Plan B – Ideas to Educate your Children at Home

When I homeschooled our three children, I realized early on that not every day went according to my plan.

Illness. Distractions. Grief. Cabin fever. Repairmen. Exhaustion. Relational tension.

So I had to come up with another plan. I ‘creatively’ called it Plan B and set about implementing it (without telling the children, of course) as needed. Looking back at our Cottonwood Academy days, I’d have to say that many of my favorite memories are rooted in Plan B days.

• Playing “Set” game instead of working through a Logic book
• Baking cookies to reinforce fractions
• Setting up a restaurant complete with menus and prices (handwriting, spelling, and math)
• Hiking in the forest preserve to search for spring wildflowers (science)
• Legos, Legos, Legos
• Piles of books to read that the children picked
• Makeshift crafts using whatever we could find

I’d suspect that any of you who now have children at home are educating according to Plan B. I’d argue that is true whether your children normally attend public, private, or home schools.

You are also doing that on top of your own life being thrown into Plan B. Very few things feel normal right now – we are living with the impact of Covid-19 running in the background of our minds much of the time.

Yet, one of the most common complaints I have heard from people over the years that they wish they had more time. Time. The simplest of commodities to take for granted. And now we have perhaps more of it? How can we turn that ‘gift’ into something that creates opportunities to forge even stronger bonds with our children while fostering a Plan B sort of learning?

Because I want to help people in areas that matter to me, I’ve been thinking about that a lot these past few days.

I returned to my Plan B strategy which remains deeply rooted in my educational philosophy.

Children prefer doing the things that come easily or naturally and often resist doing the things that are challenging. (I still relate to this as an adult!)

Also, learning is contagious. If you show enthusiasm to discover and learn about something, most likely your children will join right along with you.

So what could it look like for you to incorporate some Plan B strategies into your schooling endeavors? How can you supplement their education with the things they love to do? Here are a few ideas that I hope will inspire you. Once you introduce your children to these (or your) ideas, just use your instinct to see how far you want to continue. You can set your own goals for your Plan B.

MOVIES

• I’m the first one to enjoy watching a movie for the sake of watching a movie. But on some of my Plan B days, we often engaged in conversations after watching one. For older children, it is always interesting to have them articulate what they believe the screenwriter was trying to communicate about culture through his or her eyes. Here are some other questions that deepen discernment. * What does the writer believe about the condition of man? *What does the writer believe about good versus evil?        * What choices do the characters make that impact them throughout the movie? Think of the great conversations you could have if you watched It’s a Wonderful Life. 
• Even for young children, after they watch a movie ask questions about the setting. Where did it take place? What was the time period? How do you know? Was it the clothing, the buildings, or the food that gave you clues? Wouldn’t it be fun after watching a movie set in the Middle Ages to launch into a time of discovering more about that era? Remember, the internet is one of your best friends right now.
• I remember when Debralyn was little, she was all about everything Wizard of Oz. She carried a stuffed dog around in a plastic basket, wore red shoes and a blue gingham dress, and even wanted to know where Kansas was. I made up a little game using Wizard of Oz stickers to reinforce her math facts. We talked a lot about using our hearts, our minds, and our courage. All from a simple movie.

COUNTRIES

With so much going on in the news right now about the pandemic, an obvious Plan B strategy is to learn about some of the countries we are hearing about in the news.

• Pick a country that all of you may want to learn about. Start ‘visiting’ it using the internet. Read a little about its history. Find recipes for one of its traditional foods – and then try to make it. Listen to its music. Look at its art. What’s its climate? Can you transport yourself there via Google to look at its natural beauty? What is its government? Again, the questions you could ask are endless – try to ask the ones that will engage your children. Remember, you are their parent and know them better than anyone else.
• If you have extroverted children, they may like to invite (via Zoom) a friend or family member ‘over’ to hear about this country. They may love creating a presentation to share with others.  I can’t think of anyone who would refuse that kind of offer!
• Do you know anyone who is from another country? Our 4-H club had connections with a family who lived in the Dominican Republic. They gave us a traditional recipe which we prepared multiple times. How fun to have something authentic! So reach out to them and see what they recommend.
• Countries are more than COVID-19 statistics, and you have a great opportunity to inspire your children to think globally.
• If you want to stay local, stick with the states. How is Arizona different from Montana? Maybe they could make a guessing game to fool ‘mom and dad’ about some of the facts that they are learning about different states. I remember teaching Jordan the states by labeling all of the locations of football teams. He has always loved sports so I incorporated his love into my desire for him to learn about our country.

RESPIRATORY SYSTEM 

Again, science is in the news. What do you want to understand better? Do you want to understand the virus? The treatment? The prevention? The illness itself? The medical heroes? If I were educating my children now, I’d try to incorporate an understanding of how our respiratory system works.

• I just did a quick google search and the number of videos, coloring pages, and illustrations about the respiratory system for children was beyond what I even expected. So knowing your children, how could you inspire them to learn more about how their body works?
• For younger kids, have them learn to take their pulse and breathing rate. Have them do a baseline and then let them do 20 jumping jacks. How are the numbers different?
• Again, the ideas are endless.

GOVERNMENT

• Older students could benefit from watching how our federal government and state governments are working together during the pandemic. I wish I had a better understanding of federal responsibilities and state rights. This is a great opportunity for them to use their savvy internet researching skills to understand the relationship and constitutional mandates. If it were me, I’d then ask them to explain it over dinner so that I could understand. How empowering for older children!
• We are dependent upon the media to understand what is happening in our world right now. Switching between FOX and CNN will provide an opportunity to see the bias that exists in news media. If I was in the middle of Plan B now with high schoolers, I would definitely challenge them to compare and contrast the various media outlets over their reporting of the facts.
• For those of you who are interested in the Constitution, how do the states and federal government work together right now? I honestly don’t understand the answers to this question, but it’s an opportune time to begin understanding this – both for our own sake and for that of our children.

JOURNALING

• I’d be doing a disservice to myself if I didn’t talk about journaling. Now I’m not necessarily talking about only writing, but drawing as well. Each of my children (and me too) had a blank journal that helped them experiment with their words and their drawings. They captured powerful images throughout the years just by being given the time to sit and draw or write and think.
• I would definitely encourage children to capture their life in words or drawings or time capsules now.  Not only will it help them, but it may also capture this time in our history. They don’t need to write 5-paragraph essays, but just capture thoughts and feelings about their life. My students recently did this as an unplanned assignment and said that it was really helpful to their hearts.

ART

• If you have art lovers or visual learners, I’d encourage you to ‘take’ them to an art museum. Virtual tours abound right now. Let them linger in front of a piece of art that captures their attention. Find that same piece of art to view online so they can continue to enjoy it. Find out what strikes them about it. Let them learn about the artist. Why do they think the artist created it? What is he or she saying about culture?
• For you who have kinesthetic children, challenge them to find a piece of art to ‘act out.’ Could they dress up like people in the picture? Could they mimic it in any way? Could they create a modern-day still life? Let them put on their own art show.
• I love classical music and have been gravitating toward Chopin right now. Because I was curious about Chopin, I spent 10 minutes reading about his life growing up in Poland. It was a struggle. No wonder that was reflected in his music and touches a part of my soul right now. Who do your children love to listen to? Do they know anything about the artist and why they create music the way they do?

BIRDS (Here’s a specific idea)

• Do you ever hear the sound of a bird singing and wonder what kind it is? Over the years, I’ve used cassette tapes (yikes!) and youtube videos to learn the sound of the birds that are native to my area. You can start with one at a time. Listen perhaps to a robin. Then as you and your children meander outside, make it a game to see who can actually hear a robin’s song. Then move onto cardinals, chickadees, red-winged blackbirds, goldfinches, and mourning doves. You’ll be most likely to hear the birds in the morning and evening. Just think that in a month you’ll sound like an expert!
• Study images of the different birds. How are their beaks different? Why does it matter? Notice how the long pointed beak of a robin is suited for it to burrow into the ground to catch a worm while the goldfinch’s beak is short and stout so it can wrestle thistle seeds out of the plant.
• This is nest-building season. One year we tucked bits of brightly colored yarn throughout our yard. Imagine our delight when we discovered the long-abandoned nests that fall with little scraps of yarn sticking out!
• For the artistic types, sit outside and sketch the birds you see in your own yard. Or find some images to download and color.
• For your ‘word’ children, find poems about birds. Even better, each of you create your own – and then put them in the mail to love on someone that you can’t see right now.

FINALLY:

While my children are grown and married, I still teach 6th – 9th graders at a classical homeschool. We’re substituting our 1 or 2 day classroom with online teaching. One of my most extroverted students, John, asked to stay on after our Zoom classtime had ended. (He often lingers behind after class to chat!) He told me that he was bored and found a copy of Oliver Twist. He read ALL of it. (He’s a 7th grader). Then he picked up Sherlock Holmes and was devouring that. He also had discovered a cookie cookbook he’d received at Christmas but had not had time to bake. So he took to the kitchen and has been baking up a storm. He was beaming as he described in detail the varieties of cookies he was baking.

John had time to explore inside his house and discovered two things that will probably remain with him long after the pandemic is past. Isn’t that beautiful?

I hope my ideas sparked some ideas so that you can have the best possible Plan B times together!