School Days: 1st and 4th Grades Fourth Nine Weeks {Homeschool Part One}

The fourth quarter of the 2019-20 school year was nothing like we had ever experienced before. All around the world, schools closed their doors and the burden of teaching young minds fell to the parents instead of the teachers. It was a time we won't ever forget.

And while we all made it through the end of the school year one way or another, nothing can replace an in-person classroom setting with a certified teacher and a room full of other students. It just wasn't the same, for any of us. However, I am proud to say that my two boys finished out their 1st and 4th grade years the best way they could. They did everything that was asked of them during at-home learning, with little complaint. I know homeschool didn't go smoothly for everyone, but we managed pretty darn well.

This was mostly because, very early on, I knew I had to come up with a schedule that we could stick to during the weekdays. Both of my boys thrive on routine, so it was key for them to always know what was coming next. I did a little research and put together a daily schedule that I thought would work well for us. And it did: we stuck to it just about every day of homeschool. I posted the schedule and a calendar on a wall in our living room, and it quickly became a hub for all things homeschool-related.

Starting Monday, March 16, their teachers posted their assignments for the week, through the school's online system. Each Monday, I printed everything out they needed for the week and assembled it all in our designated homeschool space, the breakfast area table. All of their textbooks, workbooks, notebooks, journals, etc. were kept there, as well as pencils, erasers, crayons, highlighters, scissors, glue, etc. It really helped to have everything organized in one location.

For us, school started at 9am every weekday. SCR came up with such a fantastic idea to upload a video each morning with a member of the staff leading prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and morning announcements. Father Andrew also made daily inspiring videos with workout ideas, motivation, and positivity. Those videos were a great way to begin our school day together and to stay connected to the school community.

Most of the boys' assigned work was through their physical books or worksheets, but some of it was online. Rory's teacher sent out links to content on YouTube and the Scholastic website. She also had them each create an account on Epic, an online reading resource where they could read books, listen to books, and accrue points for everything they completed. He loved finding books on Epic and building up his points.

He also had to pick a book and read aloud to all of us one evening. He did a great job!

Riley's math teacher sent out videos of her explaining each lesson to ensure they were grasping the new material, and some of his science assignments were through online resources paired with his workbook. He also took religion assessments online, as well as quizzes for ELA. On the last day of school (March 13), he was issued a copy of Wonder that they were supposed to read together in class. Most of his fourth quarter ELA work centered around the book. He ended up really liking it; we even watched a 20/20 documentary about it and watched the movie together one night as a family.

Part of our daily schedule included outside time, some of which we counted as P.E. class. The glorious weather made it easy to enjoy a change of scenery, even if the boys didn't always want to be out there. (They, quite simply, much prefer LEGO.) But they did have fun playing in the hose and on the swingset, going for walks and bike rides, and breaking out the bouncy house a couple of times. We also went on a "bear hunt" around our neighborhood one morning and found 26 stuffed bears in the front windows of houses!

We also did quite a few projects with sidewalk chalk: a stained glass mosaic on our fence, a "chalk-stacle" course on the path behind the house (lots of people loved this!), and a math facts color-by-number cross on the driveway.

Riley continued to practice his instrument for band class, sometimes taking the music outside, sometimes playing over FaceTime with Claire and Ansleigh, and sometimes enlisting the help of his daddy. I was so bummed he never got to perform in the spring band concert; I was so looking forward to that.

We took a daily mid-morning break from schoolwork, when they were free to do other things: play outside, read, LEGO, games, etc. They did a decent job of keeping themselves busy, and it gave me some free time as well.

We also took a couple of late morning field trips to deliver cookies; Ms. Paulin and Mrs. Mac were so happy to see us, from a safe distance of course. And Riley received a surprise postcard in the mail from Mrs. O'Neal.

Our afternoons involved finishing up schoolwork that hadn't been completed in the morning (usually just Riley; Rory mostly finished all of his work before lunch) and viewing an educational video together before I allowed them back on technology (a.k.a. Minecraft). We learned about a number of different things: giraffes, tigers, butterflies, and snakes; how to draw characters from Mo Willems's books; forces and motion from astronauts in space; and basic sign language. We also watched a few nature documentaries: Disney's Growing Up Wild, Disney Nature: Oceans, Planet Earth: Blue Planet II, and Absurd Planet. Every night at dinner, I asked them questions about the videos we watched to see how much they retained and to share with Kenny what we had learned. They had no trouble answering much of what I asked!

We sure packed a lot into those 9 weeks. They definitely would have been better off with their normal teachers, but I think I did a pretty good job making them stay on track and complete all of the work they were assigned. In addition to Wonder, Riley learned about units of measurement, area and perimeter, number sequences and patterns, lines, rays, and angles, classifying types of triangles and quadrilaterals, and line symmetry in math; erosion, weathering, fossils, earthquakes, volcanoes, flooding/natural hazards, and energy from nonrenewable and renewable resources in science; and the southwest and west regions of the U.S. in social studies. Rory mastered a bunch of new sight words, continued practicing his reading, wrote in his journal, and learned some new phonics rules. He also compared numbers, studied his math facts, and learned about time, money, and shapes.

I am so proud of both of them. And myself.

Spirit week and last day of school recaps coming up next!