Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Teaching and Homeschooling: Our Current Schedule

I hope everyone is staying healthy and taking care of themselves during these uncertain times.  My school made the decision to close yesterday.  My own children are also out of school for now.  My husband has to continue to work. 

The expectations for teachers for this week is that we will be in our buildings Thursday and Friday preparing materials for the buses to deliver to students on Monday.  After that, our buildings will be only open to a select group of staff for the following week.  We are providing kids with 2 weeks of review materials, both paper/pencil and some online options.  We are sending devices home with kids in grades 3-6.  Not all of our students have internet.  We have sent/will be sending home some of the things I discusses in last week's post.  I also sent a reminder to parents about our school wide math blog which is a great way to curate online resources for your students. 

I will dive more into how we are supporting our students online and with hard goods later this week.  Today I want to share with you our current work from home/homeschooling schedule.  This is going to be what we try to follow on days that I am working from home.  When I have to go into school, this schedule will have to look a little different.


Morning Block 6:30-8:30ish
-Morning snuggles, breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth, feed pets, morning chores and free play.

Community Meeting 8:45-9
-We are using our dining room table as out all together work area.  We listen to the weather, make a schedule for the day and talk about what activities each person really wants to do that day.

Seat Work 9-10ish
-Each kid (I have 3) has a personal work space set up in a different room in the house.  I start with the oldest and go over work for the day and then meet with each kid at the dining room table to help them get started and make sure they know the expectations.  Then I walk around checking in with each kid as needed.  I use the time after I meet with each kid while they are working independently to answer emails and do whatever needs to be done for "work" at that point. At this point they are working on a combination of things their teachers have posted, some math worksheets, writing letters to grandparents, independent reading and working on a few independent math games/activities with dice, cards and number puzzles.

Recess 10-10:45ish
-We have a lot of outdoor space and plenty of opportunities for recess.  I get myself outside with the kids and we all do whatever we want.  We live in the woods and have a pond and a swing set so there is plenty of free play opportunities.  I have been using the time to push kids on swings and rake up the millions of leaves and sticks that are currently covering the lawn.

Device Learning 10:45-11:30
-My kids are using a variety of websites that they already use at school combined with a few websites that we use at my school that my kids are already familiar with.  At this time we have not introduced any new learning sites but there are many offering free services at this time.

Lunch 11:30-12
-Time to eat!

Family Hike 12-1
-We live in the woods on a dirt road and next to a large farm so out outdoor walking opportunities are just about endless.  We are counteracting some of the additional screen time with some intentional family exercise.  We own excellent outdoor clothing for all weather so we plan on a family hike in all weather although it might be shorter when weather is not great. 

Read Aloud 1-1:15
My school is doing One school, one book and all families are reading the same book.  We hit the couch and read one section around this time.

Quiet Time 1:15-2:15
My kids are beyond napping but this is a vital part of our day.  Kids go to separate rooms and play or read independently.  Mom can work, relax or do anything that has to get done.

Flexible Time 2:15-5
We will use this time to be outside again when the weather is perfect, work on larger projects like organizing the basement or do more learning things like virtual field trips or kitchen science experiments.

Family time and Dinner 5-6
My husband is home and can spend time with the kids.  Mom gets a break if she needs it.  Dinner prep and cooking lessons, hanging out time.

Screen Time 6-7:30
Watch a movie as a family, play video games, make whatever screen choices kids and parents would like.

Get ready for Bed 7:30-8


We are only getting  started on this trying to work and homeschool and go nowhere journey.  We shall see how our schedule changes and adapts moving forward. 

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