Home Learning Support for Parents

I have set up this Blog Post as a way of supporting fellow parents out there during these unprecedented times to home school their children. I will update the blog regularly to give you ideas of what I have been up to with my two little monkeys.

I used to work as a Head Teacher before setting up my coaching business and so getting prepped to home school my 4 and 6 year old boys has not sent me into a frenzy (yet), however I can imagine it is freaking some of you out.

MY ADVICE TO YOU
My advice to parents of little ones will be to try and keep to a schedule on week days so that they know what is next etc. Be flexible and work with timings based on if your child is engrossed or has no interest in the task. Make the learning as fun as possible and hook them in with an exciting starter each day. I would suggest possibly having a daily or weekly theme such as (Space, dinosaurs, mini beasts, people of the past, super heroes etc) to make the learning super fun. If you are also having to work from home ensure that you adapt the timetable to suit you and your needs as well as your child’s. It is far easier to get your own work done if your child is engrossed in an activity, you will also have less behaviour issues as they will be engaged and occupied. There are some great challenges listed on this BLOG.

WHAT I WILL BE DOING
I will be following a timetable as such but if it’s nice I will make the most of going into the garden and move activities around. The boys will do chores every day and however many minutes of chores they have done (I have written options on lollipop sticks for them to choose) equates to iPad time later on in the afternoon (which suits me as I can work at this time). The boys can also gain TV time throughout the day that can be cashed in early evening. They gain 20 minutes of TV for being kind, 20 minutes for not arguing and 20 minutes for listening to their teacher (me!). I will also be using a token system whereby they gain tokens for good choices and loose for poor choices. Again, this is not to say that this will work with your children but have a go and adapt as needed. I will be creating a timetable for the week and will also make visuals that can be hung across the kitchen so that little ones know what to expect from the day.

Every day I will display as Visual Timetable in the kitchen so that the boys know what order we will be doing things each day.

I hope this helps

Hayley x

Timetable created by me. I will still be working as well as homeschooling and so I have included times when the boys can independently play and learn. This is a mix of academic, fun play and creative activities.

These visual timetables support the above timetable and can be printed on A4 (4 to a page).

This timetable is more academic heavy and mirrors a typical school day. It has some fantastic links to resources and is best aimed at older children. Created by Gavin McCormack. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinmccormack/

To get you started here are both the Early Years and Primary Curriculums from http://www.primarycurriculum.me.uk/ in bite sized easy to follow chunks.

Here is a 30 day lego challenge for all of those lego fans out there courtesy of https://www.freehomeschooldeals.com/

Here are 100 things to do indoors with children courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/SpreadTheHappinessPage/

Here are 50 things to do with your child before they are 11 and 3/4  from https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/50-things-to-do 

The Great Indoors from The Scouts https://www.scouts.org.uk/the-great-indoors/

EXERCISE SESSIONS 

PE with Joe Wicks https://youtu.be/6v-a_dpwhro

Exercise with Jump Start Jonny https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8PDFwCV0HHcl08-1SzdiBw

Daily Sport Challenges
https://www.facebook.com/Time4sportUK/

Daily Sport Challenges
https://www.facebook.com/scfc.community/

Mini Me Mindfulness
https://www.facebook.com/groups/797681167305671/

DANCE & MUSIC

Music with Myleene Klass https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQh2wgJ5tOrixYBn6jFXsXQ

Online Dance Classes https://www.facebook.com/groups/286006218953198

Dance with Darcey Bussel https://twitter.com/diversedance…/status/1241098264373592065

Dance with Oti Mabuse on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OtiMabuse/

Captain Fantastic Kids Entertainment https://www.facebook.com/CaptainFantasticKids/

CREATIVE

LIVE Drawing with Steve Harpster everyday starting at 6pm UK time (5pm after clocks go back) https://www.facebook.com/harptoons/

Art for kids https://www.facebook.com/Artscooluk/

BAKING & COOKING 

Baking for kids https://www.facebook.com/Itsybitsybakers/ 

Bake Live with kids https://www.facebook.com/Cakeface.designs/ 

Live Cooking throughout the week https://www.facebook.com/Feasted19/

MATHS, ENGLISH, SCIENCE 

Maths with Carol Vorderman https://www.themathsfactor.com/

Big Jim’s Story Time
https://www.facebook.com/bigjimsstorytime/

Phonics Lessons with Mr Mc https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTcZnvuTeovlznioLRo0GOA

Science with Professor Brian Cox, Robin Ince & Guests https://cosmicshambles.com/stayathome/upcoming-schedule

English with David Walliams https://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/elevenses/

Science with Maddie Moate on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/maddiemoate

Live Science Lessons https://drchips.weebly.com/

Kennedy Space Centre daily lessons. https://www.facebook.com/KennedySpaceCenterVisitorComplex/

OTHER SUBJECTS

History with Dan Snow (free for 30-days) https://tv.historyhit.com/signup/package

First Aid Training for Kids with Green Box https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSGryV1V47te7Gn5seQtj5A

Home Economics with Theo Michaels (Mon/Wed/Fri) https://www.instagram.com/theocooks

Virtual Tours of Museums and Galleries  https://www.familydaystriedandtested.com/free-virtual-tours-of-world-museums-educational-sites-galleries-for-children/

NATURE

Wildlife with Steve Backshall on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/stevebackshallofficial/

Daily Live Yoga and Meditation Sessions with Luci Roberts Yoga.

Regular Online Wellbeing Coaching for Parents with Positive Ewe Coaching.

Nuffield Health Home Work Outs

FREE HOME WORK OUTS- Every day, Monday to Friday 3pm to 3.20pm .

MINDFULNESS & KEEPING ACTIVE
Smiling Mind – https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/smiling-mind/id560442518 
Head Space – https://www.headspace.com/
Calm – https://www.calm.com 
Cosmic Yoga – https://www.cosmickids.com/ 
BBC Supermovers – https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers 
Go Noodle – https://www.gonoodle.com/ 
Newsround – https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround 

MATHS & SCIENCE
TOP MARKS – https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ 
DRAGON BOX – https://dragonbox.com/
BEE BOT APP – https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/bee-bot/id500131639
TIMES TABLE ROCKSTARS – https://ttrockstars.com/
NUMBER BLOCKS – https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/numberblocks 
EXPLORIFY FOR SCIENCE – https://explorify.wellcome.ac.uk/ 
ICT GAMES – https://www.ictgames.com/
PRODIGY MATHS – https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/prodigy-kids-math-game/id950795722 

PHONICS & EARLY READING
JOLLY PHONICS LETTER SOUNDS – https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/jolly-phonics-letter-sounds/id897894552
JOLLY PHONICS SONGS – https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/jolly-phonics-songs/id1096113645 
PHONICS PLAY (Free at the moment – march20 – home) – https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
PHONICS BLOOM – https://www.phonicsbloom.com/ 
POCKET PHONICS – https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/pocketphonics-basic-edition/id299342927 
LETTERS & SOUNDS – http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/ 
ALPHABLOCKS – https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/alphablocks
TEACH YOUR MONSTER TO READ – https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/ 
OXFORD OWL – https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/ 
TEACH HANDWRITING – https://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/ 
SPELLING SHED – https://www.spellingshed.com/en-gb
STORY STARTER – http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/story-starters/ 
FREE BOOKS – https://stories.audible.com/start-listen 

SCHOOL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES
Twinkl – https://www.twinkl.co.uk/ 
Classroom Secrets – https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/ 
White Rose Maths – https://whiterosemaths.com/ 
Master the Curriculum – https://masterthecurriculum.co.uk/ 
Premier League Stars – https://plprimarystars.com/ 
Mrs Mactivity – https://www.mrsmactivity.co.uk/ 

LOTS OF FUN & CREATIVE APPS
Duck Duck Moose – http://www.duckduckmoose.com/educational-iphone-itouch-apps-for-kids/

OTHER APPS
Duolingo – https://www.duolingo.com/
Brain Pop – https://www.brainpop.com/ 
Kahoot Quiz Maker – https://kahoot.com/
Quizlet Quiz Maker – https://quizlet.com/en-gb 
Hopscotch Coding App – https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hopscotch-make-games/id617098629
Scratch coding – https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/scratchjr/id895485086 
Stop Motion Studio – https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/stop-motion-studio/id441651297 
Book Creator App – https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/book-creator-for-ipad/id442378070