Homeschooling tips & tricks

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one whose heart dropped when we were all told once again that schools are closed the first time, but now being told we’re probably not going to be ironing the school uniforms until 8th March, well my heart did sink a little. Juggling working from home and homeschooling can sometimes feel impossible.

I heard a doctor on the news this morning say that ‘everyone has different loads on their boat, and how you can cope with that load is definitely the challenge’ which is a great analogy! When I am feeling overwhelmed by all of this I try to remember to take a step back and breathe, “I am lucky, I am blessed.”

Here are some of the things I am finding super helpful to keep us all motivated and working well together.


Structure & Routine

Having a routine is key for all of us, it’s important that everyone knows what is happening and when. We try to start the “school” day early, 1) because this is what the normal school day is like and 2) because it is very difficult to motivate children to start doing their work if they’ve spent the morning watching TV.

We also try to keep a good balance between work and play by making sure we break our day into manageable chunks following the break times they’d normally get at school. It’s also OK to mix up the routine from time to time, there’s more to school than work, work, work and there is no use panicking over grades and homework all of the time!

Get Outdoors

On a normal school day children would be outside during their breaks and lunchtimes so it’s important to do the same at home, it’s a great way for them to burn off energy and it’s been proven that fresh air helps with concentration (not to mention it’s a great re-set for me too!) We make sure we get outside for some fresh air and exercise at least once a day by going for a walk or having a game of football in the garden, the boys also lift weights every day. This just keeps everyone on their game and motivated for the afternoon. 

Support

This must all be difficult for our children too, so it’s important to show our support, praise them for how well they’re doing and stay positive! 

I must admit my three boys are great; they just get on with it and are great at managing their own time so I can just leave them to it. Daisy needs a bit more encouragement and support, but she is also doing great, she reads to my mum on Facetime every evening which is really lovely for both of them!

We also make sure to have dinner together in the evening where we can all share what we have done during the day and what we have learnt.

Online Resources

We are incredibly lucky to have hundreds of resources online to help us, this would have been 1 million times harder if we didn’t have the internet! 

Here are some great resources which I hope you will find helpful.

  • BBC Bitesize – this is a fantastic website that covers all ages (3-16+) with tons of stuff to help with homework, revision and learning. They cover all subjects at all levels providing free videos, step-by-step guides, activities and quizzes.
  • Tate Kids – this is aimed more at younger children but offers loads of different arts and craft activities, games and quizzes that are really fun and a great way to get the creative juices flowing, children can even share their work with other children around the world in the gallery.
  • Oak National Academy offers nearly 10,000 online lessons and activities to cover all of the main subjects from reception through to year 11.
  • Or for something a bit more exciting why not take a trip to the zoo with virtual tours around London Zoo

I hope this has been helpful to everyone in some way! Just remember this is not forever and we will all get through this together!