How is everyone doing with the school year so far? I think no matter what your situation is you’ve struggled with something during the 2020 school year already. On-site learning, distance learning, a hybrid model, homeschool, virtual learning… it’s enough to make you want to wish you could ignore it and hibernate until spring. Our family has been fortunate—we were already used to learning at home. Still, we’ve struggled with adjusting from homeschool to distance and virtual learning ourselves. And I know many parents and kids are having a hard time getting used to these changes. Today I wanted to share some tips for homeschool that can help you get through the day… because we all struggle sometimes.

5 homeschool tips

change locations

I’m all for routine and structure but sometimes you need to switch things up. This can be as simple as moving your homeschool room outdoors while the weather is nice. Have your science lesson outsidein the yard. Enjoy your reading time snuggled up on the couch. Take your math lesson out to the driveway with some sidewalk chalk.

field trip fun

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the flexibility to go on field trips! These field trips don’t have to cost a lot of money either, most of our favorite field trips don’t cost a dime. One of my biggest tips for homeschool is to rethink field trips. The park is a great place for science class or a P.E. outing. We love visiting some of our local state parks for history lessons. Even the grocery store can be a field trip for math if you get your kids involved in the shopping. If you’ve had a hard week then plan to take a day “off” and learn through a field trip!

| Check out these field trip locations in northern California! |

introduce home ec

I’m guessing you’ve had plenty of times when you’ve wondered, “Why don’t they teach XYZ in school?!” Well, now is your chance to change that! If you feel like household duties are on the backburner because you’re spending all your time homeschooling then introduce some home economics lessons. Cooking and baking are great real-world applications for science and mathematics. Life skills like laundry and cleaning are important for teaching responsibility. Outdoor chores like mowing or raking can be a nice change for P.E..

have them teach you 

One of the best ways to learn is to teach someone else. Even I find that teaching my kids something helps reinforce topics I already knew. Some kids really enjoy taking more ownership of their learning too rather than just being lectured to constantly. For older kids you can give them a topic and have them research it, then teach you via a presentation. Bonus–this is great for public speaking skills too! For younger learners teach them something and then have them teach it back to you. That way you’re also checking to make sure they really understand.

| Check out some of my homeschool recommendations here! |

offer incentives

Some people call them bribes, but I like to call them incentives. Hey–the world runs on incentives (I mean, would you go to work if you weren’t being pad, probably not) so why not offer them to your kids once in awhile? Something as simple as, “We can have ice cream for dessert tonight if you have a good school day” can make a world of difference in behavior! I find that these work especially well on my 10 year old. Whether it’s his age or just his personality, offering an incentive is almost a guarantee that he’ll have a good learning day staying focused and on task.

Are your kids learning differently this year? Do you have any virtual learning or homeschool tips to share?

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