School at home!

How are you doing with school at home with your children?

Feeling a little lost with what to do? It can be difficult to create a plan when you don’t know where to begin.

First reach out to your local school and ask what curriculum and support is being provided. If you are on your own for a bit, get creative. With short attention spans, children do best with lessons broken into chucks with breaks between for movement activities and a snack.

Getting back to basics and keeping things simple will help reduce the stress with this new adventure. With this change in the daily routine, kids may have heightened stress just like adults. Children thrive knowing what to expect next so creating a schedule is a good strategy. Sit down with your child and make a schedule together, children love to be a part of the process. You will get more “buy in” if they help with the planning and know what is in it for them. Explain why the lessons will help them and what they will be able to do with the information.

Cooking is a great way to learn and spend quality time together while teaching children life skills. Children can learn to read, measure, do math and learn about food sources. They can also learn about good nutrition. Teach why good food is important and how it affects the body. That can lead into a health lesson about the organs and systems of the body.

There are other life skills that can be taught at home while using the needed academic skills. Think of your job and how your knowledge can be transferred to be age appropriate and used as life skills?

Any books or areas of interest your child has will get them more engaged and excited to read. Does your child show interest in animals, nature, how things work, building things? Let your child create a reading chart. Give them the responsibility to choose the book, set the time and how they will use the information they have learned. They can create art to communicate what they have read, write a poem or a story.

Make an art station in a part of your home that can be available for children to go and be creative when the moment strikes. Children may not be able to communicate how they are feeling with words but with art they can let loose! Children can make cards to send out to their friends who are also having to stay home.

Remember pen pals? Have a pen pal writing party. Writing a letter addressed to a friend or family member is a fun activity. Children love receiving mail and by sending a card or letter they are more likely to get a response back! If your child is too young to write, you can be the scribe and write what they tell you. They can decorate the letter and envelope with their own art. Encourage letter writing to more than one friend with a request to write back soon!

For many years homeschool families have had great success with at home learning. There is a plethora of online resources that share ideas and have printable pages for all ages. You can enroll your student in a full online school program that is already set up. There are companies that provide curriculum approved for your state (check with your state for requirements). Hybrid learning, using online and a mix of curriculum, can break up the lessons and keep students engaged.

Working from home and trying to be a full-time teacher to your children comes with challenges, but it can be a good time to have quality family time. Remember to connect with other parents who are also finding a new normal. Support each other and share ideas.
Take advantage of this time and look upon it as an opportunity to be more involved in your child’s learning. With a new appreciation for our teachers and how much they provide for our students, remember to let them know how much they are respected and valued! Positive things come from challenges that come our way unexpectedly.
You got this!

Below are local resources that are under used, including your local public library and bookstores!

Many local bookstores have online shopping available. Check with your smaller local stores first to continue supporting them during this difficult time.

Kings Books
https://www.kingsbookstore.com/

218 St Helens Ave Tacoma WA 98402
253-272-8801

Tacoma Book Center
http://www.tacomabookcenter.com/
24 E. 26th Tacoma, WA 98421
253-572-8248

Tacoma Community College
https://www.tacomacc.edu/tcc-life/campus-services/bookstore
253-566-5040

Teaching toys and books
2624 N Proctor St, Tacoma WA 98407
https://www.teachingtoysandbooks.com/
253-759-9853

Dightman’s Bible and Book Center
https://mtlbookstore.com/?storeID=2
2941 S 38th St suite b, Tacoma, WA 98409
253-475-0990

UPS Bookstore
https://eposweb-528.sequoiars.com/
253-879-3270

Barnes and Noble
https://stores.barnesandnoble.com/store/
2832 Lakewood Mall, 5711 Main St SW, Lakewood, WA 98499
253-983-0852

Half Price Books
https://www.hpb.com/home#product-panel-home
4027 Tacoma Mall Blvd, Tacoma, WA 98409
253-566-1238

UW Bookstore
https://www.ubookstore.com/
253-692-4300 or 206-634-3400

Your Pierce County library card gives you access to everything from science experiments and full-text reference books to scholarly articles and help from live tutors—all online. Designed for grades K-12. Don’t have a library card? Get one today.
https://www.piercecountylibrary.org/services/library-card/library-card.htm

Writing a paper? Need something more substantial than a Wikipedia entry? Pierce County Library has online databases you can use for research and homework help without having to leave home.
https://www.piercecountylibrary.org/

King County Library System
https://kcls.org/?_ga=2.212715732.178499070.1584561566-919585321.1584561566

Great blogs, website and resources provided by Homeschooling Along!
55 Places to Buy Homeschool Curriculum
https://homeschoolingalong.com/places-to-buy-homeschool-curriculum-and-supplies/

Here is a website that shows some top curriculum homeschool resources.
https://www.homeschool.com/blog/2018/02/check-out-the-results-from-your-votes-top-100/