The decision to put our house up for sale and purchase a new one came on fast. We needed to do a lot of things, fast, so we dropped everything, including homeschooling, and set to work on getting the house ready for listing. The listing went up last Monday. After the first week and a half of readying the house, I decided it best to continue to keep up on lessons, in some form or another.
Allowing my children too much free time and TV time proved to be disastrous. I didn't think a couple weeks would be a big deal, but it was. And let's be honest, it takes more than a couple of weeks to sell a house and complete a move. There will be more weeks out of the ordinary ahead of us.
So, I decided it best to keep their minds sharp and occupied during this time by setting them up with work that is independent in nature, yet empowers and challenges them to become self-propelled learners. These include:
Book Box
Book box is a selection of books hand picked by me, based on what we are learning. I have a set time the children must read something of their choosing from the book box. At times I'll add in some Literature that may not be specific to the time era we are studying, but it is great Literature none-the-less.
Whatever they choose to read, they must read for 15-30 minutes per session. Some days we have one session some days two or more. This helps them continue to learn by keeping their mind sharp and working. At the end of each session, I ask for an oral narration of what they read.
Math
Math is always a constant in any season. Too much time off of math and my kids begin to forget the concepts they learned and need to re-learn. We even do math through the summer months. There are days throughout the week we might take off, but I try to avoid taking more than a week off of math at a time.
This does require some help from me at times. Sometimes I'll have the children work through what they can until I am free to help them, or we'll finish up what needed to be done together in the evening hours.
Another option for math is to focus on doing drill work; helping my children master the concepts they have already learned and/or memorizing addition/subtraction/multiplication/division facts.
Manipulatives
For my younger children, I will pull out a set of manipulatives for them to play with and learn independently from. Rotating them keeps their interests piqued.
Some of our favorites are Gears, Gears, Gears (pictured above), Wood Pattern Blocks, Cubes, and Melissa & Doug's Magnetic Pattern Block Kit.
Among these, we also play educational games, read aloud, and continue with some educational shows on Netflix. Not all of these are done every single day, but having something in the queue helps prevent boredom and sibling fights while continuing to keep their minds
What suggestions do you have for homeschooling through a move?
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