Busy working Mother now a teacher too. What?

Yes, I'm a buyer's agent. But, more importantly, I'm a mom. My being a mom is the most important job title I have and I know there are other moms out there that are with me on this.

Life likes to throw challenges at us moms, doesn’t it? We’d just about got the juggle of professional life and mom life down pat. And then, Coronavirus. Now you can add a big old teaching ball into the juggling mix.

And you’ve got this. You really do momma. But a little help wouldn’t go astray, right? Especially, if you have younger children. The high-school-aged children shouldn’t be too bad at managing their own online learning (fingers crossed).

So, if you’re one of those lucky professional moms with young children, these resources may help. And don’t feel guilty about too much screen time – it’s educational after all. Of course, we don’t want screen zombies, so a good trick may be to set an alarm on your phone for hour long sessions, while you get stuff done.

You’ll already have access to the Government Education sites and private school learning resources, most requiring your presence and ongoing participation (i.e. being a teacher). Hard when you’ve got work on. So the following list of learning resources will allow you do your thing while they learn independently.

Animals 

The San Diego Zoo will keep them busy for hours. There’s amazing films, activities, games, craft and even live cams of all the animals in the zoo. You may find yourself getting distracted by this one! https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/

Nat Geo is still a classic we can depend on. The little guys can even learn about Coronavirus in a way that’s kid friendly. There’s stacks of quizzes and craft to do too.

https://www.natgeokids.com/au/

Maths and reading

The adapted mind is basically a school teacher on your laptop. And the kids will love it! The animation is done really well and there’s fun monster characters that really make learning fun. You can choose the specific grade for your child, so the learning is catered to their level and if they get an answer wrong, the teacher will correct them and explain how to get the right answer. You even get an emailed report of their learning! There’s one tiny catch of course, it does cost US$9.95. But you’ll get the first month free. Could be worth it?

https://www.adaptedmind.com

You can get some of the same benefits on Star Fall too. But it’s just not quite as fun. There’s a subscription option too, but there’s quite a bit you can do for free. It’s only useful for little ones though – kindy/preschool through to grade 3.

https://www.starfall.com/h/

Kids can have a fine selection of children’s story books read to them by famous people. How’d you like Sarah Silverman or Oprah to read your cherubs a story? It’ll buy you 15 minutes per story lol.

https://www.storylineonline.net/

Who doesn’t love Dr. Seuss? A Who, you say? A who loves him too. Sorry, that was just too easy. The Seussville site is packed with games, reading and learnings about the characters. You can even see animations that date right back to 1942.

https://www.seussville.com/ 

Science

Twice a day, kids can tune in to watch some super cool science lessons from the colourful characters at Street Science. These guys normally tour schools, but are doing these online shows free to help with current state of the world.

Like Street Science on Facebook, look at their events page and set a reminder for 10am and 2pm daily.

Armchair travel

If they’re starting to get curious about the world, they can tour it right from your lounge room. They can take a walk through the Louvre in Paris to see world-famous art works, take a virtual tour of the Great Wall of China and even learn about ancient history from the British Museum. This ones probably better for kids that are grade 3 or 4+ – there’s a bit of reading. But it has a super cool interface that lets kids travel along a timeline.

https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne

https://www.thechinaguide.com/destination/great-wall-of-china

https://britishmuseum.withgoogle.com/

Something physical

Let’s be honest, you’re going to need something that wears them out. Download the GoNoodle app for some movement based games. All movements have been designed to be safe for growing bodies while giving them the right amount of exercise.

That should keep them busy!

…And you sane. There’s a wealth of resources out there and a ton more that I have on hand. Please reach out if you’d like to get more ideas. And of course, I’m here for any property enquiries or concerns during these challenging times.