Many of you know I homeschooled my own children from elementary through high school. I’ve learned many tips and have collected many helpful resources throughout the years. Here are some of my favorite at-home educational activities. Throughout this uncertain time of school closings, I will be providing resources and tips for helping children with special needs.
*Use online tools:
Switcheroo Zoo: Learn about animals
BrainPOP (free access for school cancellations due to Coronavirus)
Into the Book: Playing games to practice reading strategies English and Spanish
*Keep lessons and instruction time short. Consider kids’ attention spans and add movement. Here’s one of our posts with tips to add movement into learning.
*Set daily themes for your kids. Try pajama day, school spirit day, backward day, or favorite book theme day.
* Go on virtual field trips. One of our most popular Facebook posts for virtual field trips HERE. The Google document contains many hyperlinks to awesome websites to visit. After each field trip, write one sentence about what you learned. This is great writing practice. Ask your child to cut pictures out of magazines to boost scissor skills. Make a collage to sort similar items. Grouping is a critical skill required throughout schools. Same and different awareness is something many children with special needs struggle with.
*Create a dedicated area for ‘school’ at home. Keep distractions such as TV and loud music to a minimum. Let your child choose one of his favorite pencils or folders from school to bring to your ‘home school area.’
Check out our calm-down area kit here. Having a special area for children to go to when they feel stressed is so important during this uncertain time. Want to read more about creating your own calm-down area? Check out my earlier blog post with tips for your family.
