Nanny to Mommy

Homeschooling while you work from home can be difficult to say the least. Even if you have kids who are fairly independent, you may find that it’s still a struggle to get everything done. If you want to make sure that you are able to give your kids the best experience while also taking care of your work-related duties, then this is the guide for you.

As your kids stay home for the summer holidays, they are bound to miss out on new information and skills. They may end up losing up to a whole semester of reading skills and mathematical skills from their school year. Therefore, it's up to you to ensure that they keep acquiring new skills or at least retain the ones they've received.

If your kids genuinely dislike the school curriculum, they will transfer this resentment and frustration with their school to you. However, making your kids do homework or review flashcards repels them from the whole idea of learning. It would help develop fun and entertaining ways to deconstruct your kids' most challenging subjects subtly. For instance, math learning games can transform the attitude of one of your kids struggling with algebra or fractions.

Furthermore, your learning sessions should involve your children's extensive participation. If they participate in their daily routines, you won't have to worry about focus loss. Sometimes, treating your children with confidence in their judgement asserts their inner drive and competence. The following are some of the ways you can start with:

It should come as no surprise that online degree programs attract more students, as they provide many unique benefits to students, including a high degree of flexibility. Online courses give you the means to learn when, where, and how you want, making it easier to earn a degree while juggling work and family obligations.

Online learning also gives you access to top degree programs. Maybe you want to become a nurse, which would otherwise be inaccessible or inconvenient if you had to take classes in person.

There has never been a greater need for successful online learning strategies.

Homeschooling is an excellent option for parents who want more control over what they teach their children. Also, it’s healthier for the kids as they get to learn in a less formal environment with more one-to-one instruction. Still, not every mom or dad is cut out for the role. To be successful, you need to be an effective teacher. 

Making the transition isn’t a walk in the park, not if you don’t have any teaching experience. However, you have to catch on quickly, or else you run the risk of putting your children’s education in jeopardy, and that’s the opposite of what you want.

The issue is, it’s not as if you can take a one-day, intensive course. You need to learn over time, which makes the process more challenging. There will always be mistakes and small errors. The trick is to eliminate the big ones so that you do less damage along the way. 

Although it sounds straightforward, it’s very tough in the beginning as your new responsibility is intimidating. But, you needn’t worry too much since there are hacks that will allow you to make a smoother transition. Please continue reading to find out what they are and how you can leverage them as a homeschooling parent. 

If you have recently switched from schooling to homeschooling, the transition can be slow and difficult for your child and you, mostly when it was sudden. Although homeschooling has many benefits, such as a safer environment for your children and you get to spend more time with them, some children may take time to adapt to the new arrangement. How can you make the transition easier?

Look on the positive side of things, we don't have to spend a small fortune buying new school clothes. All jokes aside, I was honestly devastated when I heard the news that we would be starting "virtual learning until further notice" because my son doesn't do well with me teaching him. He needs his eager classmates and the guidance of someone who knows how to handle a child with a short attention span. But if this means that my child won't get this virus, then that is what I have to do and what needs to be done. So my back-to-school shopping guide has to look a lot different this year and that's okay. The thing that stinks is I still have supplies at my child's school from last semester.

This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com on behalf of The Quaker Oats Company.

As parents we already wear many hats, and if school closures taught us anything it is that we appreciate teachers more than ever before. If you are like me, then you are having to learn new ways to keep your kiddos entertained while making sure they stay engaged in school work at home. Without ideas and the virtual help from both of my kiddos' teachers, I don't think I would have had the capabilities to manage homeschooling.

There are so many ways to thank a teacher and Quaker sent us an awesome custom box of goodies so we could easily create something special for my children's teachers. This box was filled with Quaker Kids Organic Bites & Bars along with fun activities such as a DIY Wood Heart Frame, Thank You Note Kit & Stickers, and a t-shirt and paint. So, we were inspired to create an easy craft so our children's teachers will know they are appreciated.

When it comes to homeschooling, the whole world is thrust into a situation where we are all home educating the kids - whether we like it or not. Of course, plenty of parents choose to home educate naturally, but those who don't go for home education usually have to then make adjustments. It’s stressful, we’re not going to lie.

However, you can make home education fun. You can teach your kids without needing to sit them down and teach them a lesson: education is everywhere should they want to partake in it. You can learn with Science Videos online, craft paper and glue, running round the house on scavenger hunts - it’s all available for your kids! With that in mind, let’s take a look at how you can make home education fun.

Your child’s early development is important to focus on when it comes to giving them the best opportunities for later on in life. What you teach and influence in them right now will have an impact later on in their lives. There is plenty that you can do as a parent or guardian to make sure that your child is growing up to have the best start they possibly can in life, and when it comes to education. Here are some tips to help your child’s early development.

In recent months, more and more of us have had to dip our toe into the complex and complicated world of homeschooling. Now, more than ever, many of us who have taken for granted our public school teachers, college professors and daycare workers, truly understand and appreciate the hard work these professionals have invested in our children. For those of us who were already homeschooling our children, we’re heartened to know that now people truly understand the work and labor involved with educating children of all ages, abilities and talents.

If there’s any silver lining to practicing social-distancing, it’s that more of us have been given the gift of time with the children in our lives, and are able to have a direct hand in their education. For many of us, we’ve never been so hands-on when it came to our children’s daily lessons or homework. This experience is as rewarding as it is difficult.

If you’re still getting into the swing of things when it comes to your child’s remote learning - either because you’re getting used to requirements set forth by social distancing, or if you’re just new to the homeschooling thing and plan to keep doing it permanently - you may be wondering if there are any easy tricks or tips to help ease you and your child into this new situation. Luckily, there are. With educational technology ever on the rise, there are quite a few programs, platforms, apps and resources out there for parents who want to do remote learning at home.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Greg Landry's Homeschool Labs.

Students in Greg Landry’s online science classes have had a lot of questions about COVID-19 (by the way, this is not the name of the virus), and your children may also have questions. Greg has created a PDF to address the common questions and to give students an understanding of viruses in general, and this virus in particular...in a way that's fun for students.

This post is sponsored by College Prep Science. Copyright 2020 by Greg Landry.

As a mom who works at home and enjoys exploring supplemental education and hands-on learning with my children, I can appreciate tips from a veteran teacher. This post has great tips for an at-home science lab whether you homeschool or want to encourage to further your child's education out of a classroom setting. Thank you Greg for sharing your expertise.

I fell in love with science labs in college and graduate school. I loved being able to “see” the science happening rather than just reading about it. As a homeschool dad and former college professor, I'm passionate about teaching science, in particular, Christ-centered lab science to homeschooled students. But, I know that on average we don’t provide enough lab experience for our homeschooled students – often very little. And, for many of them, that puts them at a tremendous disadvantage going into college – and in understanding how science works.

If you’re a homeschool parent, may I offer a few homeschool science lab suggestions:

My elementary school aged daughter's school shared these math games with dice and cards to play at home and I thought I would share them with all of you. The title of the game is a link to the game instructions and other materials that may be needed to play. Have fun while brushing up on those math skills!

The awesome thing is that children are practicing their math skills without even realizing it!

My first thought when I heard that they were closing schools was, "How are those children that get free lunch going to eat?" Thankfully, my school district is still passing out lunches. I would still go and deliver peanut butter and jelly sandwiches if that is what needed to be done. My next thought was, "How are we going to educate our children?" My son gets IEP and so this was a major concern whether he was going to get behind or not. Thankfully I have resources like ABCmouse and RevolutionMath, but not everyone is so lucky.

I came across this list from Amazing Educational Resources Facebook Group so I thought I would share here as well so more people can find it. I do encourage you to follow that group for more. Just click on each link below to find out how to access their free program.

My son is in kindergarten this year and the 100th day of school is coming up. He was assigned a project to complete a shirt with 100 items on it. When my daughter was in kindergarten, they asked all the littles to dress as a 100-year-old. It was too cute. I like the idea of the shirt a little better from an educational aspect because it got my son to count in groups of ten. This helped him with his counting and with his small motor skills. Since I had a search party on Pinterest trying to find ideas of what to do for our "100 Day of School" Shirt, I thought I would share some of my favorites here and you can also check out our creation too!

These ideas are super easy and very affordable. I bought my shirt for a little over $2 at Michael's Craft Store. I will try and link any related items that are cheap from Amazon. I remember taking 100 pennies and pasting them to a piece of cardboard sitting in my grandmother's kitchen with my cousins. We lived with my grandmother for a little while when my mom went back to school. I remember it feeling like it was taking SO LONG to count to 100. That's why I suggest the 10 by 10 method. I also only included easy and inexpensive DIY ideas because the idea was to be a project that a preschooler or Kindergartener can handle. If it wasn't a project, then there are tons of handmade shirts made with Cricuts online too.

Being a stay-at-home mom, I like to learn anything I can about how to help my children further their education. Education is the most important thing to me and I am always looking for ways to help my children. I have recently found that podcasts are a great way to get information on topics you enjoy. I started listening to podcasts only last year. From self-help to comedy and more, there are so many options available. If you are like me and looking to help your children succeed whether through homeschool or with furthering their education from at-home help, then I have found an excellent resource for you to enjoy.
This post is sponsored by College Prep Science. Copyright 2020 by Greg Landry.

Former college professor, homeschool dad, and homeschool science pioneer, Greg Landry, has a new podcast specifically for homeschool moms – the Homeschool Mom’s Science Podcast. The purpose of this podcast to encourage, entertain, and equip homeschool moms to teach science (6th - 12th grade) and to make it interesting and enjoyable for students (and mom).

You’ll enjoy a familiar voice with science, stories, and humor every week – a new homeschool mom’s podcast available every Tuesday morning.