Homeschooling During the Coronavirus?

School Closure Home Learning

Have you unexpectedly been tossed into the throes of homeschooling since the Corona virus pandemic? If you've suddenly had to to become the school teacher, cafeteria lady, and janitor during these school closures, you're well aware that home learning is more difficult than it looks. So, how do you do homeschooling during the coronavirus pandemic? As seasoned homeschoolers, we're here to help. Below is a list of our favorite homeschool resources and some articles specifically addressing these troubled times and how to help your kids cope. What a life lesson this is, right?

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

For more on our personal journey scroll to the end.

Worried how school closure and remote learning will affect your child? Love them, support them, build them up, and they'll be fine. Think homeschoolers are weird? Maybe, depends on your perspective, but we're more normal than you think. We only had 7 months of brick and mortar school, but our previously homeschooled kids made the best of their first year of brick and mortar school. They miss school so much. When this is all over your kids will look forward to going to school too! I've added a photo album for our long time readers and fans. Enjoy!

I love this post! We have a similar experience.
Keep scrolling to see our homeschoolers' success in public school!

Tips for Home Learning and Coping during School Closures and Covid19 

• How to Homeschool Your Kids After a School Closure

• Help Children Cope with Changes due to Covid19

• Learning at Home During the Coronavirus Pandemic

• How to Make your Home into a Workable School

• Independent Learning Strategies During the Coronavirus Outbreak

• How to Talk to your Kids about Covid19

• More resources for parents, students, and teachers

These are scary times, so here's a Coronavirus meme to lighten the mood.

Educational Resources for Homeschooling during the Coronavirus

• Many of our older homeschool resources that target elementary students are listed in the homeschool tab on this site: Homeschool Learning Lessons for Elementary Age You can also do a search on our site for specific types of lessons like, grammar, math, and science.

• BrainPop has the most fun videos; I love them as much as my kids do. BrainPopJr. is great for the younger set. They are a paid service, but offer a free movie of the week and other free lessons.

• Life of Fred is our favorite home learning curriculum. We checked the books out at the library, that's probably not an option during these coronavirus times. You can get the Life of Fred books online at Amazon and on the Life of Fred website (Get the dolls!)

• Mobymax has free options for remote learning and homeschoolers. The great thing about this website is they find and fix learning gaps. Kids can take assessments to see where they fall and then do educational activities based on their grade level in different subjects. It's a great way to see if your child has been falling through the cracks in public school.

• TeachersPayTeachers and TeacherSherpa both offer great resources free and paid. The lesson plans are created by teachers for teachers, but homeschoolers and remote learners are welcome to download them too! Check out our store on TPT, it has some fun educational skits to do with the kids, we even have a play about the Easter Bunny!

Here's a FREE SCIENCE LESSON RESOURCE on COVID19

• Khan Academy is not for the faint of heart. If you're all in to the homeschooling thing, give it a try. We used it for several years. It's a free learning resource originally targeted toward middle schoolers and high schoolers, but now offers lessons for elementary too. It feels a lot more like "real school" than some of the other online options and keeps track of your progress and grade level.

• Why not give this difficult time a fun spin? Our Summer Camp Handbook is edutainment at its best! Enjoy science experiments, PE Activities, and more disguised as fun! 

• We also love CrashCourse with John and Hank Green. (Yes, that John Green!) You'll even find some of their lessons on Khan Academy. These are super fun, especially for older students.

Best Homeschool Blogs

Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Hip Homeschool Moms

The Relaxed Homeschooler

Life of a Homeschool Mom

I Can Teach My Child

The Educator's Spin on it

Raising Lifelong Learners

First day of public school 2019.

We hope these resources help ease your mind and put you on the right track for remote home learning during the Coronavirus pandemic situation. Remember, homeschooling isn't easy and not all parents nor all kids are cut out for it. 

Bowling allows for socialization and physical activity. During the quarantine,
bowl with your game console or set up milk jugs to knock down with a basketball.

Do the best you can. Don't overdo it! If you take it too seriously, your kids won't enjoy it and neither will you. Make learning fun, make it light, and focus on those skills that are best learned at home: writing letters, sending emails, tying shoes, telling time, how to follow a recipe, chores (consider doing laundry a PE activity,) working on cars, putting together puzzles, dice games, Minecraft Uno or any Uno game, and anything that brings your family closer together.

Dress up day.

Note: This past year, my kids decided to go back to public school. My 15 year-old was placed as a high learning junior taking all senior and college level courses, my 13 year-old is a well-rounded, straight A, school loving eighth grader. 

In previous years, we spent a maximum of 2 hours a day on book learning. The rest  of our day was focused on healthy outdoor activities, field trips to museums, special events at the library, and a local homeschool group for "socialization." Turns out, it was more than enough. 

Take it easy, don't stress out, and remember that YOU CAN DO IT!

Made the grade, first semester honor roll.

Never played football in his life. Made the team!

Loving the school band.

My son was looking forward to performing in the high school play, finishing building a home for Habitat for Humanity, trying out different sports and clubs, and now, that will have to wait until next year. My daughter was on an academic team, loving art club, playing in the school band, and appreciating school for its many wonderful opportunities. I took great pride and joy watching them try new things. My heart aches for their loss and for the loss of those long time public school seniors who are missing out on their last school dance, possibly graduation, and all the joys of being a high school senior. If nothing else, this experience will teach us not to take life for granted. 

Never forget, no matter how stressful it gets, getting to stay home with your kids is a gift.

Good Luck, go hug your kids!

Does Gaming Increase Kids Intelligence?

How Gaming Helps Your Kids Boost Intelligence

Intelligence is the capacity for learning and reasoning, the ability to understand and process things or to deal with new or difficult situations. It's one ability which everyone can't seem to get enough of, even the so-called intelligent ones want to be more intelligent. It is believed that humans are born with intelligence but there are other factors after birth which can positively influence and develop the level of a person's intelligence. So, how can gaming help boost your kid's intelligence? Do video games really improve certain brain functions?

This post contains Amazon affiliate links When you click I may get a small commission.

Intelligence is equally a function of nature, as well as, nurture. While nature is hereditary and almost nothing can be done about it, nurture has to do with the upbringing a person gets, and this can go a long way in intellectual development. One of the things which if included into a child upbringing can increase his or her intelligence, is playing games. Yes, you read right. Playing games. Contrary to the widely held misconception that most games numb the mind, video games can add to a person in many ways; this includes:

• Gaming Boosts Concentration and Attention.

Playing games involve a lot of focus on the part of the players, unlike activities such as watching TV, listening to music, reading, etc. which can be done absentmindedly, gaming requires you to fully focus on the game and relegate every other thing to the background, and this is why some believe in the addictive power of games. However, gaming increases the usual selective visual attention of the player. This refers to the brain’s ability to focus on relevant visual information while suppressing less relevant information. If children can learn to block out frivolous distractions and focus from an early age, gaming can increase the efficiency of their brain. Thus, if your kid is one with short attention span, playing games is one way through which he/she can improve.

• Gaming boosts coordination and problem-solving skills.

A person who can focus is better coordinated and makes better decisions. Most games on Friv involve a lot of analysis of unique and complicated situations and usually, these situations require the player be coordinated. There are special moves in games which involve pressing specific keys in a sequence and all of these improve coordination because the player knows that missing a step will affect the outcome of the game. Coordination is also an important skill for problem-solving and the more coordinated a person is, the better a problem solver the person becomes.

• Gaming Enhances Brain Function and IQ.

Gaming also enhances the cognitive ability and intelligence quotient of a person. So kids can enhances these abilities trough gaming. For this to happen, one has to be selective about the type of games being played. Playing strategic games has been proven to have a considerable impact on developing a child's IQ. Memory games, as well, when played consistently, help to sharpen the memory and make it more receptive to new information. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Charite University of Medicine, in one study conducted to determine the influence of games on the brain, took measurements of participants' brain volume before and after playing Super Mario 64. The study showed a significant increase in grey matter of those playing the game compared to the group that did not. Imagine how many times your kid has played Super Mario!

• Gaming improves brain speed.

In playing games, the gamer is given lots of information to process per second and this helps to improve the speed at which the child processes information even when not playing games. Brain speed has to do with the pace at which a person perceives, analyzes, organizes and acts on a piece of information. Many video games, especially action games and games involving time management, require a quick reaction from the player and the ability to react quickly and still make the right decision is important for measuring intelligence. Your child is boosting reaction time each time the play a game.

• Gaming improves the ability to solve mathematical and verbal problems via logical games.

By involving your kid in logical games and puzzles, his or her ability to solve mathematical and verbal problems are improved. Games allow for creative and out of the box thinking, as well as, improving memory and attention span. All of these are important skills necessary for understanding and solving mathematical problems.

• Gaming improves planning, multitasking, prioritization.

The outcome of a game depends on how effective the player's plan is. The chances of failure and tension drive the players to make highly efficient decisions in strategy games and this can be transferred into reality and used to make decision making for daily life tasks. According to research, the areas of the brain that control spatial navigation, strategic planning and working memory are greatly improved through gaming. When playing games, the player's attention is divided as he or she is focused on the joystick, the screen, as well as, on the commands necessary to execute a gaming action. With this ability for multiple focus, a gamer can learn to multitask in real life activities without any task suffering from inadequate attention.

• Gaming helps to make flexible, faster and more accurate decisions.

With its method of reward in the form of "Next-level" punishment in form of "Game-over." Gaming encourages the player to make the best decisions possible and find his or her way out of complex problems. The player is more adept at making multiple decisions and switching between tasks without errors. This flexibility allows a kid to be faster in making decisions as he or she can make multiple decisions at once.

Finally, if you encourage your kids to play games, their daily activities should be totally dependent on a proper time management plan. You can get worthwhile games for your wards on Friv. Just remember, everything in moderation! Do you agree that gaming can boost intelligence? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Recommended:

Homeschool Lessons

Accessories for Gamers

Active Learning in Early Childhood Education

What is Active Learning?

If you're an early childhood education director, teacher, or a homeschooler of a preschooler, you will benefit ChildCare Education Institute's CCEI122: Active Learning in Early Childhood course. This course is a great way to get continuing ed course credit for any ECE program, but it is also a wonderful tool for parents of toddlers and preschoolers to educate themselves for homeschool learning. So, what is the definition of active learning in early childhood education?

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links, if you make a purchase,I get a small commission.

Wikipedia describes active learning as:

Active learning is a form of learning in which teaching strives to involve students in the learning process more directly than in other methods. Bonwell states that in active learning, "students participate in the process and students participate when they are doing something besides passively listening."

Sensory Play = Active Learning

As a childcare professional, I am well versed in sensory play and its connection to cognitive learning. Here on the blog, you'll find many sensory play activities and other movement games for early childhood educators. However, I wasn't aware of much of the proven science behind these preschool activities until I took CCEI's online professional development course CCEI122: Active Learning in Early Childhood.

This course presents practical methods for integrating movement and active involvement across all curriculum areas, including art, language arts, mathematics, music, science, and social studies.

The course only takes about an hour of your time. Be sure to print out the handouts or save them as pdfs so that you'll have access to note taking and a record of some of the valuable ideas and knowledge base taught in the class. At course completion, you’re issued a certificate showing that you've successfully completed the 1 hr. course. Here's mine:

Through the years, I've taken many continuing education courses. The courses offered by ChildCare Education Institute are by far the most convenient. The courses are also very informative. They not only include valuable information and recent studies in the childcare industry, but they also include sample activities that you can try with your own students.

ChildCare Education Institute® provides high-quality, online training courses and programs, applicable to those who work in an array of child care settings, including center-based care, Head Start, family child care, prekindergarten classrooms, after school environments and more. Over 150 English and Spanish training courses are available to meet licensing, recognition program, and Head Start Requirements. CCEI also has online certification programs that provide the coursework requirement for national credentials including the CDA, Director and Early Childhood Credentials. CCEI, a Council for Professional Recognition CDA Gold Standard℠ Comprehensive training provider, is nationally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) and is accredited as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET).

● 99 percent of students say they would recommend CCEI to others

● Over 4.4 million online course hours completed  

● Graduated over 12,000 early childhood professionals from CDA and other certificate programs

● Web-based coursework, available 24/7/365

● 30 hours of new content added each year

● IACET CEUs awarded for completed coursework at no additional cost

During the CCEI122: Active Learning in Early Childhood course, I had many aha moments. There were so many things that I've done in my early childhood programs where I missed valuable opportunities to incorporate movement and music in daily lesson plans for language arts, science, social studies, math, and art. The course lists out many different ideas and further explains how these activities aid in cognitive development and increase brain synapses.

After taking the course, you’ll want to add more movement activities to your daily active learning activities. Here's a list of our most popular posts on early childhood games and sensory play ideas for preschoolers.

● Circle Time Games for Active Learning in Early Childhood

● Physical Activity Movement Games for Early Childhood

● Marshmallow Movement Game

● Sensory Tactile Alphabet Activity

● Group Cooperation Games for Preschool and Early Childhood

If you're in need of continuing education for your career in early childhood, start here with our review of ChildCare Education Institute. CCEI offers many amazing continuing education courses for professional development in early childhood education. The extensive course list is sure to please even the most hard to please daycare providers and program directors. I encourage everyone involved with childcare and early childhood education to sign up for a course or two. It’s such a convenient way to expand your knowledge in early childhood education. Be sure to check it out!

Recommended:

Featured Preschool Crafts and Activities 

All Preschool Activities

Active Learning Tools

Free Online Homeschool Curriculum Recommendations

Curriculum Recommendations for Online Homeschooling

Whether you're new to homeschooling or you've been doing it for years, you're probably on the hunt for new, exciting, and engaging curriculum ideas. We get bored with the daily grind and change it up from year to year or even season to season. Here's a list of mostly free online homeschool curriculum recommendations that we've used and enjoyed. We've tried MANY other options, but these are our favorites.

This post contains affiliate links.

Free Online Homeschool Curriculum Recommendations.

Brainpop Jr. is my favorite program for younger elementary and preschool. The videos are fun to watch, and the kids always looked forward to using Brainpop Jr. for Homeschooling. 

Brainpop has a an online homeschool for middle school and high school, but we often found topics we wanted only on Brainpop Jr. The upper grade version is nice for supplementing classroom curriculum. If you use the paid version, you have access to more functions and all lessons.

MobyMax is a great online homeschool app to find out where your kids are in their homeschool learning experience. They can take placement tests in all subjects and then the program finds learning gaps and helps kids focus and build on the areas where they may be struggling. The content isn't as fun and engaging as Brainpop. It is a more definitive tool for classroom use, helping teachers to keep all students on track. MobyMax can be used as a supplement or as full homeschool curriculum up to eighth grade.

Khan Academy is (or should be) a household name for homeschoolers. In the beginning, Khan Academy targeted older students and even offered SAT prep. Now, they also offer more curriculum for elementary school. It keeps track of their lessons and lets you know when students are struggling or when they are ready to move to the next level.

The kids prefer Khan Academy math to any other online homeschool math program, but homeschool mom always liked to supplement with free Brainpop math videos to make sure the kids understood the talking points. Khan Academy can get monotonous for day to day homeschooling. Sal does a great job, but it can get a little boring after awhile. We also supplement our Khan Academy math with Life of Fred textbooks. These books are easy to read and tell a fun story while sneaking in practical math lessons.

Now, there are new instructors and new curriculum on KA. My daughter enjoys studying high school and college level psychology and art history through Khan Academy.

My son does well with virtual homeschool. So, for online high school homeschooling, we are sticking with Connections Academy. In Indiana, it is a free online public school. Connections Academy offers group gatherings and field trips. He gets through the assignments quickly (though, I'm told many homeschoolers struggle to get their lessons done on time) so we supplement with weekly enrichment including museum homeschool programs and educational YouTube videos like John and Hank Green's Crash Course in American History.

Sometimes, when he's struggling on a particular topic, (for high school all text books are online) we find a compatible Life of Fred homeschooling book to fll in any gaps. It's nice to have a good, old book that you can hold in your hand and flip through the pages. He enjoys reading them outside while enjoying his hammock.

Sure, Connections Academy has teachers and attendance to keep, but when it's all done, he'll have official transcripts for college. 

I prefer Connections High School to their Elementary program. The elementary program seemed a little too intense. Especially, when you want the freedom of homeschooling. They're still working out the bugs and it gets better every year, in the past, we had to have weekly check ups with the elementary teachers. For high school, signing in and doing your work suffices. As it should...

In 2017, this homeschool mom broke her leg. That made planning homeschool curriculum and doing enrichment activities difficult. So, my daughter was pretty much on her own. She did great with MobyMax (so I could keep up with her learning) and supplementing with YouTube videos of her choosing. But, homeschool mom felt like maybe she was failing her daughter by not being as involved. So, this fall, we are trying something new! Acellus. I stumbled upon Acellus last year when I was laid up in bed. Many other homeschoolers told me it was expensive, but I was sure I found a free or nearly free version. 

But whenever, I looked it up, I found the paid online homeschool version, which seems to be set up like Connections academy, but with a private school fee. That's not for us! I gave up for a while, and recently tried again. It seems they also have a homeschool app which is found on a separate website, PowerHomeschool. The homeschool app differs from the online homeschool version, because the videos are canned - meaning they are pre-recorded 

That's just what we wanted! We like working at our own pace. These videos are similar to videos my daughter finds on YouTube, but these organized by grade level. We'll choose math, science, language arts, foreign language, and music this year. At the time of this posting, the app is $9.99 per month, basically the same as the paid homeschool version of Brainpop. We're looking forward to starting her in the homeschool middle school program this fall. 

The PowerHomemschool website describe the homeschool curriculum like this: "Students proceed through the course in a step-by-step fashion watching a video lesson and then completing assessment problems. Students receive reviews and unit, mid-term, and final exams as they proceed through the course. Learning gaps are assessed and filled as students move through the course concept by concept."

Seems like a fair option to give it a test drive before you jump into their online school curriculum. 

We'll also supplement with Life of Fred fractions and beginning algebra. One thing I've missed the last few years, is doing hands-on science experiments. After previewing the Acellus app's science curriculum, I was excited to try it. With a Google search for online homeschool curriculum, the app is hard to find. They have moved it to a new website with a different name. Find it here: PowerHomeschool

Bottom line, don't break the bank to homeschool. We have SO many books, every year, I'd go out and buy new books. We never got through most of them. Find a free online homeschool curriculum, that works for you and stick with it. Then, supplement with fun enrichment activities and family outings.

We also involve the kids in day to day household concerns. We talk about finances, debt, and even recently including them in every step of the home buying process. That included going to a lender, saving for a down payment, creative ways to find extra money like garage sales, selling off items no longer needed, the highs and lows of Craigslist and eBay, getting a water and septic test at the state level, watching our credit scores, budgeting for groceries, finding ways to cut costs to save for the new house, and even going to a county courthouse to pick up documents needed to close. So many lessons here. At the courthouse, we all had to go through the security, empty our pockets, etc. The next steps, include renovating the new house. 

Family struggles and life lessons are often kept from kids. In my opinion, this tends to give the kids an unrealistic view of what it is like to be a grown up. They can't wait to get out of the house and start their own life, but reality gets in the way of their happiness. Keeping kids life lessons and keeping them in the know, helps them better prepare for the future. Isn't that what homeschooling is all about?

So, what do you think of this list of free online homeschool curriculum recommendations? Do you have something you really love? Tell us about it in the comments or find Kids Creative Chaos on Instagram and chat with us there!

Recommended:

Science Homeschool Projects

Summer Camp Curriculum

Circle Time  Activities Handbook 

Pin it!

Homeschooling Advice from Becky Hunt

Homeschooling Advice 

This guest post on homeschooling advice is by Becky Hunt from Experienced Mommy. Becky has homeschooled four kids (including one with special needs) for the past 20 years. Listen up!

This post contains affiliate links.

In case no one ever told you, homeschooling comes with making a lot of decisions.

Some moms are super-fast decision makers. They do a little research. They pick a book or a curriculum, or a study group, they buy stuff and BANG they are done.

No regret, no second guessing, no wringing the hands, no worry that they are going to ruin their kid forever.

Except I don’t actually know any of those moms.

I’m not saying every homeschooling mom friend of mine is a basket case, but let’s just say the vast majority of moms, especially those just getting started, do way too much stressing out.

My Story

I have a special needs daughter, Anna, who is 17 but operates at more of a one-and-a-half-year-old level. She is a category all her own and will always keep the nest full.

But I also have two boys and a girl, all three of which I homeschooled from kindergarten through 12th grade. My oldest son and daughter graduated from Purdue and my younger son is still studying there.

I assembled my own curriculum, didn’t do too much in the way of co-ops or groups, changed things up for each child, and generally made my own way.

The kids all got good scholarships, test scores, etc. and are doing just fine.

But it doesn’t matter how I did it.

The choices you end up making are a lot less important than the process you use to make them. And the key thing about the process is learning to RELAX!

The kids are going to be fine. You aren’t going to sabotage their futures and lives and jobs by choosing A instead of B or X instead of Y.

And that brings me to the first thing you need to relax about:

Relax About Curriculum

Yeah, you have to cover the three R’s, Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic, and yes, you need to work in whatever your state requires especially in high school.

But other than that, don’t sweat it!

Pick something that looks good, that fits with your direction and world view, and relax.

There is no magic prescription for the perfect education. How many expert educators would agree on a curriculum? Um, none.

Education is a long, long term process where we are exposing our kids to principles, ideas, facts and the world.

It is no simplification to say that all we are really trying to do is teach our kids to think. We are teaching them a process for learning.

That’s why the material itself isn’t that crucial. We are basically saying “here are some books and videos and projects: we are going to interact with this pile of stuff.”

We are going to:

• Figure out what the books want us to do
• Understand what the benefit of the content is
• Learn how to get the important parts out of it
• Learn how to skip over the stuff we don’t care about

And each time we go through a course or topic, our minds get better at learning, and that’s the whole point.

Which is also why the coverage isn’t the most important thing.

Relax About Coverage

Lots of text books have 50 chapters and I know so many moms who are stressed every week because their kid didn’t make through the 1.4 chapters necessary to get done by the end of the year.

But if education is about the process of learning, it just doesn’t matter whether you cover all 50 chapters.

What difference does it make if you plow through 10 extra chapters but the kid only remembers 5% of it and everybody is at each other’s throats the whole time?

If you are obsessed over getting a certain score on a standardized test, and the test has stuff on it your kid has never seen before, you have to have a plan for that. But you still relax and chill and be strategic at the same time.

Relax About Milestones

My kids didn’t start writing papers until they were in 5th or 6th grade. Turns out that was perfectly fine. It gave them a chance to have hundreds of really great books read out loud and discussed with them.

Kids don’t have know the alphabet, read, write or do algebra by a certain age. Relax. It will be fine. They will get it when they need to get it.

Not only will they eventually get it, they’ll learn better when they are ready for it.

Relax About the End Results

I wanted it all. I wanted my kids to excel academically, be well rounded individuals and get great jobs. But most importantly I wanted them to become men and women of character who love God and are kind, honest and unselfish.

Credentials flow from character.

And kids learn character from how you behave not from what you say.

So how do you relax about a big list of goals and dreams you have for your kids?

Well that’s a tough one, but you just have to realize that the end results will come from a steady, consistent relationship that you have with your children over a period of years.

You will sit with them, love them, fight and make up with them, learn with them, learn how to learn with them and persevere when you are tired and want to ship them off to school.

And it will all work out. The kids will be fine.

Just relax. - Becky Hunt - Learn more about Becky.

Recommended:

Homeschool Math Activities from Kids Creative Chaos

Follow us on Instagram

Pin it!