Spring break is over for some of us. If you are suddenly navigating a homeschool reality for the first time, I want to share some things I have learned in our homeschool. This is year 9 for us, so likely you won't have time to glean all this by experience, so if you are so inclined, you can have the benefit of my experience. 

9 Tips, in no specific order, to homeschool your children:

1. Do not re-create school at home. Your home is a sanctuary for your children. School is likely not as much so. Don't cross-contaminate the two environments. 8:00 start times, 6-7 hour school days, piles of worksheets, loud shushing, and rigidity are the death of homeschool success. Relax. Learning is something kids are naturally good at. Let them set the groove. 

2. Give them something to do with their hands. Coloring books, Magnatiles, legos, water paints, and play doh are all relatively quiet tools to give them an outlet while you read aloud or help another child. 

3. Read. Aloud. A lot. 
Picture books, chapter books, Audible, newspapers, whatever. Get stories floating in the air at your school. If this isn't normal for your family, that's ok. Neither is social distancing and a global pandemic. Let's all start something new that's actually fun. 

4. 15 minutes. Until high school, our students do every subject on 15 minute rotations. What they don't finish in 15 minutes we come back to in the next rotation. 15 for math, 15 for read aloud, 15 for grammar, 15 for history, 15 for math again....you get the picture. In 2-3 hours you will be DONE with fewer tears than if you pressed on through 6 redundant math sheets with teary, weary kids. 

5. When all else fails, take a break and get some food. Snacks go with every subject. A handful of crackers and an apple have rescued many a school day for us. 

6. Establish some anchors. That means give your kids some hard and fast facts they can cling to throughout the day. 10 am is a snack time, no matter what. Lunch is at noon. Everything stops when daddy comes home, etc, etc ,etc. You choose what they need to look forward to and stick to it. I mean, how many of us look for mile markers on road trips. A school day is a long road trip. Give them something to mark the time. 

7. Magic School Bus, Animal Planet, Nat Geo, and YouTube experiments all count as science. 15 minutes, the lesson is done, you're a hero for giving them screen time, and you have a chance to snuggle on the couch. Everyone wins. 

8. Keep it under 4. 
Four hours, that is. You are working far more intentionally with each student than their regular teachers can. You won't need more than 4 hours. Really, it's more like 2-3 for elementary and middle school. It's all just obligatory fluff after that. 

9. Last but certainly not least, GRACE. Loads and loads of grace. For teacher. For student. For Dad who stumbles into the wreckage at 5:00 totally unaware of what's been going down all day. Benefit of the doubt is the name of the game. Assume you're all doing your best, whatever that looks like, and let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths except that which is good for building up. 

If you're still reading, happy homeschooling! Enjoy this sweet time.

Beth Herren

March 23, 2020