Positive Planning for Homeschooling: A Beginner’s Guide from Dumond with 5 Independent & 5 Collaborative Learning Activities. (Guide 1)

 

To begin with, Happy Mother’s Day to those in countries celebrating today.

 

 

Homeschool Planning and Timetabling

 

Ahead of another week of homeschooling for many (and the inaugural week for some), I have put together some resources to help. I write from a primary-school perspective as that is where my experience lies and where children are more likely to need support and guidance with their work.

 

As previously mentioned, the value of a schedule really cannot be stressed enough as it gives children a sense of routine and predictability. I have included a blank Timetable with the day divided into half hour time-slots (these can be further sub-divided). It is advisable to maintain existing morning and night-time routines where possible, so I suggest starting with including those. You may decide to add in a lunch-break and snack times next. How long you devote to lunch may depend on whether your children will be helping you to prepare the food as part of their home-learning or not.

 

 

Outdoor playtime is another important consideration. Of course, scheduling it can be tricky and the weather may well overrule us on a day-to-day basis in this regard. Block off slots for it and these can always be moved on the day if clouds are rolling in.

 

In providing a blank timetable, the idea and expectation is not that you schedule every minute of your child(ren)’s time, rather that it serves as a guide to you in thinking about how to lay out the day and, for any parent(s) also juggling working from home, an opportunity to find particular time-slots where (one or other of) you can work 1:1 with your child(ren).  

 

With an outline of times for meals and breaks now complete, how your schedule is filled will depend on whether children are accessing online lessons from school at particular times or are working with your support on book-based work that has been sent home from school. Slot times in around their school schedule (if applicable), your work commitments, your partner’s work commitments, and/or around the schedule and sleeping patterns of younger children or any caring responsibilities, if these are relevant in your situation.

 

Another factor to consider at the outset is access to a laptop, tablet or computer. If children are required to share a single device, scheduling in a time for each one can eliminate arguments. A blended model of learning, with a mix of online, hands-on and book-based work, will hopefully prove workable for the majority.

 

 

Next, I recommend scheduling daily time for ‘core’ subjects, e.g., English and maths (and a second language if children are bilingual). A typical school day usually involves 45 – 60 minutes on those subjects. 1:1 work is more intensive, so a shorter time-frame may be appropriate. I suggest building up to a goal of a 1 hour slot for English and math and a 30 minute slot for language 2. (Obviously, this will not be the case for young children). If you are not proficient in the second language, consider an online learning tool such as Duolingo.

 

If this is your child’s first week of school closures, they will need to be eased into a new routine and way of working. Doubtless, they will have many questions as to why this is happening and their anxiety may be quite high. The priority at the outset will be reassuring them and answering any questions they may have. Do not underestimate the importance and value of spending time on this and on activities such as creative pursuits, board-games, indoor and outdoor play, and reading. Include some schoolwork (so that they get used to it from the outset) and, gradually, build up to longer spells of ‘academic’ work.

 

During a 1-hour time-slot, it is not expected children will be concentrating on a task for a solid 60 minutes. They will have different activities to do and a movement break should form part of this slot as well.

 

For parents reading this and living in a GMT zone, P.E. with Joe will be running exercise sessions for children from 9.00 – 9.30 am every Monday to Friday (available on YouTube). This may be something you wish to include at that time and then begin lessons after, or you may wish to schedule it in later in the day. Getting the endorphins flowing and so lifting our mood is important for all of us at this time.

 

 

Once the core subjects are inserted, consider how to include other others. Has your child been set a project from school? Do they have a topic of their own they would like to research? What creative activities are they interested in undertaking that you have supplies for? As well at the EPIC resource list on the blog, check our Outdoor Games and Activities and Indoor Games and Activities posts for helpful links, suggestions and ideas to include in your schedule.

 

A few other things to consider in thinking about the day/week:

• When will your child(ren) do chores?

• When will they have free time for free choice activities, play and relaxation? (This is crucial)

• If they are older, you will also need to be mindful of slotting in times for them to catch up with friends (perhaps through gaming or via WhatsApp) during the week.

 

With a timetable sorted, establishing a work-space is important. Where will your child(ren) work? They will need a well-lit, distraction-free environment. Will it be at the kitchen or dining room table? Are you working from home? Can they have a desk in the same room as you if they are old enough to work quietly as you take calls etc.? Do they have a desk in their room that can be moved to a central work location for now? Try to think which table and chairs in your home will be the most comfortable and are the best height for your child(ren).  

 

Involve your children in setting up their home-school. I have seen some fabulous pictures from parents whose children have drawn up their timetable for display and created “school rules.” They are excited by the novelty of it all and highly-motivated, so let’s capitalise on this at the outset! Asking your children to find and organise stationery, books and art materials for use in their new learning space gives them ownership of it.

 

 

It is useful to discuss with your children all the learning tasks they can do independently and ask them to make a list of them. Talk to them about your own work responsibilities and the importance of them working independently on some tasks so that you can get your work completed. Praise them highly for working independently when they do so. You may wish to use a reward system, e.g. a sticker chart if you feel this will be motivating for them. If your children are younger and less independent, what are the best activities you can give them to work on if you have to deal with work calls etc.? Think of activities they can do on their own, without help, that keep them focused. This may be Peppa Pig videos and that is fine. These are unprecedented times; we are aiming for good rather than perfect.

 

Working Independently

 

In determining things children can do independently, I have a few suggestions you may wish to consider adding to the schedule.

 

• If your child is not secure with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts, Xtra math may be a useful inclusion in the maths block. It is a responsive programme that will identify errors your child makes and provide for repeated practice to eliminate it. Sign-up is free and it takes less than 10 minutes a day to complete. Children receive lots of feedback as they work through it and certificates of achievement can be printed once a set of facts is mastered.

• This may also be a good time for child to begin to learn to type. A typing test to gauge current speed and accuracy is available here. Thereafter, they can practise on that site or several others. See our EPIC resource post for other suggestions.

• Word-searches, sudoku, crosswords, puzzle books etc. are also useful.

• Keep some colouring pages or a sketch book to hand in case your child gets stuck and needs something to do while they wait for you to be able to help them. Encourage them to use this as a last resort. They should try to get schoolwork done during their learning time as they will have creative time later.

• The use of flashcards (The Leitner System) for learning is extremely valuable. Now is a good time to teach children this practice and encourage them to conduct daily retrieval practice. I have previously shared posts and videos on using the Leitner System in conjunction with CardEd (See here and here) which will give you an idea of how the system operates. In this blog, I discuss how to apply the strategy more generally and provide tracking documents for learning. Once children know how to use the Leitner System, creating retrieval flashcards and self-assessing can be done independently (albeit I recommend regular checking to ensure content is truly known).  

 

 

 

Working Cooperatively

 

Next are five ideas for tasks that can be adapted to suit children of mixed ages and that will promote working cooperatively.

 

 

• I have uploaded a week of CardEd activities for you to download. The FREE download includes 5 CardEd cards, activity suggestions to accompany each one and the corresponding page from our CardEd Workbooks, aimed at proficient readers and EAL learners. The mix of tasks and levelled activities means you can use them with all the family, finding something to suit all. Downloading our CardEd Activity Guide will give you even more ideas for getting use out of your cards.

• This week, I have also added some Movement Games and Activities your children may enjoy.

• If your children are of mixed ages, all can listen as you (or an older child) read these fairytales. Have older ones explain the story in their own words to younger siblings (this will indicate their level of comprehension). Each can then draw pictures – younger children completing a general drawing while older ones address specifically the set drawing task before completing the vocabulary, grammar and punctuation tasks.

• Problem-solving in mathematics is a crucial skill. I recommend choosing a challenge from either Transum or NRICH that siblings can work on together. This task, for example, encourages investigation and can be undertaken by children across a span of ages.

• As we are living through such a critical time in history, how about creating a time capsule of this time? Have children think of a list of things to include to mark these days and weeks. Some suggestions: photographs, newspaper articles (try Breaking News English for levelled articles that are related to the theme but aren’t frightening), a advisory poster (perhaps on hand-washing), a personal profile of each child now, and a letter to their future selves. What good ideas for a time capsule can your child share with me?

 

I hope this blog has been helpful in providing some ideas that will work for your family. As always, I am here to answer specific questions related to primary teaching and learning and to point you in the way of helpful resources.

 

 

Sign up to our blog so that you never miss a post.

 

Take care and stay safe all!

 

Get your FREE resources: 

Timetable

Week of CardEd activities

Movement Games and Activities

 

 

Image Source: Pixabay