So here we are, working and “schooling” from home, trying to figure out this new normal we have all be thrust into. At first I was freaked out at the thought of being a home school teacher and all that would entail. “How will I know what to teach them?” “Will they listen to me?” “Are they going to miss out on key instruction time?” And then “what will we do in the house for fourteen days?” But thanks to our teachers and administrators, I can step back and focus on just making sure the girls have the tools and structure they need to be successful.
Regan and Ava have both been given curriculums put together by their teachers and available via Google Classroom. This platform is incredible and allows teachers to post daily work, short videos, answer student questions quickly, provide links to helpful articles/tips and so much more. Both of my girls are working on religion, math, grammer & vocab, social studies/science & reading. We are only on day 4 but on average they are spending around two to three hours working on the above subjects, daily.
Outside of school work, there are so many free resources to access from virtual tours of Mars to at home cooking tutorials. Some of my favorites are below:
- The San Diego Zoo has a free page for kids
- The National Park Service is offering a variety of virtual tours of Yellowstone
- The Cincinnati Zoo is offering Safari Facebook Lives featuring a different animal a day starting at 3. We watched Fiona the hippo yesterday and it was fabulous.
- Explore the surface of Mars with a virtual tour provided by NASA
- And my favorite, Radish Kids is offering free Cook Along with Kids cooking classes! ( Don’t be surprised if you start seeing Instagram videos of me doing the same thing with Regan & Ava!!)
Here are a couple of tips I’ve picked up on, over the last four days of isolation, for your middle school aged kiddos:
Wake Up – Early. No, you don’t have to get out of bed at your normal 5:30 AM but you should pick a wake up time for your family and stick with it. The majority of kids are most productive in the AM so getting them up and moving will help them knock out most of their academic work before they loose focus.
Create a School Space – Designate an area of your home for school work. I opted to turn our dining room table into Regan and Ava’s “desks” giving them each a side. I set up their books, made pencil pouches for each with pens, markers, calculators etc. – anything they might have in their actual school desks – so they aren’t getting up and getting distracted.
Have a Schedule – There is absolutely no way you will survive without one. It may seem ridiculous at times but having a schedule will give your kids structure which they ALL crave. They need to know the rules and having a set schedule in place will eventually limit the meltdowns and frustrations as they get used to their new normal.
Find the Positive – No, this situation is not ideal and there are plenty of opportunities to find the negative. But if you choose to try and see the positive, you will find it all around you. Being home with my pre-teen girls at the time in their lives when they are starting to pull away from me is such a blessing. Regan and Ava are content to play games, watch family movies, take bike rides – spend real, quality time together. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be present with them without the normal day to day life distractions.
Below is a copy of the daily schedule I have put into place for Regan and Ava. You can print a copy HERE if this will work for your family too!
Patty says
Love, love, love this post! Y’all are doing great, and thank you for being such a fantastic role model for your amazing girls! I, too, am treasuring this irreplaceable time with my preteen and family. 😘❤️
Dining with the Duffys says
Thank you!!!!! So appreciate all you are doing while trying to manage your family!!!!