life with coronovirus around

[watervole]

 We're now full time substitute parents for Oswin and home schooling her.  (Basically, one parent in key job and one with serious mental health issues.  Other grandparent vulnerable due to age and medical issues, so all efforts to reduce virus risk and ease strain on parents.)

We're home-schooling her for the duration, which is rewarding, but knackering.  She's a bright kid and many of the sheets the school gave out are too easy.  So, we're working a bit sideways from the worksheets.  We're playing with measuring stuff, doing number work with seeds, emailing family members to work on English, and learning to touch type. We're also learning about the Romans, cooking Roman food, walking the local Roman road and looking at Roman roads on maps, learning how to use a compass on the walks, practicing tables.  

I'll start introducing her to fractions soon, but I don't want  her to get too far ahead of school or she'll get bored when she gets back.  So probably more science (Grandad loves astronomy) and history (the library loaned us loads of books) and natural history.

We're going for a long walk every day, which is good for everyone's stamina (and virus resistance).

Missing contact with other people, but at least with three in the house we don't get too lonely.

Comments

[history_monk]

Good work. Oswin, at least, will have positive memories of this strange time.

[pensnest]

Sounds as though you are doing an excellent job. How about art and cooking as well (when it rains!).

[watervole]

Grandad's teaching her to cook. I'm teaching her to sing all my favourite folk songs and weve6just started on touch typing. Hoping to teach her to read music for her mini accordion, which may be a major task :)

[kerravonsen]

Oh yeah, granddad is the cook in the family!

[watervole]

Are you still working? Would you like to chat over the phone some time if you're stuck at home? we might be able to find a workable time of day.

[kerravonsen]

Well, I'm still working from home because that's what I've done since 2017... but yeah, I'd love to chat. 8-) When our times align.

[vera_j]

You are wonderful! Even with that difficult situation on your hands, you deal with it perfectly. Oswin has everything what a child can have - even without her parents. Just take care of yourself too!

[watervole]

You say the nicest things!

[vera_j]

*HUGS*

[kotturinn]

That sounds perfect. I think running with things that are not strictly school work/, curriculum is perfect in current circumstances, especially with a bright child. You've probably found a lot of the online resources that various museums and other organisations are offering as it sounds like she might enjoy some of those, particularly when the weather isn't so good for being outside. Hope you all, including Oswin's parents and her other grandparent, stay well

[watervole]

I hadn't thought of museum web pages. I may follow up on that suggestion.

[kotturinn]

If it would help I could ask a couple of my nieces for resource suggestions. My youngest great-niece is, I think, a year or so older than Oswin and in a similar situation with being ahead of her age group (her mum is my youngest niece). My eldest niece is a teacher who, for health reasons, had to stop teaching in schools and move to tutoring/home teaching. She trained for primary age range although she now works with a range from 4-18!

[watervole]

Yes please. It's hard to know which sites to look for, and I still have enough remaining of the sciatica not to want to sit for too long at the screen.

The best things would be interesting sites on history (almost any period, but a focus on castles and things related to them as that's the current project) and anything that would make interesting projects that is not too much overlap with the curriculum, but still has lots of scope for learning anything interesting and engaging her imagination. Science is fun!

[kerravonsen]

Good to hear you're doing okay. 8-)