Unexpectedly Homeschooling Week Eight
So in the COVID-19 world, Alabama was released from our “stay at home orders” and now we are under “safer at home orders again”. Basically non-essential stores may open at lower capacities, but that does not include salons, massage parlors, etc. There are some other rules and changes, and you can find those online if you are truly interested. That all began on Friday, May 1. We don’t really plan to change much, if any, of our routine until we see how these next two weeks pan out.
As far as homeschooling goes, we continued trucking on. We crafted, we did worksheets, we watched videos, we had picnics in the living room, and we played lots of Animal Crossing.
We did try and work on some life skills this week. That included learning how to spit when brushing our teeth. We learned how to sort laundry. We are trying to learn how to wear masks in case it is needed in the future. And we learned to wash our lids to our cups. Melody also has memorized both her birthday and my cell phone number. So we are making progress on learning things she would not learn at school typically.
I did something different this week to show you my plans for the week. Not only did I include a photo of our plans, I also included a video to show you how I plan both meals and our lessons. If you don’t want to sit through a 30 minute video (sorry!), I have broken it down below too!
Supplies Used
Simplified 2019-2020 Teacher Planner
2 Notebooks (could easily break into one or even keep up with this portion electronically)
Pens
Worksheets (currently these are provided to me, but they end this week! So next week I will provide you with more intel on how I find these worksheets on my own.)
Meal Planning
Using my weekly portion of my planner, I allocated two columns for meals. One for breakfast/lunch, and one for dinner. I added Saturday and Sunday in the note section on the right.
Breakfast doesn’t vary much. Lunch is also fairly consistent. We do sandwiches, burgers, or freezer meals. We pick up lunch every Tuesday when doing Walmart Grocery Pickup.
Dinner varies. I have two pages in one notebook that contains recipes I want to try that seem easy, and a page with recipes we make often that are also easy. In the other notebook, I list out everything in the freezer. I try and cook from scratch two days a week. Saturdays we eat out. The other days we either eat from the freezer or I will pick easy meals to make then too. Mondays and Sundays are the days I always try to cook because I tend to have the most energy.
After I plan out my meals, I list all the ingredients to make said meals. I have done this for years. I also have two pages in a notebook that lists the grocery items we need EVERY week. Then I have a page that lists what we use every week but might not need so we need to check. I add those to the list. Then I go through the pantry and mark things off. Now I have the list of what I need to buy.
We do grocery pick up every Tuesday. Right now that means we can schedule about a week in advance. So I try and meal plan for two weeks prior to this point. I have my shopping cart ready, and when times are available, I check out and pick my time. If I haven’t had a chance to meal plan, I will add the necessities and add the rest later.
Lesson Planning
I have four columns dedicated to this. One for learning videos, one for learning worksheets, one for crafts, and one for exercise.
Right now the videos and worksheets are provided for me. I split those up between Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Tuesdays are dance and a pick a random activity. On Thursdays we try to do dance, but it’s not required. And we pick another random activity.
In a notebook I have all of my crafts listed out. I pick 2-3 crafts for each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Tuesday and Thursday are random things we can find in our craft cabinet in our kitchen.
I fill out the exercise column once we know the weather. This varies between walking and yoga if it rains.
Next week I will do a video on how I lesson plan without resources for my videos and worksheets!
TIP-Prep your week on Sunday (or sooner)! I will go through and group her worksheets by day and cut things she may have trouble with. I will also gather all the craft supplies and get those ready if needed. That way when we go upstairs after breakfast, we can dive right in to school!
I hope this helps you all! I know the school year is almost over, but we plan to try and continue this routine through the summer. Once things open again, we still plan to do this but maybe cut back a day or two to get out!
