At home education

[kfili]

Im a teacher (with particular views on public education- although since that is my employer I'll stay relatively quiet) but make sure you spend some time specifically taking about taking personal responsibility. As I've read through the thread a lot of the things being taught will have that interwoven but go ahead and address it. Help them learn they are incredibly capable of controlling their future when they take responsibility in any of their given actions. It will open so many doors for them.

 

[bojangles808]

Looks like our kids are probably out for the year. The assignments for them have been rolling in from each teacher in massive quantities. It’s taking us 6-8 hours a day just to keep up


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are the assignments optional or ungraded? in our district all our assignments for kids right now online are optional, the verbiage we are using is we are providing learning enrichment opportunities, ungraded. problem is we get a huge range of kids who are struggling to get anything done (caring for siblings, no access to tech etc) to kids who are overacheivers and parents want more more more. It's tough to try and meet everyone's needs, I would reach out to teachers or admin if you are struggling. It wouldn't hurt to ask, its uncharted territory for everyone so they might just not know they are dumping too much on your plate. or if it's optional I would prioritize subjects your kids are struggling in along with some real world projects at home or cooking, some of the activities in here etc

 

[WCB]

are the assignments optional or ungraded? in our district all our assignments for kids right now online are optional, the verbiage we are using is we are providing learning enrichment opportunities, ungraded. problem is we get a huge range of kids who are struggling to get anything done (caring for siblings, no access to tech etc) to kids who are overacheivers and parents want more more more. It's tough to try and meet everyone's needs, I would reach out to teachers or admin if you are struggling. It wouldn't hurt to ask, its uncharted territory for everyone so they might just not know they are dumping too much on your plate. or if it's optional I would prioritize subjects your kids are struggling in along with some real world projects at home or cooking, some of the activities in here etc

My wife is a teacher and I agree...contact the teachers. I know the district my wife teaches in is allowing each school to do their own planning. They have scheduled approximately 4hrs of work for each student per day including all classes...including a 30min physical fitness assignment. She spoke with a parent that is trying really hard and said it took her daughter 6 hrs...my wife told her absolutely not. spend 35-40 minutes on something and move on. my wife told her 4hrs is tops amount of time to spend working. They are being "graded" and are doing online testing every 2 weeks i think. Very basic and basically to make sure kids are doing something with the assignments.

I know for students who are struggling my wife and other teachers are tutoring through on line face to face apps with individual students. Some teachers are helping students that aren't theirs and even in a different grade.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

I think setting up a rube goldberg machine could be fun and educational. You could incorporate lots of lessons in a fun way that will engage a kid.

Spring time is perfect for teaching some gardening skills and the science behind it. My almost 3 year old has loved watching the seedlings sprout every day. My 1 year old likes to eat the dirt. There is something for everyone.

 

[Dapper]

One of the early computer games was called "Lemonade Stand". Where you would buy supplies according to a long range weather forecast, set your prices and the computer would play out the results. You would reorder supplies, adjust prices, etc. Kind of a business learning game. I wanted to create a learning experience such as that for my two boys. We have a big back yard, so we set up a garden. Divided it in half. Money was done on paper. I rented them each half of the garden, there supplies (seeds/plants) they bought with credit. We supplied them with a list of vegetables that we'd buy from them at what price. There was a catch where they couldn't all grow tomatoes, it had to be a variety. It was like a farmer renting land and then making a profit from the lease. They had to do all the work (except I tilled the area) and it was set up so they profited from their work and we didn't go broke. When they supplied us with the vegetable, most of the money was deducted from their bill and a little was put into their pocket.
One got tired of the work and sub-leased to his brother. Did they learn anything, I don't know. But they both are college graduates and from business schools.