Episode 77: Emergency Homeschooling Essentials

Have you found yourself in a sudden situation needing to homeschool? Whether it's Covid requirements or an intolerable public school situation, the basic essentials are all you may need to homeschool your child on short notice. In our Coop Q & A, we answer the question: What curriculum would work well for multiple grade levels, with a focus on read alouds, and a "school" time limit of about two hours per day?

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Scoop on the Coop

Mandi is now grandmother to a hamster! Her daughter has been passionate about caring for animals, so a big part of her education has been to learn on animal care and pet ownership. The whole family is loving this little hamster. Jessica got to work through some tough life lessons with her daughter when it comes to friendships, sharing passions, and compromising.

Homeschooling Essentials

If you find yourself in the situation of needing to pull your child from school and begin homeschooling, we have a list of essentials for you to focus on to make the transition easy

Administrative

  • Formally withdraw or unenroll your child before they are marked truant. Check out your state’s instructions for withdrawal from the public school

  • Learn your state’s requirement(s) for homeschooling to be sure you are compliant

  • HSLDA.org

Academic

Educational Resources - this is a very full category, and by no means exhaustive. You do not need curriculum immediately or even an educational plan, but perhaps you want some learning resources to tide you over during the transition into homeschooling

  • Online learning: documentaries (streaming resources), educational YouTube videos, educational apps

  • Library Access: abundant resource for learning! Let your child browse books for reading, find reference books for subjects of interest, or continue a subject they have been working on in school

Experiential

This category is a fantastic essential because it’s easy to accomplish. 

  • Museum

  • Beach/Park/Hike/Playground

  • Zoo

  • Roadtrip

  • Design a homeschool plan together over a tea party or at a favorite restaurant

  • SPEND TIME - give them you: your heart, your time, your humor.

Supplies & Things

This list is really dependent on what you find most critical, some are absolute basics and others are favorites of experienced homeschoolers who consider them essential

  • Writing tools - pencils, pens, paper, notebooks (nerd out on office supplies)

  • Art Supplies

  • Books of Interest - pleasure reading

  • Games - playing board games, card games and others highly educational and are great for providing fun learning during a transition period

Coop Q & A

Question: If you:

  • School multiple grades together (elementary)

  • Have a strong focus on read alouds

  • Hate workbooks

  • Spend less than 2 hours a day on school

What curriculum do you use?

Answer: Multiple! In our experience, this scenario describes many eclectic style homeschoolers who pick different curriculum for each subject that meet their requirements. Most out of the box curriculums will only meet one or two of these requirements. The best tool will be to research and ask other experienced homeschoolers!

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