Simulating a School Schedule

Fake It ‘Til You Make It

• What: Simulating a school schedule
• When: School is not in session
• Why: Keeps kids learning
• Where: At home

Staring down the barrel of more than six weeks without school during the normally scheduled school year, we’ve made our first stab at homeschooling. We use the kids’ normal school schedule as a guide, and make adjustments where necessary so the schedule works better for all of us. For instance, during gathering time, we are all pretty much gathered, so that doesn’t leave much for us to do without other people.

Our schedule looks like this:

• 10:00 Spelling word practice
• 10:15 Journal/Writing Prompt
• 10:30 Gathering/Upload photos and videos to share
• 10:45 Record snow, sunrise, and sunset
• 11:00 Story time
• 11:15 Math
• 12:00 Lunch
• 12:30 Read out loud to kids
• 1:15 Choice time (art, puzzle, game, or building project)
• 2:00 Quiet reading time individually
• 2:30 Outdoor time

We’ve tried to substitute computer time with classmates for extra social interactions. We’ve also started uploading photos and videos to share online with classmates.

Luckily for us, our teachers sent home packets of work tailored to each kid. Of course, no one saw the dramatic length of school closures, so we don’t have a ton of work pre-selected. As a result, my kids do about two worksheets of math a day, just to make what they have last. I’ve also collected some materials around the house to use for math and reading activities and ordered more workbooks. We got lucky, and get e-books to read out loud, and have lots of projects in general for choice time. For outdoor time, we focus on biking and skating and lots of running to help offset all the indoor time. For us, going out once a day for a longer period of time works better, but some kids need smaller breaks and more changes of scenery. Do what works best for your family.