5 Ways to Approach Homeschooling During the Coronavirus Quarantine

A whole lot has changed in the last few weeks with the emergence of the coronavirus in the United States and it does not appear that it is going to change back anytime soon. The upper respiratory disease began in China and originally only affected animals. However, the coronavirus is now attacking humans and has spread all over the globe.

Coronavirus Quarantine

Governments around the world have been issuing demands to have their citizens quarantine themselves at home unless they work an “essential” job that could benefit society during these troubling times. The quarantine is in effect as a way to slow down the spread of this disease. It appears the quarantining of citizens has worked in China so hopefully, it will work in all regions.

Parents, Don’t Let This Time Go to Waste

If you can remember the line from the famous novel The Tale of Two Cities, then you should be able to recognize how it might correspond with today’s society battling the coronavirus.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…”

You may be wondering how this quarantine could be considered “the best of times”. However, as a parent, what other time in your life may you have where you are going to be around your children for the next few weeks to even months without work or school keeping you apart? The amount of family time on your hands during this quarantine will probably never be equaled.

Take Advantage of This Time Together

As you and your children get even better acquainted, now is the perfect time to improve upon anything they are struggling with academically or any topic they simply want to know more about.

During the quarantine, it is a good idea to keep the structure in the household. You can manage this and help your children keep up with their school work at the same time. Here are five ways to approach homeschooling during the next few months.

Have a Schedule

Children like to have an idea about what is coming up next in school. As a classroom teacher, I always made sure I had the day’s itinerary on the front board by the time the students walked in first thing in the morning. You should attempt to do the same each day.

To simplify it, you could teach Reading and Writing from 9 am to 11 am every day and then tackle Math from noon to 1 pm. You can also mix in other subjects such as History and Geography as well when you see fit.

Borrow the Textbooks From the Classroom Teacher

Your child’s classroom teacher will probably be perfectly fine with letting you borrow textbooks from the class so you know exactly what you are to teach your children during the quarantine. However, use your own ideas also. You don’t have to stick to just what is in the textbook. I’ll be the first to admit, I only used classroom textbooks maybe 30 percent of the time. I’d check out what they wanted the students to learn and then often present it in my own way. You can do the same if you are comfortable with that.

Take Virtual Field Trips

With the quarantine in full swing, you are not supposed to leave the house unless really needed. Because of this, all of your field trips during the quarantine should be virtual. Luckily, there are countless virtual field trips you can take with your children. If you wanted, you could even examine Google Maps with them so they know exactly the location of the place they are “visiting”.

Video Conference with Guest Instructors

With all the video chat apps available, the quarantine is the perfect time to put them to use. How excited will your children be to have their aunts, uncles, grandparents, and older cousins be guest instructors and teach them for an hour or so here and there in the subject of their choice?

In addition, we at iAchieve could help as well. We have expert tutors that could video conference with your children for all subjects and all ages. We understand that many parents may not feel comfortable teaching their children all subjects, so let us lend a hand!

Think Outside the “Normal” Subjects

Now is the perfect time to teach your children more than just the five or so subjects they learn about every day. Educate them on Art, Music, Technology, and even Life Skills. You can give your children a cooking lesson so they know their way around the kitchen. You may bring your older children out to the garage and finally show them how to change a tire or the oil. Teach them about the music you listened to when you were their age through YouTube.

Prevent the “Summer” Learning Loss

The dreaded summer learning loss is a real thing. Teachers see it at the beginning of every school year. The kids that didn’t pick up a book during those summer months usually start the next school year behind in most subjects and they are constantly trying to play catch up during those first few weeks.

Now if this quarantine lasts right up until summer vacation, your children will have gone about six months without being in a school classroom. If you don’t take responsibility for educating them during this time, then they will fall way behind by the time school actually does start back up in August. If this happens, you will only have yourself to blame.

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