Homeschool Hacks From an Amateur Homeschool Mom
I’ll admit it, I’m not a homeschool mom. And that’s merely because 1. I love my kids’ school and 2. I just never understood how to incorporate that into our family schedule…..until now! Like the rest of the world, life is disrupted, places are closed, plans are cancelled, and school is now done at home – for everyone. At a time when panic and fear seem to be spreading faster than a virus, there is some peace to be found in slowing things down a bit. As much as I miss soccer, scouts, school events, office events, and mom hikes, I’m looking for the silver lining and the blessings that are there.
I’ve also been looking for ways to make this school transition easier. I went from feeling completely underprepared and overwhelmed at this new routine being forced upon us to being completely overwhelmed with all of the resources that are available and it seemed every day there was a new website offering homeschool help. 😊 So I’ve asked my homeschool moms, my next door neighbors, my teacher friends, and those who have successfully raised children 😉 to see what tips they wanted to share. Because just as fear and panic are contagious, so is stress. Stressed out parents raise stressed out kids. And the last thing our nervous system needs is for us to be so stressed out, that we’re no longer adapting to those stressors – that we’re no longer functioning optimally.
What I said in my blog last year still holds true:
Chiropractic care helps the nervous system get unstuck to find a better flow and ability to adapt to the stressors of life and find balance. This is why sometimes people report better sleep, getting sick fewer times, and better cognition while being under care. When the body has the time and the ability to heal, it will. Think about when you get a paper cut. The body heals it innately, on its own, in its own perfect way, when given the correct circumstances to heal. Our ability to adapt to our stressors, to find homeostasis and balance once again is an important part to our overall health and wellness.
So don’t stress out. Here are some simple tips that I’ve learned over the past few weeks of homeschooling 😊, as well as some advice from trusted sources!
Make a schedule: What gets scheduled gets done. I’ve learned this with my business, with my running, with my finances. What gets scheduled gets done. Keep it simple. Use this as a starting point…..modify as necessary……but seriously though make a schedule!
Keep it simple: Yes it can seem that all learning is done online these days. In fact, a lot of my parents who are working full-time from home and homeschooling now are struggling with the fact that their child is now sitting in front of a screen for 8-10 hours a day. “This too shall pass” I can so vividly picture my mom saying this as she has said to me so many times throughout my life. Now is not the time to beat yourself up about these circumstances. Now is not the time to try and teach them all kinds of new concepts. Now is the time to embrace what nature and climbing trees can teach children. Now is time to embrace simplicity. If that schedule above, stresses you out, then don’t do it! It’s a simple as that. If you need a starting point, use that schedule, adjust it, and keep it simple. Pick one website, pick one subject, pick one activity and do it…..and keep it at that. It doesn’t need to be complicated. And you don’t need to compare your homeschool to anyone else’s!! And keep reading because I’ve got some good websites I’ve found, and some other great non-electronic activities they can do.
Separate to educate! If you’ve got multiple kids who you are trying to teach, this tip is crucial. It took me a minute to figure this one out, and since we don’t have a nice homeschool area in our house, I had to make do! One kid in the dining room and the other at the kitchen table. “This too shall pass”
Pack lunches and set out snacks: If your kids are like mine, they are hungry all the time. I really do think the most important piece of advice I got was to pack their lunches and set out their snacks and water bottles. The first few days of homeschool I didn’t do this, and I was scrambling for lunch, trying to keep myself on task because I hadn’t make a schedule yet, and also trying to keep from screaming, “NO YOU CAN’T HAVE A SNACK; YOU JUST ATE BREAKFAST!”. Let me tell you, packing their lunches was a game changer. Now if I could just get them to actually sit during lunch time…..because now I keep saying, “IF YOU DIDN’T DO THAT DURING LUNCH AT SCHOOL, YOU CAN’T DO IT HERE!” 😊
Just start. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t need to have the perfect home school set up with posters and individual work stations and every crayon imaginable. You just need that effort to get stared. Get your kids to help! Ask them to help create their work station. Even ask them to help create the schedule. We’ve struggled this school year with my 4th grader and his math work. He would also have such a hard time at school with it, but he knew the information when it came time for testing. Come to find out, his class did math in the afternoon after lunch. Not the best time for him. Guess what time we do math now at O’Brien Academy……first thing in the morning 😊
My favorite websites:
Scholastic!! https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html One day the kids read about sloths and wrote a report. The next day they watched a video about the American Revolution and saw an interview with the author of the I Survived series. And the next day they learned about sand castles and geometry.
Printables!! https://www.greatschools.org/gk/coronavirus-school-closure-support/ Want all those great worksheets that your kids do at school. In case your teacher didn’t send enough home for you, here’s a way to get some more!
There’s also https://www.education.com/ and https://www.planesandballoons.com/
Prodigy!! https://www.prodigygame.com/ This has great math games for kids.
And you know what else we’ve done: planted seeds, rode bikes, climbed trees, walked the dog, made comics, read books, wrote book reports, wrote letters to our grandparents, looked at dog fur through a microscope, used sidewalk chalk, watched documentaries, and exercised!
And of course, any guesses as to what my last tip would be. GET ADJUSTED 😊 Chiropractic care offers so many more benefits that just relief from headaches, back pain, and neck pain. Want to combat that stress in a healthy way – get adjusted. Want to help your brain and body to communicate optimally – get adjusted. Want more information on the benefits of chiropractic care……https://icpa4kids.com/research/publications/2018-2019/
So how are you handling this time at home? Let’s chat about it next time you’re in for your adjustment
~ Dr. Shannon