The Home School Connection | Boosting Academics at Home

Students receive a top notch education when home school and traditional school come together! A classroom atmosphere can help set the stage for learning. However, in the majority of schools the teacher to student ratio is high and disruptions are inevitable.

To provide our children with the best education, it’s a good idea to reconnect with them at home. This may simply be looking over their homework, reworking missed test questions with them, and making sure they are reading for fun.

If your child has to miss school for a couple weeks, or you’re just looking to give them an academic boost, you may want to add a home school element. Check out a few of my favorite grade level specific projects that work great at home! (I’m also providing a giant FREE list of activities to do at home with kids below.)

K

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

6th Grade

I have 313 educational resources available in my online store. But, I have specifically chosen the resources listed above as great on grade level activities that can parents use at home! If you are interested at seeing the rest of my online store, you can find it here: Peas in a Pod on Teachers Pay Teachers

On more than one occasion I have thought, “Whew, what just took us an hour as a class of 35 to accomplish could have been accomplished in 10 minutes in a one-on-one teaching session at home”. Sometimes the classroom intrusions, ringing phones, drills, disruptive behavior, etc. make accomplishing it all at school impossible. Thank you for partnering with teachers to make sure our children have the brightest futures possible!


Giant List of FREE Activities to do at Home with Kids!

For actual quarantine, school closures, weekend social distancing,

or anytime!

• Have the kids help with yard work in between playing games outside.
• GoNoodle! Great for guided movement, relaxation, etc.
• Board games, card games
• Legos
• Lots of reading, playing with the dog.
• Working on learning to sew using stuff we have on hand.
• Card making/scrapbooking projects ( This is mostly for me, but kids can do it too).

• Check out the FREE category in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
• Getting the garden ready, we need to weed and work the ground. I might get seeds and we’ll set up to have our own starts this year.
• Make tents and reading caves: flashlights, tidy snacks, books, and pillows!
• Have a shadow show in the reading tent (we used blankets over chairs or a table)
• Get binoculars and learn about the birds near your house, look them up on google.
• Learn how to make a stuffed animal.
• Play with cornstarch and water and cheap action figures.
• Collect a bunch of tape markers and cardboard boxes.
• Watch all the hand washing videos & vote on your favorite. Discuss why each video is good, helpful, or funny.

Even more home school ideas:


• Family puzzles – Try to choose one that is between 500-1000 pieces that is challenging but does not too frustrating.
• Team up and really clean / organize each kid’s space. Make a donation box for each person. (Parents are included.)
• Have a board game day.
• Kids can also make their own games!
• Write a story cooperatively. One person picks a character and the other picks a setting and then go gangbusters together.
• Have each kid pick a topic they’d like to learn about, and spend 30 mins each day on that topic.
• Spend one day reading every single picture book we have in the house.
• Go through all the old mail laying around. (Ok, that one’s not for kids although they do enjoy helping tear stuff up.)
• Bake something every day.
• Have each kid write a letter and/or emails to a different friend or family member each day.
• Use all of our building toys on one giant structure.
• Wash our hands!!!!
• Races of various kinds in the backyard (hopping on one foot, crabwalk, walking backwards, etc.)
• Try stop motion animation with playdough.
• Facetime grandparents a lot.
• Inventory the plants & wildlife (from bugs on up) in your yard.
• Learn the parts of plants/flowers & how they function (bonus if they learn the Latin names).


I have also linked up with a couple of my colleagues. They are dynamic teachers who have unique ideas! Make sure to check out their home school favorites here:

Paula’s Primary Classroom
An Apple for the Teacher

On a side note, I recently created this log book for my own children. You can use it & adapt it for your needs too.  It’s printable & customizable! You can read more about it HERE. Just click on the picture to get yours!

One thought on “The Home School Connection | Boosting Academics at Home

  1. Having parents who are involved and active in their child’s education makes SUCH a difference! Thanks for sharing easy ways to help our kiddos learn!

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