The Coronavirus Homeschool Diary: Day 3

Well hello. Today was one of those days where we didn’t do much at all, but that’s where a lot of stuff got done. The incidental learning! It’s all good!

Our Rebel Girl of the day was Alek Wek, a model from Sudan. We discussed what it would be like to live with no running water and electricity. What it would be like to flee from violence and leave your home in the rain. To try and survive in frightening times. And how growing up all I saw was pretty white girls on the covers of magazines, and definitely not African women with shaved heads – and how cool it is that that definitions of beauty are expanding. I asked the girls if they thought they were beautiful, and they both said yes. This was deeply pleasing.

Moving on, they completed a couple of pages of their Lonely Planet’s Adventures in Places books we’ve had for a while. Biggie had France and Smalls had Moscow, and they needed to read about the country, put some stickers in various spots to build a landscape scene, and colour in a related picture. This kept them occupied for way longer than I expected. I know that everything we’re doing is well below Biggie’s level, but we’re here to keep occupied for now, really, not reproduce their entire curriculum at home.

Video of the day: This one on Shakespeare. We’ve been talking about him a bit more as I’m currently doing a Shakespeare module at uni. They refer to him as that old guy who died 400 years ago. They’re not wrong.

Then it was diary time.

After “recess”, the girls read a chapter of their books and completed some set work sent through by their teachers. They had to retell the story in their own words, paying attention to characters, setting, problem, and solution. I was pretty relieved that it was similar to the activity I had them do yesterday, before this info came through. I was flying blind but turns out very much on the right track! Having been a teacher aide for so many years has been helpful here at home, I have to say.

After they wrote these pieces, they had free time. I let this go on for ages because they were so engrossed in what they were doing, and I haven’t seen them play dolls like this in such a long time. It was sweet to see their little setups that used to litter my floor daily for so many years.

After lunch they did some activities from Terry Denton’s Bumper Book of the Universe, which they loved. We learned about atoms, stars, and the nothingness that makes up most of what we think is solid. They also spent much longer on this than I anticipated. Yay science!

They also played outside for hours, only coming in once to ask for a shovel. I let them have at it, they were enjoying it so much. I have no idea what they were doing, or why they were in this bush, but that’s the way I like it.

Back to school for us tomorrow, as I’ll be at work. I’m sure they’ll enjoy seeing the friends that are still there (our school population is down about 40% at the moment, which is great for social distancing and there being enough sanitiser to go round!) and actually learn something from a professional, which will be helpful. I also miss being part of the hustle and bustle of the school and all the people in it, so it will be nice to come out of my cave for the day.

I wish you much clean hands, and many healthy air. See you soon.