What
is “Transitional Homeschooling”? It is
the type of homeschooling you do, anytime your life is in transition. I can think of several times..
-Moving
-
New baby
-Caring
for a chronically ill child
-You
or your husband have a chronic illness
-
Caring for an aging parent.
-
Job changes- schedule changes
I
am sure there are many other reasons, but this is a fairly good sample of
possibilities.
It
all begins well.. at the beginning!
Why
are you homeschooling?
This
answer will be different for each family. For me some of the reasons we have
homeschooled, is to instill a love for God , a love of learning and a love for family. I want my children to grow up
seeking knowledge, having the tools in their tool belts to learn what they need
learn as they face life’s adventures.
How
you handle your transitional homeschooling will entirely be based on how you
answered that question. There is NO WRONG ANSWER!
Once
you have looked at the goals of your homeschool
and depending on the age of your children, transitional homeschooling
can actually be very freeing. Generally during transitions, you will find that you strip down the fluff and stick to the basics.
Our family happens to be a family that loves field trips and hands on activities, but truth
be told, when you are struggling through a transition, these are not the best
years for learning in that fashion.
In our 13 year homeschool career, we have gone through many transitions.
Our
Transitions
In
our home we have dealt with….
~
A Chronically Ill Child
~
My Father Battled Cancer and Passed Away
~
My husband lost his job
~
I am now currently working outside the home
~
I currently have children at home, in school and in college..
In
all honesty.. I think we have been homeschooling through transitions.. our
whole homeschool career!
Depending
on the Transition… your game plan will be different!
Prayer
Before
we go any further… whether you are going through a transition or not, you must
bathe your homeschool in prayer. However, it is especially important that you
seek the Lord’s face when you are facing transition, to ensure that you are not
making rushed, emotional decisions.
The
Transition is the Lesson
Before
we get into the nuts and bolts of still ‘schooling’ through the transition, I
encourage you to look at the transition as the lesson. No matter what the
transition is, there are life lessons that are sure to be learned during it.
It’s
okay to take a break from academics. This is real life! Sometimes- life really
is the lesson!
New
Baby- caring for sick child- sick parent- or you are sick- moving… these are times when you can
consider making the transition itself can be the lesson. It will be a passing
transition, and the life lessons that can be learned here are great.
When
you are caring for an aging or dying parent, or even in my case, where I was
simply making my dad a priority, you are teaching your children a wonderful
lesson. Compassion. Prioirtizing. Putting what’s first, first. I am so thankful
that when my father was battling cancer, that I was able to have the time to
spend with him, without worry of a ‘school’ schedule. Sure academically, it was
not our most productive. But rather than feeling behind, we picked up where we
left off. We worked and played, and spent time with the person we loved so much. Even
though they were small, they were seeing all of this.
Another
thing to remember is when you are dealing with stressful transitions, your
children feel the stress, and they feel your stress. And during times like
this, you cannot expect them to have the best school year of their life. For
some of these situations, getting through, is half the battle.
Schooling
I
remember focusing on bible time and prayer, because I needed it so much, and so
did the kids. Academically, we concentrated on reading, when we did do our
work. And then we supplemented with audio/video learning that could either be
done in the car, or while I was working on something else.
HELP
Learn
to at minimum accept help when it is offered… perhaps even get comfortable
asking for help.
Classes
Are
there classes that are taught by your homeschool group/ co-op that you can take
advantage of during the crisis?
Friends
Is
there a good friend who homeschools their kids, willing to take you child under
their wing for a subject or two? Are
there friends, or kids of friends, that can come clean your house, or do yard
work, so you can focus on the important things.
Take
a look at what you have been covering.
Find
resources that can help you teach those subjects.
When
you have wee ones in the home, I would recommend lots of reading.. on the
couch, or in the bed, read together as a family. If
you have readers.. all the way through high school, this may be a way that your older kids can help with the
little ones… sharing the reading
responsibilities, have them help out with helping the little ones learn
their reading as well.
Watching
educational videos, lots of discussion.. you can watch a movie/documentary,
have them write about, or dictate, or draw what they learned..
Now, when your children are older, in junior high
and high school, (feeling like you don’t
have the time to take off) you will want to give them, perhaps, a more
traditional type of education, even if that is not what you are typically used
to. During transitions, it is not the time to rethink the wheel. You are going
to want to look for something, laid out for you.. that they can independently
work on their own, with minimal help from you.
Nuts and Bolts of
Transitional Homeschooling
Take a day, or a weekend, and plan what you and your children are going to cover. All those grand ideas you have in your head will better serve your family, once they are on paper.. or in a planner of sorts!
There is a saying, what gets planned, gets done! This will also help the kids know what's on the agenda, in an otherwise, perhaps stressful time!
Use
workbooks for the basics.. to keep their math skills intact.. and handwriting
or vocabulary, whatever basic skills you want them to keep working on, get them
some workbooks to keep working on..
For
grades 3 and up, there is Switched on
Schoolhouse. You can spend an afternoon or weekend to get all set up and
then have them continue working pretty independently.
MathTutor
DVD – now this
has helped us all along, even when not in transition, however, this is a great
tool, when mom’s time is limited. These DVD’s can help your student by coaching
them through their math. Now, this is not designed to go along with one
particular curriculum, it will strictly teach the concepts.
At our local mom's night last night, one of our mom's, (Thanks, Gina!) reminded us how helpful Teaching Textbooks is. You can learn more about them by visiting their website..
Los
Angeles County Library One on One Live Tutoring – if you have a LA County
Library card you can use this service! Live tutors will help you online with
your homework!
If
you are not in LA County, check with your local library.
Videos
Utilize
Netflix or Amazon, for Documentaries on historical and sometimes scientific
topics that you are studying.
There
is a great company called ZeeZok, that actually sells study guides that go with
movies, classic movies and newer movies, that turns them into an educational
opportunity. We have used several of them, and quite enjoy them.
WORKBOX
Type learning
Official
site http://www.workboxsystem.com/
Check
Pinterest for some great ideas - http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=workbox
This
is great for transitional homeschooling as you can gather up everything for
each child, stick it into a box of your choosing. You can even set up an ‘appointment’
box – for appointment, or errands.. and a reward box to inspire them to help
the family with their good natured obedient behavior!
Time
4 Learning
Online fee-based curriculum through the 8th
grade. May not be complete, but it has quite a bit available. And the kids can
do this independently. Not Christian.
Khan
Academy
Tutorials
through highschool Math, History, Science
Test
Prep, Computer Science, Art History
Audiobooks
Subscription
service (fee) unlimited audio book rental
Games
If
your kids are small, I would recommend playing educational games to help them
with their basics. Chances are if there is a lot going on, you are going to be
limited on time you can spend with kids. Might as well have fun, while
learning!
Rainbow Resource has a whole host of games.
Rainbow Resource has a whole host of games.
List
of Top Ten Educational Games
Don’t
sweat the small stuff. Lean on God.
Trust Him!
Remember,
He made our children very resilient!
