What to do when there is no class to miss.....


For all the parents who are now homeschooling, but never intended to, I present:

The Top Five Things to NOT WORRY ABOUT!

5) Access to technology.
 Seriously. Relax.  We somehow managed to educate children in this country without Ipads, internet, Google, Alexa, etc for hundreds of years.  Taking 2-8 weeks off from Google Classroom may actually be a good thing.

4) Not knowing Edu-Speak.
It really doesn't matter if you understand terms like "best practices", "differentiated instruction", or "curriculum integration".  When you are working with your own kids, you already have an idea of what works best for them, and what they need to work on.  Which is what most of those "edu-terms" mean anyway.

3) Not knowing how to "teach" something "correctly".
I'm pretty sure that school districts are already having or will soon have the conversation about state mandated testing scores and assessments coming up this semester.  I'm kind of hoping the whole country follows the example Texas is setting and that these tests will be cancelled.
If you do struggle with a certain concept on assigned work, don't be afraid to let your kids see you tackle a math problem or answer an essay question that is difficult. Your child may even be able to explain it to YOU, thus strengthening their academic confidence.

2)Having to spend 8 hours a day on school work.
NO ONE SPENDS THIS LONG ON ACADEMICS!!!!
At least half of every school day in an elementary school is consumed with managing groups and behavior.  A typical day may look something like this:
8:25 students BEGIN arriving
8:45 students are in class, ready for announcements, attendance, and morning routine
9:00 students prepare for their first academic block
9:05-10:30 Instructional block for math/literacy.  This includes a 15 min group lesson and 45-50 minutes of students working in small groups in centers to practice the new skill and review old skills.  After the 15 minute larger group lesson, the classroom teacher may get 15 more minutes per small group to do more direct instruction.  For most of this period, students are reviewing and learning without a teacher directly involved in their group.
10:35-11:ish.  Students work on a unit for science, social studies or writing....not the same subject every day.
11:ish-12:ish lunch and recess
12:30:-1:15 ish  Writing/Social Studies/Science or Special (Art, Music, Library, PE etc)
1:15-2:30 Second academic block.  Math or Literacy, depending on what was already covered in the morning block. Same situation....teacher does a large group lesson, then checks in with smaller groups as they work on review/practice.
2:30 ish-2:45 Pack up and get ready for dismissal and announcements.
2:45-3:10 Bus Dismissal and Parent Pick-Up.

Out of that whole day, a student may be focusing on academics for a total of 4 hours, and only part of that would include direct, one-on-one feedback from a teacher.
Considering the fact that you won't have to manage 20 other students in addition to your own children, being done with "school" by lunch will probably happen quite often.

1) Ruining your child's academic future.
Not. Gonna. Happen.
Even if you can't help with the grammar, math or science that your child has to work on, please remember this:  One of the best indicators of a child's success in school is parental involvement.  Just the fact that you may worry about this shows that you care about their education.  If you don't know something, learn it together. If you aren't sure about something, let your kids see you ask for help from someone else. Read together out loud or even just spend 20 minutes together reading your own books. These are the habits of life-long learners, and they are BEST modeled at home.

Don't worry.
You got this.

Your kids may trace their future success at NASA to the time they spent with you at the kitchen table practicing their multiplication facts....

If you don't send them to the moon sooner ;)

'Cause I didn't miss the class on needing some adult "recess time" either. :)