We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
When a pandemic strikes, life as you know it, will be altered. You’ll be forced to make decisions that could impact the health of your family. While certain things may cease to function, you can’t ignore a child’s education. It may take a while for the local school districts to come up with “distance learning” so you will find yourself figuring out How to Start Homeschooling your own kids.
If schools are still operating, you’ll be forced to send your child to school. During a pandemic, this could be a bad thing for your child and your family because wherever large groups of people congregate, the germs can thrive.
This simple fact is why when one child gets sick in a school or daycare center, the illness spreads so quickly. This fact is also an excellent example of one of the reasons that during the H1N1 pandemic, approximately 600 schools closed down temporarily in an attempt to stop the virus from being spread among the children.
How to Start Homeschooling Your Kids during a Pandemic
That wasn’t the first time the swine flu caused massive school closures. Some of the schools reacted by allowing the students to learn online at home, which is a form of homeschooling.
Deciding to homeschool is not an easy one to make – especially if you’ve never done it before. However, in a pandemic, it can turn out to be what’s best and safest for your family.
Knowing when to homeschool should depend on the outbreak numbers you see, as reported by the news and other media. You need to stay on top of how many families with kids are calling in sick.
For example, in the swine flu outbreak, almost half the students at one school called in sick. Before it reaches those proportions, it’s time to keep your child at home for schooling.
Before You Start
You can find out from your child’s school where your student is in the learning process of each subject, and you can pick up from there so that he doesn’t lose out on any schooling.
You want to be prepared now for homeschooling. You can purchase books online in your child’s grade level – including teacher workbooks, answer keys, and lesson plans.
Look specifically for subjects your child is currently taking. Find matching quiz and test booklets or make your tests from the text your child is reading. You can buy field equipment your child will need for biology such as microscopes, slides, and specimens.
How to Start Homeschooling
Load up on books
Anything you can buy that will give your child a hands-on experience will help his education. You can buy books at bookstores and thrift stores. The local library also often has textbooks on sale for pennies on the dollar.
You can find algebra books, foreign language books, science, psychology, and more. There’s so much information available that your child could end up better prepared educationally when he can return to school.
Ultimate Homeschool Planner
We whipped this gem up for you to help keep track of everything you might need to know so you can stay organized. Hands down the largest challenge are staying on task/track when homeschool planning. If you are looking for homeschool planning pages then we have you covered with a daily lesson plan pages set as well as a printable homeschool calendar.,
Get your FREE Printable Homeschool Planner from us here:
Make lesson plans
Start now printing off any materials you think you’ll use. Some homeschool websites will list resources, and you can print off lesson plans as well as lesson samples.
While you are at it, find a few “fun things” to mix in for them, look for sites like THIS ONE to get ideas on movie studies, book report activities, or even seasonal worksheets.
Some online sites – such as Amazon – list some homeschooling digital books for free, so that would take care of a portion of what you need. You’ll want to have a lesson plan book and keep meticulous records of what your child learned so that you have a way to show accountability to the state that you live in.
Check the regulations
Each state has different laws about homeschooling, so get informed now. You’ll also want to keep records of the day and hours your child worked on schoolwork so that you have attendance and time records.
Get Connected
It is very likely that you are not alone in this. Join online homeschooling groups to share hints and tips, as well as get them, from other parents who are in the same boat as you are.