Happy Wednesday, friends. We are on day 3 of school at home and I thought it might be helpful to share with you what has been working for us (so far) to keep the kids on track and this mom from completely losing her marbles. To be fair, a few have escaped over the last few days, but I am mostly hanging on to them.
We got the call last Thursday that schools would be closed, effective immediately. I decided to keep Friday as a "day off" and we didn't bother doing anything relating to schoolwork. I knew that plan wouldn't keep and once our district sent out the supplemental learning plan, I decided that putting together a schedule would be really helpful for both D and R.
So far, this schedule has been working well for us. We wake up at about 7:30, which D loves because she is usually up much earlier that that on a typical school day. We have breakfast, chat, and get ready for the day.
For math, the girls are using iReady because they use that for school to help strengthen their math skills. They've also recently tried out Khan Academy, which they really like.
Specials, like art, theater/drama, library, computers, music, and gym are a near favorite class. So far we've had art and music. Today is library day.
 |
| For art, the girls made their own scratch art paper and used popsicle sticks and paper clips to scratch designs into it. |
Social Studies is a bit tricky for me to plan out. The district did send out links to use, I need to look at them in more detail. On Monday, our social studies lesson included making a list of the top ten things we would buy if we had to prepare to stay home for a long time. We shared our items and then made a graph showing which items were the most popular. Yesterday, we wrote letters to my nephew, E. I'm not entirely sure what we'll be doing today, but I have some time to figure it out.
Science has been really fun. On Monday, we talked about the density of water and talked about light refraction thanks to a post I came across on Look We're Learning. On Tuesday, we continued to talk about the density of other liquids, like oils, dish soap, syrups, and more. Then, we created a "density tower".
Science has been really fun. On Monday, we talked about the density of water and talked about light refraction thanks to a post I came across on Look We're Learning. On Tuesday, we continued to talk about the density of other liquids, like oils, dish soap, syrups, and more. Then, we created a "density tower".
 |
| Our Density Tower. We used 6 different liquids- Corn Syrup, Maple Syrup, Dish Soap, Water (with red food coloring), Canola Oil, and Rubbing Alcohol. The girls enjoyed watching as they "stacked" on one another and then testing out which household items (popcorn kernels, coins, bottle caps, rubber bands, and paper clips) would sink in or float on the liquids. |
Lunch and Recess are the highlights of the school day. Not much difference between traditional school and home school there. The weather has been a little too blah to take the girls outside, so we've been using that time to play board games, go on devices, or watch a quick tv show.
Reading- The girls have tons of books, so we are using this time to read them. I'd like to try to get them to read to one another, to help make it a little more enticing (R struggles and this is her least favorite "class").
Spanish- D is taking Spanish this marking period at school. They were working on the words for personality traits, so I 've been using web searches and Teachers Pay Teachers to find age-appropriate lessons for her to continue honing her skills. I took French in middle and high school, so I'm not too helpful with pronouncing the words, but there are plenty of ways to listen to them online.
Reading- The girls have tons of books, so we are using this time to read them. I'd like to try to get them to read to one another, to help make it a little more enticing (R struggles and this is her least favorite "class").
Spanish- D is taking Spanish this marking period at school. They were working on the words for personality traits, so I 've been using web searches and Teachers Pay Teachers to find age-appropriate lessons for her to continue honing her skills. I took French in middle and high school, so I'm not too helpful with pronouncing the words, but there are plenty of ways to listen to them online.
Lexia/Wonders- R uses both of these websites for ELA. Both are really great, but she prefers the latter.
The biggest advice I can offer is to plan ahead as much as you are able to. That especially includes planning for things not to work out exactly how you are anticipating they will.
Keep in mind that this post is not meant to provide a definite solution for your family and situation. I'm extremely fortunate to be able to work from home and (sort of) balance it with our new, and hopefully extremely temporary, homeschooling adventure. I wanted to share what has been working for us in case any of you are looking for suggestions. It may work out better for you to make use of the many many educational websites available, some of which are currently offering free memberships for the length of the school closures!
How have the last few days of school closures been for your family? We'd love to hear more about the homeschool ideas that have been working (or not) for your family. Leave a comment below and catch up with us on the MBP Facebook Page.
Keep in mind that this post is not meant to provide a definite solution for your family and situation. I'm extremely fortunate to be able to work from home and (sort of) balance it with our new, and hopefully extremely temporary, homeschooling adventure. I wanted to share what has been working for us in case any of you are looking for suggestions. It may work out better for you to make use of the many many educational websites available, some of which are currently offering free memberships for the length of the school closures!
How have the last few days of school closures been for your family? We'd love to hear more about the homeschool ideas that have been working (or not) for your family. Leave a comment below and catch up with us on the MBP Facebook Page.
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
No comments
We love hearing from you! Thanks for leaving us some comment love! If you're a new follower, please leave your link, so we can follow you back!