Parent Project: Valuable Resources for Making Homeschooling a Breeze

By Vivian Griggs, Personal Training Coordinator


Parent PROJECT! Let’s tackle homeschool. Who would have thought we would all be homeschooling? Oh, sure, we thought about it in passing as this interesting concept, along with growing all our own food or living off grid. Or maybe that was just me? I always assumed it was a bit ‘out there’ and really only for people who have WAY more patience than I do. Now, the latter is true! But, we’re doing it because we have no choice. We can only hope schools go back to normal next year but they may not, so we should use this as an opportunity to get our feet under us and be prepared.

That doesn’t mean run out and get certified or start investing in expensive pre-written curriculums and textbooks, but a few amazing resources for now or tucked away for a rainy day? Excellent plan!

Of course, that doesn’t mean run out and get certified or start investing in expensive pre-written curriculums and textbooks.  But a few amazing resources for now or even tucked away for a rainy day?  Excellent plan!

A little about where I’m coming from – we had already decided to change schools next year; our experience with our current elementary school wasn’t great. Then Covid-19 happened, the school provided very minimal guidance and only in the form of a few hours of app usage per day. My son will more than likely be diagnosed with ADHD and apps or screens are NOT effective for learning. Oh, the behavior impacts! It’s notboy working on homework on a wooden table during the day good. We decided to officially unenroll him for the year, so I buckled down, researched Common Core standards, assessed his current academic levels and set to writing curriculum. In three days. I had been doing some things at home with him already as he doesn’t learn well in groups, so I had about 25% of what I needed. On our third day, I discovered my son had been bullied and had developed self-harming coping mechanisms. So now, I had to incorporate psychological healing.

Hopefully, your kiddos are learning well with what the school sent home. But information is gold in my world so I want to share a few resources that have been invaluable to me.

Websites

www.Education.com. You will need to pay for complete access but it is absolutely worth it. All grades, all differentiation needs, every imaginable topic and resource. There are worksheets, guide lessons, full lesson plans, curriculum. Literally everything. And there is an app for the kids where you can assign lessons and games. Now, they do have current freebies given that every parent is suddenly a teacher so you could get by perfectly fine on the freebies. I just needed a bit more support.

teacherspayteachers.com. I love this site because it directly supports the teachers who created the resources. Imagine all the printables, worksheets, ideas, projects, curriculum for any subject, topic or grade. It is all mostly inexpensive (full curriculum is more expensive) AND (my personal favorite) a fair amount of the content is completely free!

Favorite Bloggers

I follow several bloggers (mostly for the freebies, I admit) but do have my favorites that consistently provide high-quality content.

keepingmykiddobusy.com She provides great early learning resources and ideas for; yes, keeping your kiddos busy!

thecraftyclassroom.com  Some of my favorite resources have come from this site!

therelaxedhomeschool.com A veteran homeschooler, she is a wealth of info.

mathgeekmama.com She is what she promises and the math resources are amazing!mom homeschooling her son on a wood table during the day while a dog lays nearby

Apps

  • Adventure Academy.  We’re relatively new to this one having just graduated from ABCMouse.  I wasn’t sure about it until I caught my son actively choosing to listen to lessons on biology.  Um, ok!
  • Epic! We had an account through his school but obviously lost it when I unenrolled him for the remainder of the year.  It’s a reading and book app that is robust.  I use it daily.
  • Brainzy – this is the education.com app.  I haven’t played it much but it will be nice to assign things to him through this while I’m lesson planning.

Virtual Field Trips 

discoveryeducation.com  This is Discovery Channel! Lots of fun virtual learning opportunities.

wearethemighty.com

These are just a few of the resources I’ve used. I also have a massive pinterest folder for all this. You’re welcome to check it out! It’s just my personal research and ideas.

Hopefully, you were able to find one little thing in this that helps you. That’s my hope – make just one parent’s journey a little easier! Remember, parents, you got this! You are doing great!


Vivian Griggs club greenwood personal training coordinatorVivian Griggs

Personal Training Coordinator

Vivian has two Bachelors of Science degrees in Finance and Accounting Control Systems and has been a certified personal trainer for 12 years with a specialty in Post-Rehabilitative training for shoulders, hips and knees. Vivian focuses on motivating clients to achieve their best and leading fitness professionals to success. Her passion as a trainer is helping her clients become as healthy as possible. Her motto is “Grow, Transform, Succeed!”. She is married to Blake and has one son, Asa.

[email protected]
303.770.2582 x301

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