The Coronavirus has made it’s way to the United States and its presence has contributed to the closures of everything around us. Let me just say, I expected many things to close to minimize the risk of exposure, but Disneyland was a surprise. I was equally surprised when school district after school district began closing their doors.

Time to bring back homeschool

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you’d know that my family homeschooled until recently. We homeschooled all six of our children for the past six years. The kids have been thriving in public school making the Honor Roll each grading period, joining clubs, and participating in school sports. It’s been quite the year making adjustments to our new normal. Of course, with the Coronavirus making its way to the States, it looks like we’re going back to homeschooling. At least for a bit until our school district reopens.

While I am a bit excited about getting back to our homeschool roots, I must admit I feel a bit ill-prepared. I’ve been staying on top of the kids’ studies, but I haven’t been learning the teaching methods behind them. My new mission is to be able to help my kids to retain the information they’ve been taught this year. My older children are enrolled in Pre-Ap core classes and they can’t afford to get behind in their studies. In my research to help keep them on top of their studies, I came across Khan Academy’s schedule for school closures.

Homeschool Resources

Khan Academy is a free online educational platform designed to provide video lessons that cover a wide spectrum of academic subjects. I have used Khan Academy quite a bit over our homeschool years to help reinforce some of the subjects that my kids were learning. Imagine my surprise to see that Khan Academy was providing a structured schedule for school age kids to stay sharp with their academics during the school closures. If you are looking for ways to keep your child’s learning schedule during their time away, this schedule works wonderfully.

Khan Academy’s schedule includes a learning schedule for Preschool learners through 12th grade. I am including the schedule here if you want to take a look at it. It includes lessons on all core subjects and includes fun podcasts that your kids can listen to that they might enjoy.

If you’re looking for less structured, but still fun activites for your children during this down time, I’ve put together a list of fun activities that keep your children occupied and provides hours of fun.

Fun Activities

Play a favorite board game or do a puzzle.
Make a fun recipe.
Play Simon Says.
Make an indoor obstacle course with items you have the in the house. Then, time the kids to see who can go through it the fastest.
Set up a scavenger hunt indoors.
Limit your kids’ screen time—it’ll force them to use their imagination and play.
Set up a circus: hula hoop, juggle and jump rope for an audience.
Make up a dance to a favorite song and film your kids’ music video.
Tape large paper to the wall and get out the art supplies. Hang the masterpieces up for a mini-art show.
Make puppets out of paper bags and have a puppet show.
Sing karaoke. (Don’t have a karaoke machine? Just pull up the lyrics on your computer and go to town!)
Let your kids play dress up with your old clothes, shoes and jewelry and have a fashion show.
Write and direct a family TV show.