Back to School When You Stay at Home

 

It’s back to school time!  This time of year brings excitement and change, and for many, anxiety – especially this year.  For many, this school year looks different – especially when you stay at home.  Whether you are new to homeschooling or a long-time homeschool family; whether you are schooling-at-home or truly – legally – homeschooling, there are a few areas we can look at to eliminate fear.  School-at-home and homeschooling mean different things to different people – and from locale to locale.  Be sure you understand which one you are doing and the legal requirements.  The first step in beating fear and anxiety (after prayer) is to turn on the lights – metaphorically speaking.

 

 

 

 

Change Your Mindset

 

One of the best ways to get excited about the new school year is to think of it differently.  Find things to celebrate and look forward to.  This will be our 15th year homeschooling, so we have a few traditions.  There are a few things we do for the first day to make it memorable.  We plan fun activities, like an obstacle course or a water fight (we’ve done water guns, balloons, or even sponges).   We have a special treat that the children are involved in making – this can be decorating store-bought cupcakes or cookies or making personal pizzas.  I also have some sort of surprise that the children know nothing about until that first day. I’ve picked up themed school supplies, a new board game, or a movie.  We mix traditions with a few surprises to make that first day of school great.  Some years I may start out pretending to be excited (fake it ’til you make it) but then it becomes more and more genuine as the day goes on.

 

 

Back-to-School Sales 

 

I love picking out office/school supplies.  Folders, notebooks, pens, planners, art supplies, nature sketchbooks, earbuds, and more!  Even if you are doing the majority of school online, your learners will still need paper and writing utensils.  My children always have a few spiral notebooks, it depends on their grade levels and subjects how many they need.  Even though we use CTC Math (an awesome online math curriculum), my children use a notebook to work through problems, showing their work so we can identify problem areas.  Your needs will depend on the curricula you are using and the ages of your children.  You may only need to take advantage of those socks and underwear sales (your children will appreciate not getting them at Christmas).  If you are using digital curricula that you will be printing notebook pages or lapbook elements for, be sure to stock up on printer paper and ink.  We bought an Epson Eco-Tank printer a couple of years ago that has been awesome.  It came with additional bottles of ink and we haven’t yet ordered any.  That still blows my mind!

 

 

 

 

 

School Room

 

What school room?  If you are facing doing school from home for the first time this year, this may be one of your biggest concerns. We have never had a dedicated space for doing school.  Over the years we have added more bookshelves (we really like our books!), but the actual space varies.  We have always done some part of schoolwork each day with all of the children gathered together.  When we had nursing babies or toddlers, this was frequently centered around the sofa in the family room.  Other years, trying to be more intentional, we all sat at the dining room table.  Whatever works for your family is going to be just fine, really.

What about when your children are working on their work independently?  We have two desktop computers that are used for schoolwork.  One is in the dining room, the other is in the family room.  We also have made use of Kindles, iPads, and Chromebooks at various times.  One daughter prefers to do her independent work in her room, on her bed.  Another prefers to use the dining room table, but is a night owl so doesn’t do much until after dinner.  We make use of bins or baskets to give each child a spot to keep their work and supplies together.  Then all they need can go with them – wherever that is.

What about the map on the wall and other educational posters?  I intentionally treat these as decor in our home.  This year, I’ll be adding these picture frames that let my children display their latest masterpiece – and switch them out easily.  No wall space or not a fan of educational decor?  There are many options to use folders or science fair boards to keep these portable (translation “put-away-able”).

 

 

 

 

Work at Home

 

Another area that may cause anxiety when thinking of the upcoming school year is your own work.  With your children at home, chances are you are now working from home, too.  How do you fit in your own computer time, quiet moments, and adult conversations?  I still have difficulty with that last one, but that says more about my personality than anything.  With a bit of planning ahead this can all be accomplished – without tears. You need a routine (maybe even a schedule, but routines are easier to start with).  Establish anchor points throughout your day, meals, online/live classes – the things that need to be kept at a fixed time.  Then you need to set aside time for your youngest/neediest children first.  They have the least self-control, and often will be happier once they have been fed (with food or attention).  This may mean that you are doing the majority of your work during nap time – especially if you will need to make calls or do meetings via zoom.

I do a lot of my work later in the day or at night.  When all of my children were young, we would cram our mornings with schoolwork and chores, dinner would be cooking in the crockpot, and the baby would be down for a nap.  This gave my children time to play and entertain themselves while I was in the same room working on the computer.  As they have grown and done more on their own, I have more time.  Now my biggest concern is finding a quiet spot when I need it.  Don’t feel guilty for needing some time behind a closed door, or encouraging them to play outside, or hiding in your car.  As long as they are in a safe environment and know that you are there if they truly need you for something, your children will do well to have this free time.

 

 

Everything Else

 

Okay, the school stuff feels doable, but what about all the other things I have going on in my life?  How do we get dinner on the table?  Meal planning has been key for our family.  Maybe freezer-cooking is better suited to your family.  We use our InstantPot several days a week.  We also have 4 teens, they are responsible for two meals a week (hello! home ec and life skills).

Laundry and other chores are broken into bite-size bits throughout the day and the week.  We believe our children should help in the keeping of the house.  As our children have grown, we have used various means of dividing up the tasks, but we have all taken part.  One of my favorite tools for this is Motivated Moms (use code WalkingFruitfully to save on an annual membership).  Instead of marathon cleaning sessions, I have a checklist to do a little bit each day.

 

Prayer and planning is key.  In my twenty years of marriage and parenting, this makes the biggest difference.  When I pray, then plan, then follow-through we have the most success.  That is not to say that we don’t tweak as needed, you need to make this way of life work for your family and (changing) needs.  But if you don’t have a plan to begin with, then you have nothing to tweak and customize.