Create a rigid schedule like they have at school. Break it into 1/2 hr increments. Alternate worksheets/reading/etc with fun activity.

One parent should wake up early and start work immediately. Parents should take turns working/kid duty every 2 hours. Put a movie on in the afternoon where both parents work.

This obviously doesn’t work if there are less than 2 parents at home.

We are doing spot shift with dh. We can't work and take care of the kids at the same time. So he does early am working 5-12 and I work 12-5 and a bit after bedtime. That was kid gets quality attention and work gets done. Thankfully our employers are ok with this not quite full time schedule.

DH found a homeschooling schedule on Facebook and we are following that. Its a combo of 2 outdoor sessions, 2 academic sessions (one without electronics), 1 chore session, 1 quiet time (reading, puzzles, quiet play), lunch, breakfast, and free play. Keeping a flexible schedule is paramount to our sanity. It took some prep work on my part, finding out where the kids left off in school and starting their. I printed out a packet of worksheets and concepts. We also have a ton of workbooks to pull from. I'll try to keep things a little somewhat fresh, so I don't lose my sanity from the kids being stuck here. I plan to challenge my kids a little. We have some degree of executive function issues in one child, but a little encouragement can keep him moving. We are adding a few more online activities today that they are familiar with and enjoy and at least one activity the kids aren't familiar with. I'm really trying not to let the electronics take over.

Every time one of us gets snippy, I say "30 days". Its to remind us all that we are stuck here together for a long time and getting snippy with each other is going to get old real quick.

I don't home school, but I do SAH. Trust me, the only way I survive is with a very specific schedule - and I'm not balancing outside employment with full-time child care. The best thing you can do for yourself is to meal- and week-plan the crap out of those kids.

You might start by switching up your work hours, if you can. Have 1 parent home school the kids from wake to noon, then they work from noon to 8pm. Second parent works from 7am to 3pm, then takes the kids through bedtime.

Set kids up with lunch and a two-hour movie from noon to 3. Lessons in the morning. Exercise between 3 and 5. Is your school providing any online learning or are you expected to do all the lesson planning?

Anonymous wrote:You think your kids will never get into college of they don't do schoolwork for the next few weeks?

Let it be.

Work an hour or two then take them for a long hike.

Then let them watch a movie and work.

Teach them how to cook.

Some of us have children who need to stay on track. If my emerging reader didn't read for two weeks he would be back to square one.

Agree op. It’s the having to work on my own stuff that makes it fiercely stressful. My job already requires a lot of concentration.

Anonymous wrote:My homeschooling mom friends are all sharing advice.
There’s a reason I don’t homeschool. I don’t have the patience.

All the homeschooling people I know are more at risk than the non homeschoolers because they’re still going to church and taking communion

My homeschooling mom friends are all sharing advice.
There’s a reason I don’t homeschool. I don’t have the patience.

You’re very optimistic because I’m afraid it’s going to be through the end of the school year. Two weeks I can handle but three months is a different story. This may push some dual earning families to go down to one out of necessity to care for the kids.

You think your kids will never get into college of they don't do schoolwork for the next few weeks?

Let it be.

Work an hour or two then take them for a long hike.

Then let them watch a movie and work.

Teach them how to cook.

So many idiots at work asking for time consuming, low value things from my team because they’re trying to justify their existence.

Its awful!! And of course work today has been crazy busy with everything urgent. I have a four yr old and 16 month old.. my husband also teleworked but his work was crazy busy as usual. Still.. I am grateful that I have a job.. but this is not sustainable for anything beyond few weeks? Just venting.. I know these are weird times

It might be longer than 2 weeks, I hate to say. But yeah, it's hard. I'm not sure how they expect families to sustain it.

Yes, and I also have a toddler. It’s miserable.

That’s it. I know I need to keep it in perspective and I’m fortunate to have a job when so many people could possibly lose theirs. The 5 year old is literally bouncing off the walls because I can’t fully entertain him and the 10 year old doesn’t have enough executive functioning skills to homeschool without my help and I can’t help if I’m working and my husband is working. The only respite really is outdoor play, but we can’t do that all day. Tomorrow I’m going to try to institute more of a schedule, but two weeks of this seems daunting.