Switching From Public School to Home School

Congratulations, you have started to embark on the journey to homeschooling. You just pulled your kids out of public school and are ready to jump right into your new learning schedule at home. It's so brand new, and exciting. Maybe a little anxiety-inducing, there is a lot to learn, there is a lot to understand. But you have to start right away or your child will fall even more behind right?

WRONG!

Here is what I want you to do: STOP! This level of stress and anxiety will prevent learning and prohibit productivity. It can take 4 to 6 weeks for your body and your child’s body to adjust to the new normal and routine. Attempting to learn prior to establishing a sense of calmness may impact your child’s long term ability to handle stress in the future, and capability to retain any information taught at this time, in addition to creating future learning disabilities.

Embrace the new normal first, then we can baby step school back into the picture. What does your new normal look like? You get to decide.

Building a routine, that allows for self-care, will be a great tool for re-establishing a sense of normalcy in your life. Here is a loose schedule that can be adapted and tailored to your family’s needs.

· Have a quiet morning, with a good breakfast.

· Allow for free play or expressive art (drawing/watercolor) or sensory play (sand bin/playdough). During this time read to your child or listen to audiobooks. Minimize screen time.

· Lunch – make meals a family event, use this time to help your kids learn about how to make a meal, portions, and if possible, food groups.

· This is a good time to put in a structured activity. At first, it can be an art/craft or STEM project. Make it fun. In future weeks we will use this structured time to apply to learn. For now, it's fun.

· Outside! If you can get outside do it. Go for a walk around the block, ride bikes, or allow kids to play outside.

· Meditation time – YouTube has a lot of free channels with a guided mediation

· Dinner

· Your usual bedtime routine

There is a lot of the day left, you do not have to schedule every single moment of the day. It's okay to allow time for relaxation, meditation, and self-reflection. Also, as you become familiar with your new routine, we can add bits in for schooling in a few weeks.

Please contact your primary care provider if you or your children are showing signs of depression or suicidal/self-harming tendencies or thoughts, or failure to thrive.