Showing posts with label homeschool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeschool. Show all posts

Friday, February 05, 2021

Virtual School Update

 Here we are almost 6 months in!




We decided on Virtual learning in September and it has been a great choice for our family. Our school board created a separate school just for Virtual school that is not associated to our physical school they went to last year. Which works out great because our teachers and schedules created are focused on virtual school only. Learning is a bit different, different for each class. We have a SK and a Gr 4. They both adapted to this style of learning right away. They enjoy it and we are happy with their growth and milestones! 




The whole family is home, The husband included and working from home. I have blogged about our tips and tricks (Here and Here )  a few times and share many milestones on Instagram too!


I know many families and situations are different. I can only speak to our own based on our own family dynamic and the age of our kids too. 


Here's a bit of background. 

Years ago I was a fulltime working mama (IT at a Bank) with a long commute to work. My kids were in daycare from 7:30am to 6. Our evenings were short and stressful. Our kids had separation anxiety and we struggled to make it work. This is the reality for soo many, and I remember it all too well. 




Especially one snowstorm in 2017. When driving home from work took 6 hours. My 1 year old was in daycare and sick with a fever, the daycare could not give him meds. I left work at 3pm that day in the snowstorm. I got to my 1 year old's daycare at 6pm (during this time my older son was in the after school program at his school and my 1 year old  was at a home daycare 10mins away). My 5 year old still at school waiting to be picked up also. 

When I picked up Baby M, I drove straight to the pharmacy, ran in with him to buy Tylenol and gave him a dose right there in the store aisle. My 5 year old at school with 1 teacher waiting for us. I was 10mins away but the streets to the school were backed up with traffic and my husband who was also driving home in the storm was trying to get to him also. I was stuck on a street with traffic with no way out. Finally my husband got to my 5year old at 8pm! Baby M and I arrived home at 9pm that night! 




That's when we decided that our family needs a change! The process of making the changes took a few years but we knew we had to make changes. We decided a few years ago to make a BIG move. We sold our home that we just built and customized and moved North. Where I could work part-time from home and not have the kids in daycare.

Fast forward just 1 year and we are hit with a pandemic! All 4 of us home! 

I think about when things will get back to normal and oh my,  I am going to miss this time soooo much! I'm soo grateful to be spending so much time with my kids and honestly feel like I could homeschool them for years to come if they wanted to.

Truth be told, they love virtual school too and cringe when I say next year they will be back in school Ha!




I love that we have been able to really get to know our children. Their strengths and areas they needed a little extra help in. I love that they can learn at their own pace without classroom distractions. I have seen my shy kids really grow and become more social with us and online. They also play online games, create videos and video call friends daily. Some might not agree that these are needed skills, but guess what, these are all life skills that build confidence and emotional intelligence and what better way to learn them than with mom and dad helping them navigate the how to! Things we had to learn and trial and error ourselves, we are teaching our kids without the outside noise. They are getting more confident and both boys are learning to embrace their strengths and differences. I have been in many different scenarios over the years, I have learned that adapting and making the best out of every situation is what will make the outcome that much better. Although we all can’t wait for lockdown to be over so we can go out and about! I am still so grateful for every moment! 


Thanks for reading friends! XO

Mama T

Be sure to follow Mama T on Instagram @aka_mama_t 

More links here linktr.ee/MamaT



Monday, January 04, 2021

Back to school - virtual school

 2021! Today it's back to school! Mama is on her second coffee!




DH also works from home so one of us always runs out first thing in the morning to grab a coffee. 

We are continuing this new year with all 4 of us home. It's been all 4 of us home since March 2020. We are so grateful to have the options that we do.  The kids really enjoy virtual learning and we have a great schedule that works for our family. 


I wrote this other post in 2020 click here


Some tips on what works for us. . 




1. Keep breakfast simple. Cereal and milk, Oatmeal, Fruit and yogurt, Toast with butter or straight up simple waffle. Keeping it simple allows for breakfast to be quick and less clean up for mom and dad. 

2. Sit in a bright space. Lots of lighting is important! We work in our kitchen because it’s the best lighting with all the windows. 

3. Print out each childs schedule and have it visible. Even though everyday is the same, it’s just easy for mama to glance and get reminded, or hold it up to the kids when they ask haha!

4. Use a phone timer or if you have google home we just yell out the timers as we need. Hey google put a timer for back to class at 11:30!

5. Keep the house quiet. No background noise. No TV or Radios on. School day is the school day. (No iPads or video games allowed on break times either)

6. Provide earphones if you they have them or if they can work independently. My kids have them off and on throughout the day. 

7. I make easy lunches too. I usually make lunch on their first nutrition break which is around 11am. That way their second break is playtime where they head outside or to the basement to release some energy. That's usually my time to tidy up a bit. 

8. I work when they work. I work for myself so this I know is much harder for working parents and their scheduled meetings. When DH is on his meetings I usually play referee making sure there's no noise around him haa.

9. Try not to stress it. They are kids and had to adapt soo much in 2020! Give them a break too. I have a sticker reward system and they get stars for all the great things they did. Even as simple as getting to class on time, listening to instruction, sitting through the lesson. All of this deserves praise. 

10. Close the computers at the end of each day! Our teachers give us independent work blocks to finish homework. So by 3pm they are done. We close their laptop and school is over. The evening is their time to do what they want!  (My kids are SK and grade 4, so this may look different depending their age)

Every family has their own challenges, these are some tips that works best for us as we navigated virtual learning in September 2020. The main thing is to be gentle with the process. It does not need to be perfect. It's new for everyone, our kids, parents and teachers, so let’s be kind to everyone including ourselves. 

- Tania 

Thanks for reading! Be sure to follow Mama T on Instagram @aka_mama_t 

More links here linktr.ee/MamaT

Friday, October 23, 2020

Life of a Virtual School Mama

 Here we are! Week 6 of Virtual Learning!

Here is a little glimpse of how our day looks like :)



I wake up around 7am and get my mama self ready for the day. 

I'll usually plan one of my Instagram posts around that time too :)

I set my coffee timer for the night before so it's ready for meeee OR i'll run out for a quick Tim's run. 




Around 8am I wake up the kids and head downstairs to make breakfast. We have super simple breakfasts during the week. Cereal/Milk, Waffles or Granola bars. Fast and Easy. The kids usually like to watch some cartoons as they get ready for their day. 

Google Home is our assistant. Ha! Yup! We set all the timers on it so we can easily stick to schedule. 




As soon as the timer goes off around 8:50am the kids go and sit at their Chromebooks. We have our set up in the kitchen.  We did start off in the office, but we noticed that the sun coming into the kitchen and having more space was just better :) So Monday -Friday my kitchen table is School! We have all our supplies and books set up in easy to move baskets. (Friday after school I move everything to the office to have a clean kitchen table for the weekend) 

The kids have a set schedule that consists of online meetings with the teacher, break times and independent learning. Just like a regular school day. 




They adapted really well to their schedules. I am more of their hall monitor haha! ensuring they are listening and controlling their volume haha. 

I usually make their lunch during their first break. That way their second break in the afternoon they get a good 40 min to play with eachother.  They usually go into the backyard for "recess" or up to their playroom. This is also my mama break too and I catch up on my reading or any online work I have. 




We have SK and Grade 4 here and their schedules are bit different. SK has the last hour of school online and my Grade 4 has the last hour offline for homework.



During their independent learning I help with homework. It's also great for me to really see the kids strengths and areas they need a little more help in. I can also regulate their day, say for example if they had a "big" learning day with "big" milestones, I'll make sure their Homework time is shorter so they don't over stress themselves.   Or if they had a light day, then I know spending that extra time on a topic they need more help in is the day to do it. 


Afternoon donut breaks happen sometimes too.



The kids are usually done around 3-3:20 , They close their laptops and run around  ha! I tidy up and go straight to dinner prep! 

It's definitely different here, but I must say, we are fully embracing this different way of learning. It feels more like 1-1 learning and with mom and dad around to help ha! (oh yes DH is also home, working from home). Our routine is super simple and it's working best around here for these crazy times. The kids really enjoy it and love learning from home so it makes it easier. 




Today is Friday so we will get takeout and have a movie night with lots of popcorn, oh and definitely hit the swimspa to relax for the weekend!

For more about my day in the life go over to my Instagram page! @aka_mama_t



Wednesday, May 06, 2020

Home School fun or not so fun

It’s been a month of homeschooling our kids and I can’t complain THAT much. Our school has provided us with the online tools based on their grade and their teachers have been soo supportive. 

Of course some days are harder than others. I mean, homework with mom and dad! Plus the distraction of TV and toys all around! Plus tired Monday’s! 



They rather play with their toys! Thankfully we have found a good balance that works well for us. 

1-2 hours in the morning after breakfast Monday to Friday has become our routine. After that it's lunch time and Mommy gets time for herself! ha! but do we really!



I have found that since everything is mostly computer based for the kids, especially for my 8yo. I wanted some extra tools for writing skills. So amazon to the rescue ha! I got some tracing books for my JK and flash cards, a Grade 3 Math book and an Affirmation book for journal writing. Just a little bit a day to keep up writing skills.




How are you all holding up? Do you homeschool longer than 1-2 hours? For my kids age/grades I find that’s plenty of work for the day. The rest of the day is “creative” play as we call it. Playing with each other and their toys, inside and outside in the backyard. 

As I’m writing this, I realize that we have a pretty good routine going on! Adapting to back to school will be a whole other ball game!