for K-12 education, the National University Library System has a list on their website, accessible here: https://nu.libguides.com/CommonCore/ccss_publishers. 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. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://responsiblehomeschooling.org/policy-issues/current-policy/, Digital Learning Collaborative. (n.d.). If you are teaching one child, you can skip this section. How School Closures Can Strengthen Your Family. The second is what is being referred to as remote or distance learning, or, in our district, cooperative distance learning, which I think describes this option very well. One way to focus and be able to sift through all of the options is to decide what modes you wish to use to teach each of the subjects you selected, and limit your searches to the selected mode for each subject. Note that this option and how it is implemented differs greatly per state. Common Sense Media includes reviews of some books, as well. Parents need to be able to bring concerns to educators and administrators when things arent working for them and their children. The best resource we have found for determining age-appropriateness of movies, games, applications and some websites is Common Sense Media, accessible here: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/. You can use an existing bingo card, plenty of which are posted for free online. For parents looking online for content for their children, who may not be familiar with different websites, movies or apps, or unsure how to tell what might be safe or age-appropriate, this post is for you. Given the current closure of public schools, many publishers are providing content online for free, as well. Smoothing the transition in our new reality. They also expect to have to make up for missed learning in the fall for this last spring, especially for the younger students in lower grades. (n.d.). Our children need to be able to disagree and question things when concepts or instructions arent clear to them. It is also an opportunity for us to find ways for our kids to help around the house and to teach them new life skills that are no longer taught in schools. (n.d.). Montana requires a notice of intent to homeschool to be submitted to the local Superintendent of Schools, but does not require any other forms or portfolio review, etc. 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. Commitment is built on a foundation of trust and constructive conflict. If any of you are like me, you started your working and homeschooling balancing act by trying to explain to your children how important work is, and how you have to focus (and they have to be quiet) while you are on work calls. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/kid-safe-browsers-and-search-sites, Common Sense Media. Retrieved March 19, 2020, from https://hellobestow.com/blog/gratitude-games/, Headspace. While you are on a conference call today, have your kids stand next to your whiteboard or sit next to you coloring or doing some additional activity, and work with them to complete a bingo card based on what is said or done on your conference call. CommonSenseMedia.org. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://hslda.org/legal, HSLDA. A lesson I learned the hard way many times is that they cant both be done (effectively) at the same time. If you are unsure, Common Sense Media is a great place to start. What Ill provide below is a brief overview of some of the options for planning the work, starting with four considerations for doing so. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://hslda.org/content/orgs/, K12.com. Remote Learning with Khan Academy During School Closures. (n.d.). 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. Its challenging to ensure everyone is on the same page during a normal school year, but even more challenging during a global pandemic. What Are the Non-Core Subjects?. When I started homeschooling and working from home, we had one preschooler and one toddler. 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. They already do for other meetings and for lunch, right? In these times, I found educational videos that could fill the spaces, where my children could still be learning, but I was able to focus on the meetings and my work. Instead of trying to convince your kids why they should be quiet and calm during your conference calls and hoping for the best, you might try giving them specific activities to keep them busy during these times. Kid-Safe Browsers and Search Sites. (n.d.). In the middle of the fall, we collectively decided that it was time for the girls to attend public school. 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. (n.d.). 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. Grownandflown.com. What if schools are opened in a virtual-only format to start the school year and transition to blended or alternating schedule formats, or even full capacity later in the school year? It is important to be fully informed of all legal and regulatory requirements prior to making your choice, so that you are making a fully-informed choice. Organizing any extra items needed (for science experiments, for example) over the weekend for the entire week will also help make your work/homeschool days flow much smoother. (Remember to make the award something you can make, give or do with them at home, and that they can have or do after your conference call is over.). The one thing that all of those spaces had in common was a dedicated space to store all of our supplies and work. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://www.k12.com/. (2018). Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.roblox.com/, Wiess, S. R. (2020a). 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. Ultimately, only you can decide what is best for you and your children. Khan Academy Schedules for School Closures. ), 3) Do you think you might want to send your students back to school in person either some time this year or in future years? In work environments, especially when working on projects, everyone has clearly defined roles and responsibilities which are laid out on a project plan. 5) Understand and be honest and open about what you (and your student) can and cannot reasonably take on and complete given everything you have going on outside of school responsibilities, and be open to working with your student and their teachers and school administrators. What we sometimes forget, though, is that our kids are, as well. If you would like to explore this option, a great start is to review your state on both the CRHE and HSLDA websites, start searching for local and regional homeschool associations (the HSLDA has a great resource for this, as well), and begin searching for curriculum options (which can come in fully pre-packaged curriculum options to fully customized curriculum that you pick and choose from resources on publishers sites and Amazon.com book sales, for example) (HSLDA, n.d.2). As you wrap up the day, after allowing your kids to play and relax for the first day, take three deep breaths and smile, knowing that you completed some planning and organizing, and that you are on your way. If you want to really make it fun and engaging with everyone involved, you or the meeting organizer can make up a bingo card and send it out to everyone on the call. (2020). These are accessible here: https://awakeandmindful.com/best-kids-yoga-videos-on-youtube/. Many state and local education-related publications have language that indicates that the notice of intent to homeschool and the portfolio reviews are required. Digital Compass. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/age-appropriate-chores/, Grown and Flown. Accountability involves all levels, including our children consistently being held responsible for their work. You will need to decide, based on your family values and rules about electronics and screen time, your work schedule and flexibility, ages of your children, and learning preferences and styles, what modes are best for you for each student and each subject. SheKnows.com. Are you comfortable sending your children to school in the fall if they are physically opened for attendance? We homeschooled in many different locations, including a multifamily house where we had a full room dedicated to homeschooling, my parents house where we had an area in the basement, our family members kitchen counters, and even an RV, when we traveled around the US. Awake and Mindful. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://www.connectionsacademy.com/, CRHE. (Many states do not allow homeschoolers to participate in activities at the public school, but some states do. The third consideration is the mode you wish to use to teach the subjects you have selected.
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