(Dont forget to include what you used to keep your fort together tape, staples, clothes pins, etc. When you get stressed or overwhelmed, just remember that surviving is all you and your family need to do right now, and the rest will all work out eventually. In sports psychology, life coaching and other venues recently, youve likely heard the term locus of control or phrases like control the controllables. Situations like the pandemic we are currently experiencing bring to light the true meaning of these phrases, as there is so much that is truly out of our control. Kid-Safe Browsers and Search Sites. (n.d.). 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. (2020). (2018). Considerations for Schools. 30 Gratitude Games and Activities for Kids to Practice Thankfulness. 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? 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. If you are unsure, Common Sense Media is a great place to start. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://welltrainedmind.com/a/what-are-the-non-core-subjects/?v=7516fd43adaa, Common Sense Media (n.d.). Decorating Amazon boxes and used soup cans make great arts and craft projects and excellent organizers! As homeschoolers, they worked at their own pace in different subjects, which was great for their education and learning, but made the transition to an age-based grade-level determination a challenging one. A template for this can be found on many of the CT homeschooling group websites or Facebook pages. (n.d.). I will gather and post a list of the supplies I always kept on hand soon. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://www.connectionsacademy.com/, CRHE. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.earthcam.com/events/animalcams/, National University Library. Your child or children will be perfectly fine with a couple or a few hours of school-related work and other fun, educational activities while you focus on work. (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. A lesson I learned the hard way many times is that they cant both be done (effectively) at the same time. You can choose to homeschool your children with you being the primary teacher (as opposed to distance-learning where you are assisting your children with work assigned by their teacher). Some states and districts are surveying parents to find out their comfort level with the options listed above (or others, depending on the state and district). Are you comfortable sending your children to school in the fall, as long as CDC guidelines for schools are followed (CDC, 2020)?

at the schools themselves, but something to be aware of when asking them for assistance of any kind. The rule for our girls was that they had to look at all movies, games, and apps up on Common Sense Media and bring them to us prior to asking the question of whether they could play, watch or download something. Digital Passport. You will need to determine the best balance and schedule for your family based on the ages you are teaching, the subjects you have selected, and the modes you have chosen to use to teach those subjects. A few of the things that are currently within our control are: 1) our reactions to the current situation, 2) our attitudes, 3) our schedule and 4) our space. Common Sense Media includes reviews of some books, as well. ), 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? Accountability is the forth level in the pyramid identified by Lencioni, and aligns closely with constructive conflict and commitment. 2) Block off the appropriate time for schoolwork on your work calendar and communicate these expectations to your manager and coworkers. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/about-us/our-mission/about-our-ratings, Common Sense Media. 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.). SheKnows.com. Weathering the Storm. This is not true, legally. At those times, my kids were at the ages where they needed more hands-on help and their school workload was higher, so it worked well for us. Others may be planning their own lessons and activities. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews, Focus on the Family. The one thing that all of those spaces had in common was a dedicated space to store all of our supplies and work. 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. For example, Connecticut only requires a notice of withdrawal, legally, but does recommend (only a recommendation, not a legal requirement) a notice of intent to homeschool and portfolio review. ), 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. Remote Learning with Khan Academy During School Closures. One combined list of these is accessible on EarthCam.com, here: https://www.earthcam.com/events/animalcams/. For later years (grades 3-5 and 6-8) we elected to study math and language arts every day, and study science, history/social studies, art and music one day per week each, leaving the additional day (which happened to be Friday for us) for making up work we didnt complete earlier in the week. Smoothing the transition in our new reality. Roblox. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/, Common Sense Media. While we await final proposals for opening of schools in the fall from states and local districts, we are all asking what if? What if schools open as usual in the fall at full capacity? These are legally optional. (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.). (2020). The key is not to be happy or unhappy about the approaches, but to be informed. 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. Coronavirus (COVID-19). 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. What Are the Non-Core Subjects?. We also chose to provide our girls with education regarding proper behavior online, rather than feeling the need to constantly police them and their online activities. 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. Many other options exist, just be sure that you are accessing them through sites that you trust. 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. In the middle of the fall, we collectively decided that it was time for the girls to attend public school. 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. 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. I present to you the conference call activity challenge for today (03/17/2020): Conference Call Bingo (with your kiddos)!

4) Ensure that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and identify how each will be held accountable and how opportunities for improvements will be identified, evaluated, and implemented. Common Sense Media provides two different options for digital citizenship education.

You can ask the school about options for continuing distance learning (if they dont already include that as an option in their fall plans). 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. Another point to consider is that you have every right to make the time spent educating your children as high a priority as any other meeting, so schedule it. Resources for Families During the Coronavirus Pandemic. Below, I will provide a few options and considerations for finding content for your children that is age-appropriate and safe for them, as well as being safe for you and your computer. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2020, from https://www.headspace.com/covid-19, Khan Academy (2020). 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. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/kid-safe-browsers-and-search-sites, Common Sense Media. 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. K12. 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. (n.d.). Also, be sure that you are fully informed about what activities are offered or not offered for any who opt into remote or distance learning through the school, as this likely differs on a district by district or school by school basis. 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. Your next steps are: 1) Identify the age groups of the children you are educating and whether they need to be planned separately or if the plan and content can be the same. For those that had more meetings than others, I allocated the time for the meetings first, and then figured out what schoolwork I could fit in. 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. 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).

Given the current closure of public schools, many publishers are providing content online for free, as well. (n.d.).

We made a decision years ago to provide some independence and ownership of content decisions to our kids, specifically for movies, games, and apps. While the kids play, you can plan your day(s). Science and art took the most preparation because we conducted experiments and made a variety of art and craft projects, so we split these days, so that they were not back-to-to back, allowing for some planning and preparation time in between. ), 4) If you choose homeschooling instead of distance learning, are you fully informed of any reporting requirements, regulations, etc. Its important to have an honest conversation with your family and make the decision that is best for you, and to communicate that through these surveys. Trust that everyone is working toward a common goal, for example, is one type of trust. 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.

So, what options are there? In all honesty, because we got sick of answering the question of Can we watch? questions, we came up with a specific rule to guide their choices. Or, are you not comfortable sending your children to school at all until there is a vaccine, for example? (n.d.). You are the parent, and you know what is best for your children. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.roblox.com/, Wiess, S. R. (2020a). 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. Think about other ways that you can work to promote trust, constructive conflict, commitment, accountability, and attention to results as part of your students learning team and pick one item to focus on at a time. Common Core Resources: Textbook & Publisher Resources. The public school administrators where we are were extremely helpful in working with us to determine the best placement. 2) Identify the subjects you would like to teach each of the children. Attention to results is the top and smallest portion of the pyramid. Greater Good Magazine. Here are a few suggestions of where we might start: 1) Develop (and ensure everyone knows and understands) clearly defined goals. For gratitude, an easy option to start your day would be to talk about three good or positive things. Digital Compass. Youre Probably Homeschooling Way More Than You Need To. Uncertainty and lack of direction and why can cause unnecessary stress and a lack of commitment. Retrieved March 16, 2020 from, Center for Disease Control (CDC). They are asking because they truly care about your children and your input. 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. 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. (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.)

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. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from https://www.khanacademy.org/about/blog/post/611770255064350720/remote-learning-with-khan-academy-during-school, Scholastic. The standard subjects tend to include math, language arts, science, history or social studies, art, technology, health, physical education, and music. As parents, educators, and administrators, (and our children) we are all part of a team with a common goal of ensuring that our children are safe, cared for, and that their learning is promoted and supported in all ways possible. 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. 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. (n.d.). Some subjects that lend themselves to video lessons are art, music, history, and even physical education, for example. ), So, with this conflicting guidance and information, what should you do? An example of this is a new kindergartener starting homeschool in the first year of school eligibility. State Virtual Schools. 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/. How Timeboxing Works and Why it Will Make You More Productive. (n.d.). CommonSenseMedia.org.

As part of a successful, high-performing and well-functioning team, we have to work together as a team toward common goals, just like a sports team or a project team in an organization. Just take a few deep breaths and enjoy the time you have with your kids, because they really do grow up so fast, and this pandemic and chaos will eventually pass. Well, the best approach comes down to whether this is a temporary or long-term/permanent option for you and your family. Many state and local education-related publications have language that indicates that the notice of intent to homeschool and the portfolio reviews are required. Game Reviews. Some organizations group activities in the following age groups, for example, Kindergarten to grade 2, grades 3-5, grades 6-8 and grades 9-12. Current Homeschool Laws. 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. Always be appreciative.). But, there is also so much that is fully within our control.