What a year so far! And those of us with school age children may be reeling from the added title of “Teacher.” I know I need tips and tricks to keep my 1st grader interested in school so I reached out to other moms to find out what is working best for them.
How about you and your kids? Are y’all struggling with fitting school into your day?
Would you rather listen? Check out the podcast to this post.
This morning my 6 year old daughter cried and threw a fit for 20 minutes because I told her no Youtube and no TV at all until her class work was done.
I only planned 1 hour of class work for her based on the activities her teacher sent us.
She freaked out!
I tried reasoning – “you only have 1 hour of work, you used to go to school for 8 hours!”
That didn’t help. There is no reasoning with a 6 year old. At least, not with my 6 year old. *sigh*
Read on for tips and let’s hope they work on my kid!
Easy Tips for Homeschooling During the Covid-19 Pandemic from Real Moms
Game system is still only an hour during the week. He sleeps a lot still but must show me his work before playing game. -Demetria L.
Perfect idea for an older kid. My teens have been waking up and logging in to their Google classrooms but they are gaming A TON so I’d like to see their work complete before gaming begins.
6 year is motivated by pleasing her teacher and simple prizes like her teacher offered example 5 skittles for completing assignments or star stickers. The school just sent home a packet yesterday with 5 days of activities. -Amber C.
I know this mom is able to pick up packets from the school so I am guessing the teacher is sending home the prizes. Our school is doing everything online but I wonder if I can order some small prizes to keep my kid motivated. Will it work? I think it might!
I’m trying to space the day with breaks for a bit before the next set of work. -Andrea P.
Great idea leaving space in the day for breaks. I read one post from a mom who regularly home schools her children and she said you don’t need 8 hours of activities and learning, 1-2 hours a day is fine.
That really helped me because I’m still working full time and adding school work for 3 kids is stressful.
I put them all in separate areas, gave them each an hour of interrupted time to knock out as much as possible..and after that I just let them have the day. We make a list of everything Monday morning and just check items off as it’s completed, makes them feel a sense of instant accomplishment. -Nicole P.
I love this idea because like we just talked about 1 hour per day should be fine. And this mom also mentioned she’s not losing any sleep over this homework and that’s an attitude we can all use, no need to stress about this. We ALL have enough on our plate!
I also love her checklist idea and plan on using it with my kids too!
Establish a routine. If they eat breakfast and then do school work, and come to expect that is what the day will look like they will be more likely to do it. -Jennifer D.
I didn’t think about this! I can’t believe I didn’t think to establish a routine. Our life feels like a free for all right now so a routine is exactly what we need. So thankful for this tip! You think some things are common sense but nope – I hadn’t thought of this one yet!
Ps. Jennifer is a fellow blogger and has great resources about homeschooling.
- Helpful Advice for a New Homeschool Mom from a Veteran
- The Best Tips for Surviving Quarantine with Your Kids
- Yes! You really can Homeschool Bravely!
I take away phones/electronics until their assignments are done. They can only have music playing. It’s been a struggle! -Samantha M.
I had to do the same thing with my youngest. No electronics until assignments are done. And I will probably have to do the same thing with my teens too. Glad to know I’m not the only one struggling over here!
If you have tips to share with us, please share in the comments!
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