Like many other parents who send their children to public school, I’m now supervising my children’s education at home due to COVID-19 school closures. Unlike most other parents who send their children to public school, I was homeschooled from kindergarten through 12th grade and I run a nonprofit that advocates for homeschooled children. 

When I learned my children’s school would be closed, I decided I would have them do their school work in the morning and give them free choice time in the afternoon. I work from home and still need to have time for my own tasks, for one thing, but I was also homeschooled and this was the schedule my mother kept growing up. You can read more about why I didn’t want to simply replicate a school schedule at home here. 

Here, I want to focus not on the school schedule I’ve kept but on my efforts to navigate the resources provided by my children’s school district. While middle and high school teachers are continuing their classes online as best they can, elementary school districts are taking a variety of different approaches. Given that many other parents are trying to navigate these same things, I thought my experience might be instructive. 

When a parent sets out to homeschool, they typically spend time looking at different curriculum and choosing what materials to use. This is not the case for those of us thrust suddenly into educating our children at home due to a global pandemic. We have the advantage, of course, of having a school district and teachers to help us and provide us with materials, but they, too, have had to throw things together suddenly. 

We’re all navigating uncharted waters—principals, teachers, parents, and children. It’s important that we show grace to all of those involved—especially the children. I would rather have my children feel loved, safe, and supported—even if it means they miss some learning—than make them miserable by forcing something that isn’t working. 

Chapter 1: Choice Boards

On the last day of school, my children each came home with a packet of materials in their backpack. These packets mostly consisted of worksheets and outlines for activities for parents to do with their children, as well as a “choice board” that offered different activity ideas under each subject, all of which required some parental involvement. 

On the first Monday the children were at home, I went through their packets. I’m a planner, and I like to be organized. We did activities on the choice board—one each day for each subject, the materials said—and worked our way through some of the worksheets. After a few days, however, I realized two things. First, the materials that came home with my kids were primarily review—things my children already knew. Second, my children’s teachers hadn’t put the packets together; the district had. 

Chapter 2: Online Assignments

As I went through the emails sent by my children’s school, I found that each child had an online platform that their teachers could post assignments to. I logged each child in and found that the assignments did not line up with either the worksheets or the choice boards sent home in each child’s packets. This was understandable, given that the packets were put together by the school district, not the teacher. I appreciated having assignments from my children’s teachers—it reassured me that I was not alone and promised to keep my children connected to their teachers and their classmates. 

An assignment for my 2nd grader asked him to read a page from a book he was reading out loud, after practicing it; by hitting the microphone button on the assignment page, he was able to record himself reading. Next, the assignment asked him to take a picture of the page he read and underline words he had problems with. Finally, he submitted the assignment for his teacher—and his classmates—to view. The goal, the instructions explained, was to practice reading fluency. He loved it. He was engaged; he was able to produce something he was proud of; and he knew his teacher would view it. 

I decided to defer to the assignments posted by my children’s teachers, and only use the materials sent home by the district as needed. I soon hit a bit of a snag, however. For one thing, my 2nd grader’s teacher only posted one assignment per day. While these were engaging assignments that made full use of what the online system had to offer, more was clearly needed. For another thing, I found my 5th grader sitting at the table near tears. “I already know this stuff, mom!” she said. “Why did she assign us all the same thing?” she asked. It was math. She’s always been ahead in math. 

Chapter 3: DIY Learning Activities

It was around this time that the district sent out an email letting parents know that the governor had declared an Act of God, which meant that lost days did not have to be made up. While older students needed to complete the assignments on Google Classroom, the district asked elementary parents to make sure our children did reading, writing, math, science/social studies, and fine arts each day, but said we could choose how we did this. “Families may choose the activities they complete,” the email read, “activities provided by the educators or ones from the choice boards or you can design your own learning activity for the content area to align to student interests.” 

This email came as a bit of a relief, because I was growing frustrated. As I noted, I was homeschooled as a child. I enrolled my children in public school precisely because I didn’t want to be the one making them do their work. I remembered the tension I had sometimes seen between my mother and my younger brothers as my mother had to be not only their cheerleader but also the enforcer. I had liked that I could tell my children they needed to do their homework because their teacher had assigned it and would be expecting it the next day, and not simply because I said so. More and more, now, I felt like I was fighting with my children to get them to do work—especially my younger child. 

The email from the district also gave me a new feeling of freedom. I could use the choice board or have my children do assignments posted by their teachers—or we could design our own learning activities. One day, I created learning activities around a theme: the children calculated rates of exponential growth, we read about Louis Pasteur’s discovery of microscopic organisms; and we watched a Netflix documentary about pandemics. They loved it. Other days, I told them to choose something to do for each subject, based on their own inclination, and let them do their own thing. 

Chapter 4: Finding Balance

After nearly a week during which I interspersed activities I designed myself with letting my younger child do whatever he wanted for each subject, I received an email from his teacher. She wanted to know why he wasn’t doing the assignments she was posting each day. She also wanted to know why he hadn’t logged into a program for practicing math, and another that let him read books she assigned and take a quiz over each to check reading comprehension. I had somehow missed these latter expectations, in part because there were so many emails. Oops! 

At this point I realized two things. First, I value my children’s teachers and I didn’t want to sever their connections with the classroom. Second, we needed somewhat more organization to our school days—and our rhythm of life—than we’d been having. 

Now in our third week at home, we are moving toward a new balance. My 2nd grader does the daily assignment his teacher posts, as well as the online reading program where his teacher assigns him books to read, with comprehension questions. Telling him that his teacher has assigned these things for him has helped; it means I’m not the one making him do them. I’m also having my 5th grader check Google Classroom first every morning, to see what her teacher has assigned. 

I’m going to go rogue for some things, however. Neither of my children likes the online math their teachers have assigned. I asked my 5th grader’s teacher if we can do our own thing for math, and she gave the go ahead. I looked into a number of online math programs, some currently free, but found myself disappointed. I want my kids to keep progressing in math, but I also know the research—children who are homeschooled or enrolled in online schools perform worse in math than do their peers who attend public school. I’m not going to make my children do online math programs they dislike; I don’t want them to develop negative perceptions of math. 

While I haven’t found a perfect solution for math yet, I’ve ordered fact sheets that go over the common core standards for each grade, with examples. When these come, I plan to use them as a guide and teach my children math myself, creating my own assignments. In the meantime, I’m teaching my 2nd grader his multiplication tables. 

As for everything else, I’m keeping things flexible. I’ve told my 5th grader that outside of the small number of assignments her teacher puts on Google Classroom, I want her to spend some time each day on free reading and working on the novel she’s been writing for a year. Social studies, science, fine arts—for those we’re mixing materials the school has sent home with doing our own thing. Mo Willems is giving a daily art lesson online, and the Cincinnati Zoo is offering a daily home safari on YouTube. And for history, I’ve begun reading aloud a book about a 17th century English village gripped by the plague.  

Have you been suddenly thrust into the role of homeschooling parent in the wake of school closures? Here’s some advice from a homeschool grad turned public school teacher on tips and strategies to help your family during this time.

My name is Giselle Palmer. I was homeschooled for 9 years and also have 4 years experience as a homeschool tutor. For the past 15 years, I have been a public school teacher in Tennessee. In the midst of world-wide upheaval, many parents are now finding themselves teaching their own children, something that had never been part of their family plan. You may be feeling overwhelmed with work and family responsibilities, caring for loved ones, and worrying about the national climate, and the additional responsibility of supervising your child’s education may be something you aren’t sure how to manage. Here are some tips to help you survive and thrive!

1. Don’t feel like you have to do it all.

You may have multiple children (including preschoolers) needing you during this time. Internet access may be limited, or students may have to share devices with each other, or with parents working from home. You may have more Zoom meetings and Google Hangouts on your family calendar than you can handle. It’s all right. You can set reasonable limits and still help your children during this time.

Remember to choose QUALITY over QUANTITY. Some school districts are providing many resources for parents, while others are giving little guidance. If your child has so many assignments that they are becoming overwhelmed, make an executive decision to cut out busywork your child doesn’t need, and focus instead on a few key areas that will help your child strengthen weaknesses or extend knowledge in particular areas of interest. If your child’s school hasn’t really given much direction, find a few specific resources that work well for your family, and utilize those. Don’t try to take advantage of ALL the free options out there right now—sample different options until you find the ones that work best for your family.

2. Reach out to your child’s teachers.

Remember that you are the helper in this situation, not the one ultimately responsible for your child’s education. Your child’s teacher is probably still being paid, and in many cases they are still on the clock during the school day. If your child is having trouble with an assignment, have them contact the teacher for help. (Most of us are missing our students terribly during this time and would love to hear from our students!)

Many teachers are providing online videos of lessons, activities, and resources for families. If you aren’t sure where to begin, your child’s teacher is a great place to start. They can give you insight into curriculum and programs that will dovetail with the resources your child has been using in class—and the familiar is your friend right now. Anything you can give your child that connects to programs they already know how to use will be much easier to implement at home.

3. Focus on connection and mental health.

What your child needs most of all right now is YOU. Your love, encouragement, connection, and interaction will give them confidence that the world isn’t ending, even though their social lives have come to a grinding halt. Recognize that your child may be grieving the loss of friends, activities, and much-anticipated events. Even introverts are struggling right now.

Look for ways to help your child share their feelings and frustrations. Writing, drawing, and talking about what is going on can be very therapeutic. Establishing a routine that includes reading together, playing games, and as many normal and familiar home activities as possible can help your child feel safe, loved, and secure. Roughhousing, running around, and time spent outdoors can help your child release the pent-up emotions that they may be feeling.

4. Remember that we are all in the same boat.

All children are missing instruction during this time. Standardized tests are being cancelled; report cards are delayed or cancelled, as well. Teachers will understand typical school isn’t continuing on in the same way at home. We know there is a huge inequity of resources among families, and we aren’t expecting parents to do our jobs for us. The best thing you can do for your child right now is to provide a stable environment where learning is encouraged. Keep your children’s minds active with books, games, activities, and interaction. These are the things that will most help them continue to learn during this time and ensure that they are best prepared to get back into a school mindset when classes begin again.

5. Above all, be patient.

Be patient with your child, because their whole world has been turned upside down, and in many cases they may not understand why. Younger children may have regressions due to their routines being disrupted. Older children who are able to understand somewhat may have fears based on partial information they have received, and they need reassurance over and over again because of the gaps in their understanding. 

Be patient with yourself, because you, too, are dealing with something strange and new and completely different from anything you have ever experienced. Take time for self-care and deep breaths and give yourself permission to disconnect from the news for a while each day to keep yourself grounded. Understand that this is going to be the new normal for a while, but this is temporary. Take one day at a time. You can do this.

K-5 Resource Links

6-8 Resource Links

9-12 Resource Links

Like many parents across the United States today, my kids are home from school due to COVID-19, and will be for the foreseeable future. Unlike most parents who have found themselves in this situation, though, I was homeschooled K-12. I am also the executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education (CRHE), a national nonprofit organization that advocates for homeschooled children. As I have watched the conversations in some of my local moms groups, I have realized that other parents may find my experience helpful. 

First and foremost, it’s ok just to take it easy for a bit. It really, really is. At CRHE, we advise parents just starting to homeschool to take a week or two to just chill and adjust, and not feel like they have to jump in with everything already lined up. This is true here as well. Yes, many of us have teachers we need to work with and work that has been sent home from school that should be completed at some point, but you really do not need to do everything this week. It’s ok. And remember—your kids learn things all the time, even when you’re not formally “doing” school. 

I think it may be helpful to explain how my mother structured our homeschool, when I was growing up. We would get up in the morning, do chores, and have breakfast. After this, from about 9-12, was what we called “seat work.” Math, writing, vocabulary, etc. We typically did this sitting at the table while my mother moved from person to person (I’m from a large family, so she was always supervising multiple children). She would generally try to get one child started on one thing, then work with the other child on something that needed more direct attention, and so forth, staggering things. And we’d be sent outside for a 10-15 minute recess at least once, maybe more if we had energy to burn. Sometimes she had us run laps around the house. It helped! 

Those three hours were all my mother needed to get us through everything, and that included the breaks we would take (and usually a snack!). Since what many of us have to work with is not as formalized as the curriculum my mother spent time creating—the schools are doing the best they can—two hours should be plenty for younger children, and for Kindergarten, even less. You do not need to (and should not) keep your kids in their seats “doing” school the full school day. 

In the afternoon, my mother instituted “nap” time. For the little ones, this meant actually napping or at least laying down, and for the older ones it meant quiet reading or project time. Somewhere around 3-4, my mother would make a snack and gather us for read aloud time—that’s how she did history with us, by reading aloud to us. Sometimes there would be an activity or a project, but often we would just play with legos while she read aloud for 30 minutes or so. 

Most homeschooling works like this—three or so hours of formal “seat work” and a lot of what we might call “choice” time outside of that. Some states require homeschooled children to have a certain number of hours of instruction per day (this does not apply to those of us whose kids are still in school and only home temporarily, of course), but time spent doing free reading counts. Time spent outside looking for worms counts. Even time spent playing with cars and train sets can count—city planning! civics! Your children learn all the time; it does not have to look formal. 

The schedule I’ve worked out in my own home with my children (grades 2 and 5) adapts what I had growing up. We’re doing work sent by the school in the morning, then lunch and outside play from 12-1. After that I’ve told the children they have until 4 to choose things off a general list, during which time they are to leave me alone, so I can get my own work done. The list includes playing board games with each other, puzzles, learning games on computer (such as Code.org), more outdoor play, craft making, dress up, other creative play, etc. Starting at 4, I’m letting them have free computer time until dinner. It’s screen time, but we all need our ways to blow off steam these days. 

In the future, I’d like to crack some activity books and do kitchen science with my children, as well as more read aloud, but right now I’m feeling pretty tapped out, so I’m trying to keep things simple. 

I’ve set up our dining room table as our school room. Everything stays there. Even if it gets disorganized, I know it’s all in one place. It means we have to eat in the kitchen, but we were doing that anyway, and it’s worth it to have one set space. For work sent home from school, I’ve made up checklists so they can check off each subject when they complete it, which helps us all keep on track in the morning and see what we’ve finished and what we haven’t. 

Homeschooling is not about replicating the school day in the home. In fact, CRHE specifically advises parents not to try doing that. You will burn out. Your kids will burn out. Instead, set aside a specific time to work with your children on work sent home from school, foster creative play outside of that, and try not to worry too much. Your kids will be fine. 

I have a friend who spent 7th grade in Italy. She attended local schools during that year but had barely any knowledge of Italian and learned very little in the way of academics there. But she was curious, and she learned a lot of other things during this time, and the academics worked themselves out later. It never hindered her. Your kids will be okay too.