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If an emergency arises and your child cannot go to school are you prepared? Let’s see how you can be ready at a moment’s notice to make sure your child’s education will continue.
You can prepare for homeschooling by having the following educational homeschooling kit ready. Items to prepare are a schedule, textbooks and workbooks, printed worksheets, school supplies (pencil, erasers & paper) and some learning tools.
If you are prepared for any emergency to homeschool your child, they will be able to continue their education and you will be sure that they are learning through any situation. How can you do it? We will show, just read on.
Firstly, you can be prepared for homeschooling at a moment’s notice with the right mindset and preparation. It would be wise to consider your child’s needs based on the following 6 months for this kit. For example, my son right now is almost 6 years old. So I know at what level he is for reading, math and science. I can prepare a daily schedule with these subjects in mind for a Monday to Friday schedule. During an emergency there probably is no time to think about this and if it’s ready you are going to be more calm and confident. Your child will notice! Next to prepare is the materials and supplies.
To prepare these items just refer to your schedule and subjects. I would recommend having at least 2 weeks worth of material ready just in case. But you are free to prepare as much as you see fit. You can select some books either from your own sources, or online curriculums. Simply have them ready in pdf format on a flip drive or USB storage drive. And if possible a textbook or workbook is preferable. You never know if the power will be out or not or will you have access to a printer?
Next make sure you have worksheets that go with the lessons. Simply print them out if necessary. It is preferable if they are already available in the workbook. That will be more convenient and less chance of misplacing everything. Now just prepare the supplies like writing tools and then pack it all in a nice bag ready at a moment’s notice.
Why do I need to be prepared for emergency homeschooling?
You should prepare your family and child in case there is an emergency in any situation. Why would homeschooling be any different? People living in extreme weather prone climates should prepare for these kinds of situations as well right? Aren’t your children just as important as your home and valuables? If you could keep your child occupied and happy and still could be learning through an emergency situation wouldn’t that be a great thing?
How to prepare the materials and subject matter, how can I know what to teach them?
Before you get prepared to do emergency homeschooling it is best to be in touch with your child’s school teachers and find out what they will be learning this semester. If you can get a list of the resources and textbooks that would be even better. Then you should have a good overall understanding of what your child will learn about. Isn’t that great to know? How often did you get to know what they were doing each semester? Don’t wait for the last moment during a rush to prepare.
Your family will have time to prepare your emergency homeschooling kit so that you will not miss anything. I always keep a list as well for example, when we go camping because there are so many things to prepare. If you forget something it could make your experience a disaster. So if you take the time to prepare a list just always keep it updated. You can use your smartphone and keep the list and share it with your spouse online. That way if you happen to think of something else you can add it and then you will be fully prepared for anything.
How should I temporarily homeschool, I’m not a teacher!
It’s time to relax once you have prepared your temporary homeschooling kit. Just follow the schedule and subjects as you have already prepared. Let me show you below because you might be wondering how to schedule it? Well if you child is in elementary school they probably can be finished with the subjects in a few hours per day. You may spread it out to fit your situation. Some homeschoolers finish studies by noon and then leave the afternoon for other electives and outdoor activities and field trips. Check out the schedule below.
Homeschooling Schedule (You may adjust as needed)
| Time | Activity |
| 8:30-9:15 | Math |
| 9:30-10:15 | Language Arts & Reading |
| 10:30-11:15 | Break time |
| 11:15-12:00 | Science |
| 12:00-1:00 | Lunch time! Then recess |
| 2:00-2:45 | History/Social Studies |
| 2:45-3:30 | Electives-Music, 2nd Language, art |
| 3:30-4:30 | PE or exercise time |
| 5:00-6:00 | Dinner |
| 6:30-7:30 | Reading time |
Remember that it’s temporary homeschooling during this emergency. Also did you know that before compulsory education, parents and family used to be the educators? From the beginning of civilization, families have taught their kids through experience, daily life and apprenticeship. This has been done for ages. Many famous people have been homeschooled. Did you know that Albert Einstein was homeschooled? How about Thomas Edison, he was homeschooled as well.
If you are well prepared during an emergency, you will be calm and confident
Preparedness is the best way to remain calm, because you know it’s handled. You have spent time preparing the things to help your child be educated. This emergency and temporary homeschooling does take planning and thoughtfulness. Don;t worry, you won;t forget something like I do when I go camping. You have your list and you have everything you need! Look, even our government has prepared a special website for the Covid-19 epidemic. They have prepared as well to help protect our children and get us through the toughest times.
During the emergency keep active, and have fun while learning
You saw from the example schedule I provided to make time for some exercise time and PE. The kids are full of energy and if they have been busy studying indoors, they need to release some energy! If you can go out that’s great. Get out and do some exercise with them. Pushup, situp, squats, whatever it takes! Have some active games to keep them having fun. And you can sweat off a few pounds as well. It will be well worth it. See what the research says about keep kids active and physically fit does for them here.
And you should keep some board games ready as well. A deck of cards or some chess and checkers, whatever you like. Just like when you go traveling on the road or in the air, you must prepare some fun things for your family. It passes the time and they will have some good memories when this is all over. If you need some inspiration for activities for kids during quarantine check out this Parade article there are 100 things they list out that you can do!
Great way to explore homeschooling during an emergency, good for you and your family
During this emergency homeschooling period it is a great time to learn about how it might be an option for you. The number of people home schooled every year is rising and statistics show that these students are very well rounded and perform well on standardized tests. And there are so many famous people that are home schooled as we mention. And it’s a super way to stay in touch with your family and to see how your kids are progressing. You will have hands on first knowledge if anything is going wrong. And you can make changes right away.
Take this as a great new way to explore new ways of education for your kids. The World Economic Forum has an interesting article about how homeschooling may never be the same again after the corona virus epidemic. Check it out here.
Always keep up to date with the laws and regulations and resources
One last mention is to also have some handy information with you. For example, your local school board’s website for emergency preparedness and homeschooling resources. And who to contact when there is an emergency situation in your town. Look up and make contact in advance with homeschooling co-ops in your neighborhood. See what they have to offer during times of emergency or crisis. And lastly check out what our Department of Education has prepared as well . It’s a web page dedicated to the topics around Education during the Corona virus epidemic.
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