Five Ideas to give you time to shower!

My 14-year-old is upstairs in her room doing her virtual distance learning. I poke my head in periodically to see if she needs me. She doesn't. She is enjoying seeing her friends on Zoom...and from the giggles I know their FaceTime is active between classes....just like they were having a conversation at their lockers between classes. I love it.

But I also have talked to many mamas in recent days who have younger children and who are completely stressed out by the distance learning, or the lack thereof. Mamas who are worried about whether their child is falling terribly behind. Mamas who are at a loss for what to do with their preschooler or elementary-age children.

So since my girl doesn't need my help (much), I thought maybe -- as a former homeschooling mom to four -- I could offer y'all a little help (mainly because I need to feel useful).

First, I wish I could look you right in the eyes and say, your child is going to be fine. FINE. They aren't missing some intricate piece to their education that will mess them up for life. I promise. I promise. So take a deep breath and KNOW the most important thing you can do for your children today is to hug them tight, keep them socially distant from people outside your family, and let them talk and talk and talk about any anxiety they might be feeling.

A little science experiment once upon a time -- we were making candles.

Beyond that, I have a few tips for non-electronically filling the days:

1. https://shop.carolscurriculum.com/ This is a fantastic program for preschoolers. I checked and they are still shipping orders every day. Carol's Affordable Curriculum is my favorite because -- beyond the great name -- they send everything your child needs to complete the work. If little bitty Cate needed yarn, a paper plate, and googly eyes for an art project, it was in the kit! And the kits are extremely reasonably priced!

2. My co-author (and the master mind behind the Helix book series) Randy Betz is offering FREE downloadable coloring sheets of all the hidden characters in his books. Download, print, let your kids go wild!

3. I found a great site with free printables for math -- they have worksheets for kindergarten through pre-calculus!

4. Check in with your local library. A library card allows you to access free e-books and audible books -- and that is great news for all ages! (And in case you don't have a card, our local library allows you to apply for a temporary card online so you can still use the services during this time! I bet yours does too!)

Cause they are too cute not share more...

5. And finally, when Mason had his big summer surgery, we found science experiments to be exactly what we needed to keep our at-home days entertaining. We shot a rocket and video taped the whole thing. I am not sure which was more entertaining the actual rocket launch or the video-editing!  I looked and  Mystery Science is offering their lessons and experiments FREE temporarily to help teachers and families during this time. Mystery Science offers both mini-lessons and full lessons for kindergarteners through fifth graders on topics like "Why is the Ocean Salty?" to "How do germs get in your body?" and "What is a black hole?" and a ton of others!

These sites take the guess work out of finding lessons for your kiddos. They might buy you a bit of free time to get that conference call done...or you know, shower. And they keep your amazing kid's imagination growing, moving, learning.

We will get through this together, dear ones. If I can help you in any way, please reach out. I am here.  Stay safe.