The Best Tips for Surviving Quarantine with Your Kids

As a homeschool mom, my best tips for surviving the quarantine with your kids is mostly to change your perspective.

Apparently, the biggest concern many people have about surviving quarantine is running out of toilet paper.

But for many parents, the toilet paper is just the tip of the iceberg.

Because the quarantine means schools are closing for several weeks beyond the normal spring vacation.

For us homeschool parents, this won’t change much, although, we may end up taking in neighborhood kids when parents have to work.

If you can, help working parents in your community by watching their children.

Personally, after a lengthy recovery, surviving quarantine is what I do.

But a lot of parents will wake up Monday as new homeschoolers for the next several weeks. And with public places closing and events starting to cancel, you may find yourself sequestered at home for a few weeks.

If you’re new to homeschooling, this can seem daunting! But it doesn’t have to be.

Surviving the quarantine means making the most of each day!

While it would be tempting to let all schedules slide, kids crave routine. Sleep in a little later, be more flexible, but have a rough schedule planned for the day.

Some school districts are planning on some version of online classes. I don’t know how much flexibility you may have if this is your situation, but I would imagine that classes will be an hour or two at most a day. The rest of the day will likely be up to you.

How you start your day sets the tone.

I am so in love with the way we start our day. After getting dressed and having breakfast, we spend thirty minutes reading the Bible.

She reads her NIrV (a young reader’s version of the NIV) and I read the same passage in my Historical Context Bible and/or Apologetics Study Bible. I interject history facts or apologetics concepts or just ask her questions about what she is reading.

We have so many great discussions! Reading Talking With Your Kids About Jesus really helped me use this morning Bible time more effectively.

If we want our kids to know Christ personally, we have to be able to talk with our kids about Jesus and really contend for their faith. This time of surviving quarantine might be a great time to jump start their faith in God.

Starting the day reading the Bible has several purposes.

• We both start centered in God’s word.
• She has time to settle into quiet activity after the flurry of getting ready for “school”.
• I have time to prepare my heart for the day (and let some caffeine kick in).
• She is READING for 30 minutes – sneaky, I know
• She is learning to study her Bible, to read critically, and to ask good questions.

If your children aren’t old enough to read, use the YouVersion app and choose a version with an audio Bible and listen together instead. Another great resource is the Bible Project on YouTube. They have excellent videos that summarize and explain each book of the Bible.

Break the day into manageable chunks: morning, lunch, afternoon, dinner, evening.

Educational activities or lessons ideally should take place in the sweet spot following breakfast and Bible. The kids are full, awake, and hopefully peaceful.

If your school district doesn’t have recommendations for educational activities, there are some simple ways to keep your kids learning.

Khan Academy has all sorts of FREE classes with video lessons and practice questions. Their math content is especially helpful and will keep kids engaged and learning. Here is a link to a site with tons of free printable math pages.

This link is to a running list of educational sites offering free access to parents or school districts during school closures. Some of the sites are always free so those might be worth checking into for helping to avoid the summer slide!

Teaching life skills is a great way to survive the quarantine!

Meals are a great time to teach some life skills. One of the best parts of homeschooling is that we get to teach more than just school to our kids.

While preparing simple recipes, kids can learn many basic cooking skills:

• Recipe planning
• Measuring and weighing ingredients
• Age-appropriate knife skills
• Knowledge and use of different kitchen tools and utensils
• Cooking skills and baking methods
• Dishes and cleaning the kitchen

Cooking together is a great way to explore new cuisines, get your kids to try more vegetables, and share family recipes. Plus talking about important or heavy topics with older kids is sometimes easier while you’re busy working on something.

Use the afternoons for one, one, and one.

1 – Tackle one household chore a day. Turn on the worship music and clean one room for 30 minutes – an hour. Their future spouses will LOVE you. You can even work on teaching them to organize their things and selecting items to donate to charity.

1 – Spend time doing one creative activity a day, whether crafts or imaginary play or creative writing. My daughter loves arts and crafts. After her main lessons are done, she often sketches or paints. Find something creative your kids enjoy.

1- Play one game. Electronics and video games have sadly replaced a lot of family game time. Bring it back!

Get out Yahtzee. Dust off those Uno cards. Teach the kids to play Scrabble or chess.

Playing games teaches children how to read and follow directions, take turns, play strategically, and be good sports. Playing games together is also a great way to set down your phone, set aside the chores and just enjoy your kids.

When life is all rush and hurry, it is easy to forget to enjoy these sweet little treasures we’re raising.

Reading aloud is also something that we forget when life gets busy.

Even older kids love taking time to relax and enjoy a book as a family.

Pick a great chapter book like The Chronicles of Narnia and spend time reading together.

Older kids can even write a short essay on how the book and movie compare and contrast as part of keeping up with some educational activities at home.

Surviving this quarantine may start feeling a little overwhelming, but you just might end up loving the way having your kids at home enhances your relationships.

My daughter loves conversation card kinds of activities. She loves to hear stories of my childhood and ask questions about everything. I’m glad I have time to invest in those moments with her.

But it won’t all be easy, and it wouldn’t be fair if I wasn’t honest. You’ll have to discipline and disciple.

However, in those moments, you get a chance to teach them how to love like Christ. You can show them grace and be firm in your expectations.

Watching my daughter struggle with conflicts between her friends as they play in the yard, I realize how lucky I am to get to model conflict resolution and having a Christ-like attitude, and repentance when I don’t have a gentle spirit either.

I get to use the days to guide her through and prepare her for difficult moments.

Having your kids at home for a few extra weeks will be challenging, but it could be an amazing opportunity to be intentional with your children in ways that are hard when life’s busy.

You can have mornings the plans go out the window and everyone has quiet reading time in pajamas. Pancake breakfasts don’t have to wait for weekends. Education doesn’t have to stay tied to books.

Homeschooling is a delicate balance between schedule and flexible, school and unschool, that’s what makes it so great.

Surviving the quarantine might just be the most fun you have with your kids this spring.