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Apr 20, 2020

How to Survive Your Child’s Schoolwork While Working From Home

Dan Rose, Content Creator at SkillPath

Most of you are working from home for the foreseeable future and trying to stay productive for work without going crazy with cabin fever. Making this isolation even harder, UNESCO estimates that there are nearly 1.6 billion children worldwide that are currently not in school. And no … they’re not all living in your apartment. It just feels that way.

Here in the US, there are about 55.1 million kids home from school which means tens of millions of parents are now de facto elementary, middle school and high school counselors and instructors. Judging by millions of stressed-out social media posts I see online, it seems like some of you have entered into a world for which you are woefully unprepared: the life of an American schoolteacher.

This is a whole new kind of stress

Sure, giving a big presentation to a client at work is a snap and you can do it standing on your head. But helping little Timmy with his Common Core math worksheet has you on Google in tears trying to figure it out.

For all of you who are getting too stressed out with the kids and their schoolwork, here are some tips to help ALL of you relax:

1. Take a deep breath and chill …

Hey, we’re all just trying to do the best we can right now, and nobody expects you to be Superman or Wonder Woman. It’s a scary time for everyone whether it’s about COVID-19, loss of jobs, the loss of normalcy and your kids are feeling it just like you are. If you haven’t had a talk with your child about the coronavirus and all the fallout — including if anyone in the family has lost a job — try and talk about it.

Just like you and your staff at work, knowing is always better than not knowing, even when the news is bad. At best, school won’t likely start again until the fall and your children cannot go for six months without it. Here’s advice from a teacher on how to stay calm and focus. For your kids, The meditation app, Calm, includes three meditations aimed at kids age seven and up.

2. Keep in contact with the teacher(s)

I was married to a teacher for 31 years and I know one thing … teachers love strong lines of communication with parents just as much as employees do with their leadership. Don’t hesitate to reach out to the teacher when you need help or are feeling stressed. The teacher can help you as much as they help your child. Undoubtedly, the teacher or their school will have resources for you designed specifically around the curriculum your kids are studying.

3. You can’t replicate school so don’t try

Homeschooling is more organic than your typical brick and mortar school so don’t expect your child to sit for long amounts of time doing schoolwork. Instead, chunk it out. A great goal might be four hours of academics a day. And, even those four hours can be split up, depending on the child.

Also, learning can happen anywhere. For instance, teach your kids math while at the grocery store and have them keep track of the bill as you shop with a calculator. If they aren’t allowed in the store during the pandemic — or you don’t feel safe taking them — use the grocery receipt to give them real-life math problems at home. (“OK Susie, what percent of the total grocery bill did mommy spend on wine today?”)

Stanford’s Dean of School of Education, Denise Pope, says to adopt the “PDF” mantra, which stands for Playtime, Downtime, and Family time.

“Research on protective factors for teens shows that engaging in PDF every day can support better mental and physical health,” Pope said. “Playtime for teens means unstructured time for social interactions and playing informal sports, games, and other activities for fun. Structured extracurricular activities are great and can lead to positive development, but kids also need time for unstructured play, as well as downtime where they can relax and rejuvenate, and time with family.”

Pope recommends children spend at least 20 minutes a day where they are eating together or engaging with the family at home.

4. Give them structure and routine

While these past few weeks have felt nothing like school, you can still adopt one aspect from school to use in your home: structure. Children want to know what to expect every day, so experts advise to build a routine and stick with it. Here are some CDC tips for building structure with children.

Children should ideally sleep and wake up at the same time every day. For instance, their morning could consist of a routine like breakfast, getting dressed and ready for the day, making their beds and doing a morning chore. Also important is to have a consistent place where they can sit and do their work. Most importantly, they need to understand that even if they aren’t physically in the school building, Monday through Friday is school time.

5. It's OK to let them “play” with fun apps and websites

Don’t feel guilty handing children a gadget for an hour or two — especially if you’ve got a Zoom department meeting in 20 minutes. Here are a few fun things you can use to give your kids a break from school while allowing you to work. The beauty is … they’ll learn stuff too:

Younger students can practice their fine motor skills by authoring and publishing books on www.mystorybook.com. Students can draw, add text and backgrounds with very little parental supervision.
Outschool connects teachers to kids for small video conference classes. Topics are far-ranging and fun (Shakespearian insults!), imaginative (fashion design through the ages), familiar (Harry Potter-themed chemistry), educational (fractions), and discussion-worthy (the sociology of Disney villains), and there’s something for pretty much everyone.
Check out a list of documentaries for students and families from Common Sense. It will be infinitely more informative and fun than another episode of Rick and Morty.
Typing Club Is it fun? Maybe … maybe not. But it’s unquestionably a valuable life skill. They have a special offer now for Covid-19.
238 activities for kids from the RealPlay Coalition You’re welcome, Mom.
Raddish Kids, the kids culinary subscription kit, was giving away 10,000 free cooking kits to families as a way to make the most of their quarantine. Cultivate the next Gordon Ramsey (without the temper)

Students K-12 can register for a variety of academic websites that complements the work they.m did in school:

The website, IXL, is one of the most inclusive sites for all grade levels, and it measures student progress. Like many websites, it’s offering a 30-day free trial.
Khan Academy is a popular and free online site that provides structured learning schedule to students in all subjects.

If your child of any age is able to focus on math and reading for two hours a day, that’s a great start. It will keep their minds sharp so they don’t lose what they learned in the last year.

5. Read a lot. Then read some more

If you’re overwhelmed as a parent and you just can’t add anything more to your plate, focus your effort on your child’s reading. Educators stress that if all your child can do is to read an hour a day, it’s much better than nothing. Try to get them to read for 20 minutes on their own each day, but you can also read aloud to them if they’re a certain age.

Try to have them tackle books that are a little difficult and it never hurts to aim slightly above their grade level. You are demonstrating what good reading is, and they are picking up on so many things even when you’re reading to them. And dads … don’t leave this to moms alone. This is a fantastic opportunity for bonding with your kids. Plus, it gives mom time for herself. And when mama is happy … well, you know the rest.

Here are some fantastic reading and writing resources:

Primary/elementary school

Epic is a digital library for students 12 and under with books, learning, videos, and quizzes.

Spelling City helps kids build their vocabulary for grades 1-6 (reception to Y5). It’s ad-free, but not free to use.

OxfordOwl is a free e-book library for ages 3-11.

Middle school

Best Middle School Books, As Chosen by Teachers Exactly what it sounds like ... a list of teacher-selected, enriching books (mostly novels).

US common core middle school books Approximately 40 books for middle-school readers, in genres including novels, memoirs, poetry, and historical nonfiction.

For teens

The New York Times Learning Network has free writing prompts (log-in required) for students 13 and up and guidance for creating meaningful student projects in response to the crisis.

A teacher-created list of 100 books high school students should read before graduating. I looked at the list and thought it was fantastic. It mixes some lighter stuff in with the classics.

Mathematics

Primary/elementary school:

Dreambox Has 2,000 math lessons for K-8 (Y1-Y9). It’s an adaptive platform that users would usually have to pay for but you can sign up for a 90-day free trial here.

Hit the Button Interactive math games for ages 6-11 with quick-fire questions on everything from number bonds to multiplying and dividing. Kids love the race!

Cool Math 4 Kids Kindergarten to sixth grade (Y1-Y7) math games by topic (addition, fractions, etc.) or by grade.

Marble Math Solve math problems by collecting numbers while moving a marble through a series of mazes. In the Apple store. Very addictive.

Bedtime Math Offers off-screen, fun activities to engage kids in building numeracy in ways that don’t feel like school, aimed at kids aged 3-9. (They also have iOS and Android apps.)

Science

Mysterydoug.com Five-minute inquiries used to start the day, take a break, or spark curiosity, with prompts like “Can turtles live outside their shells?” and “Why are rubies red?” Doug is a former elementary school teacher who guides questions, uses visuals, and asks questions. “There are mysteries all around us. Have fun and stay curious.” Doug for President 2020!

Kids.nationalgeographic.com There’s “discovery” about animals, science, history, and geography, then games with fun quizzes by topic (like dinosaurs, comets, and meteors). But a real gem is “Primary Resources” which are learning materials by topic (history, science, geography, math, art and design, and PSHE, or personal social, health and economic education, which is a subject in the UK). Registration is free and you can access topics within each (science: humans, plants, evolution; geography, places, water cycle, history, Aztecs).

Frontiers for Young Minds Innovation at its best. Distinguished scientists write about their cutting-edge discoveries in accessible language for young readers, and then kids—with the help of “science mentors”—provide feedback and help the authors improve the articles before publication. Topics include new cutting-edge research (new discovery) or core concepts, key ideas that are fundamental for understanding a scientific field. Includes astronomy and space science, biodiversity, health, neuroscience.

Skype a Scientist This usually matches scientists with classrooms, but there’s a sign-up for families too. One of our colleagues says her 7-year-old son just learned about fossils from participating in this program.

YouTube channels for science and computing:

GEOgraphy Focus Maps, country descriptions, flags, and more.

Crash Course Kids Fifth grade science made cool.

Free School Short videos about art, classical music, children’s literature, and natural science.

SciShow Kids For younger kids (3-7) on everything from coral reefs and why is fire hot, to how to say goodbye.

TheBrainScoop Emily Grassley, the chief curiosity correspondent for the Field Museum in Chicago, shares the work and research of natural history museums with the world.

SciShow The secrets to what makes the universe tick.

Science Max Science experiments at home.

Geek Gurl Diaries Carrie Anne is a self-described geek, and this is her collection of video logs about using and making technology, along with interviews with inspirational women in the fields of computing, science, technology, and engineering. Learn about “adventures in Raspberry Pi” or how to program Python.

Mike Likes Science Math and science raps (“you have two points on a line; you need an equation but it slipped your mind; slope-intercept is what you need; y=mx+b”). Not exactly Kendrick Lamar, but still pretty fun.

Languages

Duolingo’s motto is “Learn a language forever. Free.”

Babbel is free for students for three months this spring.

Busuu provides free online language classes for kids affected by school closure, taught by expert teachers. Teachers have started offering classes online, such as these instructional YouTube videos in English and Spanish.

Art

Lunch doodles with Mo Willems An award-winning children’s book illustrator invites kids to draw along with him daily at 1 pm ET on YouTube.

DIY.org This site is packed with creative projects, videos on photography, drawing, animation, and music.

UPDATED: Some content updated November 28, 2020. If any links are n longer working, please let me know by emailing drose@skillpath.com.

Hey, it’s not just your kids that need to keep their skills sharp. Are you looking for world-class business training to keep YOUR skills sharp? Gain access to great resources by joining STAR12. Members receive a full year of live and virtual instructor-led training, unlimited webinars, curriculum-based eLearning courses and more!

Dan Rose

Content Creator at SkillPath

Dan Rose is a content creator at SkillPath who uses his experience from a 30-year writing career to focus on timely events that impact today’s business world.