Learning at Home, 2020
Parents as Teachers
With schools closed throughout California, parents, especially of small children, are becoming de facto teachers. How do you plan your day? What resources are available? What’s the right balance between youthful exuberance and time for academics?
Many parents are creating a daily schedule to help keep sane. A post by Jessica McHale Photography has gotten a lot of attention. My daughter, who has two elementary school children, adapted it — her schedule reflects a balance of learning, exercise and creativity.
|
Time |
Block |
Choices |
|---|---|---|
|
Before 9:00 |
Wake up Discuss Choices for Day |
Breakfast TV Make Bed Straighten Room Get Dressed |
|
9:00-10:00 |
Outdoor Walk/Exercise |
Yoga Play outside Walk Gymnastics |
|
10:00-11:00 |
Academic |
Writing/Journal Word Play/Letters Math |
|
11:00-12:00 |
Creative |
Lego Build Bake Draw Science Experiment |
|
Noon |
|
Lunch |
|
12:30-1:00 |
Chores |
Cleaning up |
|
1:00-2:30 |
Quiet |
Reading/Story time Meditation |
|
2:30-4:00 |
Academic |
Online learning See free resources below |
|
4:00-5:30 |
Outdoor |
Have fun Garden Bike |
|
5:30-7:00 |
Dinner |
Help with Cooking TV Time |
|
Before Kids Go to Bed |
Games |
|
What about the grownups?
I have extended my daughter's version with some choices for parents at the end of the day:
|
After Kids Go to Bed |
Adult responsibilities Grown-up wind down |
Work Adult Beverage Reading Laundry Collapse... |
The Importance of Choice
Importantly, the block schedule above features choice. The adult is in charge but kids get to decide their own activities. Doing this at the beginning of the day hopefully locks in expectations and reduces squabbles.
The main idea is to create some kind of schedule that works for your family. The Mercury News has created an interactive scheduler you can use. Your schedule doesn’t have to look like perfection, of course. This article from Today, Parents share their kids' realistic' quarantine schedules, includes some schedules with melt-down times and other realities of life with children.
From the Atlantic, How Parents Can Keep Kids Busy (and Learning) in Quarantine gives expert suggestions about literacy, engaging student learning, and audiobooks that you can work into your schedule. One big takeaway: Find time to read interactively with — not just at — your children. And do it throughout the day.
Not all of the good advice is coming from media sources. Many school districts are providing resources for learning at home. San Francisco Unified, for example, provides home activities by grade level to keep students engaged. These include social emotional support, reading/literacy, writing, math, and health/physical movement. Here is a portion from the health and physical movement section:
|
PK-2 |
3rd-5th |
6th-12 |
|---|---|---|
|
Have a dance party. Put on your favorite song and dance around for 10 to 15 minutes |
Do jumping jacks, push-ups, sit ups, stretches, cherry pickers, jog around your home, squats |
Walk or run around your neighborhood for 20-30 minutes three times this week |
The full list of activities includes good ideas suitable for different grade levels.
As schools struggle with the transition from classroom learning to distance learning, the California Department of Education is supporting school districts developing their own plans.
Getting Everyone Online
We'll have more to say about this later, but it's clear that every family now needs to be online. Period. If you are helping families with this, you need to know about some of the available options from cable companies.
Free Resources
There are many excellent learning resources free on television and on the internet to help you select activities for the day. Here's a curated list you might want to insert into your daily schedule.
Academic time
- Educational Programming on Public Television California PBS stations will broadcast educational television programming, created by PBS SoCal/KCET and the Los Angeles Unified School District. Check your local PBS station.
- Khan Academy Daily schedules for students ages 4-18 to keep learning during school closures
- PBS Learning Media KQED and PBS have curated FREE, standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans.
- Scholastic Learn at Home. Day-by-day projects to keep kids reading, thinking, and growing
Quiet time
- Audio Books For Kids: Hoopla Kids and Kanopy Kids provide a selection of children’s books. Sign up using your public library card.
- Educational Podcasts: Brains On and Wow in the World help kids explore the world around them.
- Storyline: Celebrated actors reading children’s books with illustrations.
Creative Time
- Online Museums Kids: A collection of museums compiled by Common Sense media
- ProjectKid: Great activities for kids mixing traditional craft and household materials.
- National Art Gallery: NGAkids interactives offer an introduction to art and art history
- Doodle Time with Mo Willems: Make art and get inspired by the author of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and other classics. [Disclosure: Mo is Jeff's brother in law.]
Exercise/Health
- GoNoodle and KidsHealth provide resources and activities for mental and physical health.
Special Needs
- Diverse Learning at Home for Special Populations. New York City has developed resources for parents.
Other
- Elementary School Websites: 10 Great Free Websites for Elementary School from Common Sense Education.
- iCivics: In addition to offering a wide variety of games and lessons, iCivics offers free curated and tested resources for the AP® U.S. Government and Politics Exam.
- California Department of Education Resources for Distance Learning.
Do you have an idea that works well for learning at home? Please share it by leaving a comment below.
Be safe. Be careful. Be well.
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