No one saw this coming… No one! However, we are here now and we have to make the most of it. I have been in education for the last 13 years and there is a term that is discussed at the start of every school year called summer slide. Summer slide is associated with the amount of learning that is lost during the summer because kids are not in school for about 8 weeks. Statistics show that on average up to 20% of a child's reading progress can be lost during this period and as high as 27% in math. With some states already declaring that school is unlikely to resume until August 2020, making the most out of this quarantine is going to be very critical to your child’s overall education.
While I’m sure that your kids' school is doing the best they can to make sure that you get online learning, let’s face it, nothing can replace a teacher. That is where you come in… For the foreseeable future you are now that teacher. In this blog post, I will go over a few things to consider as you work with your child, 3 strategies you can use to make learning fun and some ways to propel your child beyond the classroom. Ok, I would say let’s go! But we on lockdown so we ain’t going nowhere!
3 Things to Consider When Homeschooling Your Child During Quarantine
“If Johnny had 8 apples…”
1 - Be Patient
Yep, I laugh every time I see one of those “How Black Parents Do Homework” post on FaceBook or Instagram. I sure do, because it is so true. As you already know, raising your voice is not going to make them remember nor figure it out. It is going to make them do exactly what they do… Shutdown. No child wants to disappoint their parent so they clam up and say nothing. And what’s the next thing you say, “I know you know this!” Well, they might but consider this real fast… I once read about the rule of 15 hundred. It states that information must be encountered 15 hundred times before a person puts it into automation. Which means they can recall the information with little or no thought.
So you may have told them or they may have seen this soooo many times. But what if it’s only the 12 hundredth time they saw it? They have 3 hundred more times before they know it… Be patient. It would actually help if you gave them some genuine encouragement along the way. They will do a lot better with positivity than they would with a threatening voice. Give them time to process it and help them out if they appear stuck. It helps everyone if they feel like you are on their side. Be Patient.
2 - Consider their attention span
Have you ever noticed that every 8 - 12 minutes of a network TV Show there is a commercial break? That’s by design. Hold up, I got one better than that. Have you ever sat down to read a book and after about 2 pages you are already up doing something you forgot about or texting someone that just happened to cross your mind right now? Better yet, your mind has wandered off and you have to go back to what it was that you were reading because you didn’t grasp anything your eyes just ran across?
So imagine their brain that has been Tik Tok’d, Dubb Smash’d and Fort Nited… Yeah getting them to give their work their undivided attention is dead… It’s human nature for the mind to drift… So before you go HAM or kick your “student” out of “class” just remember it is hard for everyone to stay focused. Please don’t sit them with their work and expect it to be done. Engage them, have them read it out loud to you. Take turns reading paragraphs or sentences with them. Stop after about 3 paragraphs and talk about the information. If you don’t engage them during the process it’s going to be a struggle each and every day.
Now that we have established that no one has a really long attention span, employ the K.I.S. method. Keep It Simple. Students don’t need 30 problems. The concept can be learned in 5 problems. Do the first 2 problems with them and show them how it is done. Then allow them to do the next 3 on their own. Give them about 10 minutes to finish all 3 problems, that's about a little over 3 minutes per problem. Set your timer and go over the answers. Try to do it within 5 minutes. If they got it right - give them a little break. 15 - 20 minutes is enough of a break and go to the next activity.
3 - Create Consistency
Look on the school’s website and get their bell schedule. Children of all ages need structure (adults do too). Try to mimic your homeschool schedule around their school schedule. If they had English at 9:30 during school, try your best to have some type of reading material in front of them at 9:30 while they are at home. They will already be used to doing work at this time so try your best to create continuity.
The FUNdamentals of Learning - 3 Strategies to make Homeschool engaging
1 Get Back to The Basics
Whip out those flashcards! Yep, old School learning! If your child is still counting on their fingers or having to recite their multiplication table in their head to figure out what is 8 times 7… It’s flashcard time… Trust me your child’s teacher will thank you! I guarantee it. A lot of the time those FUNdamental skills that haven’t been mastered are the ones that slow down the learning process.
For language arts, get the sentence diagrams out. Write a sentence, have them underline the noun and circle the verb. If your child is in middle school. Have them underline the adjective and circle the preposition or prepositional phrase. I can hear some of y’all now, “I have forgot that myself!” Don’t worry, I am going to drop some links at the bottom and let you know how to inbox me if you need suggestions. The point is to have them working and conversating because learning is most effective when thinking and speaking is involved.
2 - Embrace the variety of learning styles
Get away from the boring paper and pencil learning. Truth be told, this method of learning is outdated and largely ineffective. Your child may be a visual learner, or an auditory learner, or a tactile learner - I can go on. Whatever your child's learning style is, embrace it. Here is a few strategies I use in my classroom that you can use at home particularly for reading:
Reader’s Theater - pick out a scene from the reading and act it out. This gets your child up and makes them physically connected to the reading.
Soundtrack - While they are reading have them develop a playlist of songs that would fit the story if it were a movie. Have them select the song and give a 1 to 2 sentence explanation to why they chose the song
Collage - This is self explanatory - so I hope you got some old magazines you don’t mind getting cut up… Have them explain how the collage relates to the story when they are done.
Draw a picture - also self explanatory - have them choose a scene or character, draw it and give you an explanation
I guarantee your child is going to be able to tell you much more about the story if they do any of these things because they FUN task gave the reading a purpose.
3 - Play games
Grab some construction paper and make a WWE championship belt or a NBA championship trophy if that is what your child is into. Your child may like a princess crown or a pageant sash. You know your child, create something they would love to be the "Homeschool Champion" of and make it. Tell them the goal of how much work has to be done and watch them go hard to win it.
Honestly, it doesn’t have to be that deep, give your son a pair of balled up socks and the laundry basket, each problem he gets correct he gets to take a shot, he gets it wrong, no shot… Watch the learning go up. Give your daughter some lipstick and make up that you don’t mind her playing in and give her a goal. She gets so many correct she can play for 10 minutes, she get this many correct she can play for 20 minutes… Make it fun, be creative…
Think big picture: 3 Final Points to Extend Learning Beyond this Quarantine and the Classroom
1 -Expose your child to coding and blockchain.
It’s time to think on the next level. With all this technology that is happening around us, from SmartTV’s, Virtual Reality Games, Self Driving Cars, etc… Ask yourself is your child’s school preparing them to operate technology or to write the code for the technology. Ok, I know the answer to that but I want you to think about that... Are we going to get in on that or be left out? Let’s just be real for a second, when you go into McDonald’s a touch screen is taking your order nowadays. That tells me that the customary minimum wage job is being replaced. We have to get ahead of the curve now. Get your child into some type of coding program. I’ll drop some links below to get you a head start but coding and blockchain technology are the future.
2 - Talk Finances
Hey it’s no shame if you don’t fully understand finances. But ask yourself do you want your kids dealing with the same troubles because you failed to learn this critical life skill? The earlier they learn the better they will be as an adult. I am not going to start preaching, in fact I will leave it right here but you know this is an uber important skill that will supersede anything they learn in the classroom.
3 - Embrace your child’s passion
Whatever your child is good at - have them working relentlessly at it now. Most of the ultra successful people you can name did not graduate (some didn’t even go) from college. I am not a proponent of every child should go to college. Every child should find their God given talent and find a way to profit from it. Start putting in the work, like yesterday. Have them work and work and work on their gift and in the end it will reward them… That is honestly the best use of their time during this quarantine.
Alright, I am off my soap box for now! Check out the links below for resources! Inbox me or email me if you would like to know more in depth strategies and things I use in my classroom that you can use at home!
Math Links
XP Math - Tons of Math Games that are Standard Aligned - Middle School Students
Mr. Nussbaum - Fun Math Games for Elementary School - 6th Grade Students
Purple Math - Upper Middle School & High School - Great Resource for Detailed Math Breakdowns
Reading & ELA Links
Read Theory - Amazing Website that assesses reading level and tailors work to student abilities
PBS Learning - Great content very in-depth multimedia platform
Coding Links
Hour of Code - Great resource put out under the Obama administration teaching kids to code
Yes We Code - The Initiative spearheaded by Prince to get Black Youth into coding
Black Girls Code - The name says it all! An all Black - All Girl Coding initiative
Alan Gaines has spent 13 years in the classroom. His teaching experience ranges from grades 5-12. He is the author of two books: Beautiful... Just the Way You Are and Flipping The Scripts: How To Reject Society's Narratives and Write Your Own Destiny. If you would like more Information and homeschool teaching tips leave a message in the comments.
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