Homeschooling my children while sheltering in place... and working.

Abandoning the kids to screens isn't an option for us. But as parents working from home, we aren't able to dedicate ourselves to directly teaching the kids. Instead, we've opted for a Montessori-like model of self-directed, self-driven education.

What to teach? Well, I started by informing my daughters that they've been elected as their own "Board of Education", and are now in charge of designing their own curriculum. This announcement was greeted with cheers. (No kidding!)

My new experts and I sat together, and we brainstormed up a the following structure and curriculum:

Structure

1. One 2 hr educational period in the morning, one in the afternoon, split in the middle by a recess in the yard.

2. They choose the topics, but I get to choose the learning materials.

3. Lunch is now cooking class - They determine what's for lunch, and cook for everyone. They're encouraged to look up recipes and find ones they like. They'll shortlist three, and I'll choose the one that will work best.

4. Daddy is working, and activities will be self-directed, but they have to produce or show something at the end of it.

5. We'll randomly choose activities the day-of, by rolling D+D dice.

6. We'll make this up as we go, and change if we like.

Activities:

Gardening - We'll start with growing from seeds using jiffy pods, and later transplant to jiffy pots. And then later to our yard. Some will stay indoors as a herb garden. They can learn all of this from youtube.

Spanish - We have various books and textbooks in Spanish. Will occasionally substitute kids movies in Spanish.

Documentary Movie - They watch a documentary, and after provide a writeup of what they learned, what they liked, and what they thought was missing. I'll pick two documentaries, and they choose which one they like more. Lots of recommendations online.

Fitness - Calisthenics from youtube. P90X videos. Punching and kicking the heavy bag. "Just dance" on the Wii. Practicing Joint locks from youtube, Practice wrestling on a blanket in the living room floor.

Latin - I have various materials for teaching Latin to kids, including graphic novels in Latin.

CBE Curriculum - Our older daughter's teacher has provided assignments via the D2L portal. She can do these activities with her sister and teach her sister the material as she does her own assignments.

Quiet reading time - Whatever they choose. No lack of books in this house.

STEM1: Coding - Projects from the book "Coding projects in Python".

STEM2: Science - Practical projects from one of my handful of "Science Crafts" books, including "How to fossilize your Hamster", and "50 Dangerous things you should let your children do".

STEM3: Engineering - Choose and research a technology from my 20-volume set "Encyclopedia of Technology and Invention". Write a report of what they've learned.

Biology - Pick an animal of interest, research about it, write about it. Become an expert on it! It will be an ongoing project. Each class, I'll direct them to focus on a different facet: Behavior, anatomy, ecology, evolution, etc. By the end they'll know all there is to know about this particular critter... and perhaps a few other things.

History/Geography - Pick a country of interest, research about it, write about it. Become an expert on it! It will be an ongoing project. Each class I'll direct them to research a different facet: Geography, climate, war, culture, ethnic makeup, history, economy, neighbors, etc.

Textiles: Sewing and Embroidery - Mom's got this covered, and we have materials.

So far, so good: Today, I challenged them to learn how they were going to turn the rotting strawberries in our fridge into seeds they could plant, including cold stratification. They learned it all from google/youtube. They also watched "Tigers of Scotland", a documentary on endangered wildcats of scotland, and wrote a short review.

And they did some "Just Dance 2018".

#HomeSchoolingWhileWorking