Coronavirus has hit! How do I homeschool my child?

School has closed.  The teacher sent home a packet with work.  Your child completed the packet in one hour.  Is my child going to fall behind?  What else can I do?  Your school may be closed indefinitely.  Every school and teacher has a different plan.  Here is my suggestion.  Cover the basics: Math, English, History, and Science.  You can add Latin studies and Art appreciation later.  Let’s start with the basics.  I recommend hard copy and textbooks.  Why?  The internet is too tempting.  I buy my textbooks used from Amazon and eBay.

There are many free textbooks: Harcourt 4th Grade Math Practice Workbook, California Mathematics 4, and Saxon Math 5/4.  (Here is a complete Saxon Math set on eBay with the tests, textbook, and answer key.). Saxon Math has been used by home-schoolers for decades.  Saxon Math has loads of review along with new lessons.  Paul, our 4th grader, uses Saxon 5/4.  

Next is Science.  My favorite elementary science series is The Young Explorers Series.  We are using Zoology 1 with the Journal.  Why?  Paul likes birds.  The Young Explorers Series is the best science series I have ever found for elementary school aged children.  I have used both the Anatomy and Chemistry & Physics sets.  Select a science textbook your child would like.  I love the notebook journal.  It has a syllabus, crossword puzzles, and handwriting exercises.  The Young Explorer textbooks have loads of experiments and projects.  Yesterday, Paul did an experiment testing paper airplanes.  Last week, he made a compass.

What about English?  We use Easy Grammar.  Paul does an exercise each day.  I added sentence diagramming with each exercise.  I review parts of speech and verb tense.  Paul is reading Mudshark.   When he finishes, Paul is writing a book report.  One of the best insurance policies is a weekly book report.   Be sure to assign a variety of books.  Amazon has loads of free Kindle books, such as Swiss Family Robinson.  Which books should every child read?  Here is Scholastic’s book list of 100 of the greatest books for kids. Here is a list with classics; some are free.  Some are available on Amazon’s Audible books or with Kindle Unlimited.  Many libraries offer free books to borrow with Overdrive.  If you have a library card, you may borrow these classics online.  Have your child read one book and write a report each week.

In History Paul is using George Washington for Kids.  He does some activities, writes facts, and answers specific questions.  Remember, the more you invest in an activity, the more you benefit.  Focus your energy on core subjects.  After lunch, Paul has time to bike ride, draw, read, and play board games.  Nope, we do not use TV, video games, or tablets for entertainment during the day.  Paul may read if he is bored.  Yes, we play many rounds of Monopoly and Exploding Kittens.