My advice for parents who are starting to have to figure out homeschooling--decide whether you want to do a structured homeschool (i.e., give the students the same sort of structure that they'll have in a public school setting) or do a loose homeschool/unschool setting where you offer your kids a variety of things they can do without any sort of plan in place.
Either is fine. We go with the more structured type of homeschool, so that's what I can speak to best.
Keep in mind that it's March. Most of what your kids would be learning for this school year has already been taught. At least in FL, right now they were in test prep, but since there won't be any end of year tests, you don't have to worry about that.
I know a lot of you hate standards/Common Core. That's okay -- you don't have to like them or use them, BUT, they can provide an idea of what sort of things your kid should know so you don't feel like you're letting your kids down. For Florida kids, go to this site:
And look for the particular grade and subject that your kid is in. For instance, Grade 3, ELA, Key Ideas and Details, #2: Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths -- can your kid do this? (Ask them to retell the plot of a Disney movie!) Cool. You don't need to re-teach that.
Grade 3, Math, Geometry, #2: Partition shapes into parts with equal areas. Express the area of each part as a unit fraction of the whole. For example, partition a shape into 4 parts with equal area, and describe the area of each part as 1/4 of the area of the shape.-- Can your kid do that? You're good. If s/he hasn't learned it yet, you get to teach that.
If your kid already knows how to do all of the standards for their grade, and if your school system is not providing resources for "school at home", then my advice is to call it a wrap on instruction for the year and regroup in the fall. If there's anything your kid doesn't know yet, you get to teach them your way -- just teach them what you know.
For all students, if you do nothing more, encourage your kid to read EVERYTHING. For elementary, I'd also suggest adding in some arithmetic math drills that are age appropriate (addition and subtraction for younger elementary, multiplication and division for older elementary). That will get you through the end of the year and keep your kids' minds sharp.
Now's also the time to teach those life skills -- teach them how to cook, clean, sew a button, do laundry, make a budget, be resourceful, fix that leaky faucet that has been on the honey-do list for months, etc.
What you *shouldn't* do is throw every possible resource at them in rapid fire. Yes, there's a lot of GREAT resources out there to let you take a virtual field trip to NASA or watch opera at the MET or whatever. If you haphazardly throw too much at your kids, they're going to be over-stimulated and become panicky. Ask them "Hey, is there anything you'd like to learn about while you have the free time?" If they say yes, THEN find a resource to help with that. If they say no, that's okay.
Help them manage stress. If that means sticking to a firm schedule, then do that, but if it means staying up a bit late or sleeping in late in the morning, be flexible. Make sure they have time to decompress, even if that means they're playing video games a little more than you'd prefer in a normal school week.
You got this, parents! You can do it!!
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