Quarantine Homeschool Routine and Homemade Butter
Last month, if you would have told me we would be on a state lockdown with stay in place orders due to a pandemic I would have said you’ve been watching too much Walking Dead. I’d suggest you take a little break from the post-apocalyptic tv show binging. I never would have guessed this could all be real.
But here we are.
Day who knows what of quarantine...
Most days I wear the same sweatpants from the day before promising I’ll actually pull myself together and get dressed... only it rarely happens. My husband knows what this hot mess express looks like, bags and all. He’s already stuck with me so what’s the point of actual pants? Sweats will do in a pandemic.
My husband and I attempt to work from home with three rowdy boys and an almost 2 month old baby who’s decided she rules the house. Oh did I mention we’re supposed to be teaching our kids now too...
I send my kids to public school because I know I can’t hack it as a homeschool mom!
I tried. I blew it. I happily sent them to their school each day knowing full well teachers are my hero! Now it’s all on me. I have to entertain the kids, teach them so they don’t lose it all, and remind them they aren’t wild animals. I mean come on... is it that hard to throw the freaking granola bar wrappers away when you’re done???
After about a week of no routine I finally bought workbooks for all the kids. I thought letting them hack the summer routine now would be fine. Then I remembered that we’re rarely home in the summer. “Summer routine” while stuck at home was terrible. The worst. I decided homeschooling it was. The workbooks have worked out surprisingly well. It’s mainly review for the kids so they don’t complain about getting it done each day. We set a 30 minute timer and they get through with as many pages as they can. If they do their best work they get a sticker and damn do they want those stickers. I’ve decided I want my own sticker reward each day. If I make it until 5 without a glass of wine I get a sticker!
Once the workbooks are done it’s chore time. I write the kids chores on the fridge with a dry erase marker. Each kid has their own list they are in charge of. The lists have the basic things like get dressed, brush teeth, make your bed. They also have the kids weekly room assignment. We used to give the kids a single chore to get done each day, but that seem too easy. Now each kid is assigned a room during the week. They are responsible for keeping that room tidy. For example one kid gets the kitchen. That means they have to unload the dishwasher, sweep the floor, and wipe down the counters. They each have to tidy up their room about 1 to 2 times a day. We are a little looser with the kitchen over something like the dining room, but it works out really well. Obviously no kid wants the kitchen and they are so excited at the end of the week when it goes on to the next brother!
Read more about our chore lists here
Typically during this time, I am in my office on work phone calls or trying to get my list done. My schedule is pretty flexible for work, so I try to get everything done in the mornings. That way I’m not scrambling throughout the day trying to check off my to do list. Some days this works out really nicely. Other days I’m having zoom calls while rocking a baby and texting my children threats for the next one who knocks on my door or passes a note under the door asking to play video games. Somehow I’ve become less scary to them. I don’t know what I’ve done wrong. Apparently they’ve learned all my threats are useless and I won’t follow through. One day I really will kick them out of the house and make them live off the land…
If my kids haven’t killed each other by this point, I send them outside for a little bit while I get my third or fourth glass of iced coffee. I feed the baby and make sure she’s all good to go and then call the kids back in to start reading. Our family absolutely loves reading. My oldest son is in second grade, but reads at a third-grade level. This by no means has anything to do with my parenting skills, it’s all him. He straight up loves to read and devours all books. My first grade son has followed in his brothers footsteps. He is a first grader reading at almost a second grade level!
I will admit, my husband and I are ridiculously proud that our kids love to read so much. As everything in the world seems to be upside down right now, one thing we try to do every day regardless of anything that’s happened is read together. Sometimes the kids go up to my husbands office and will read on his couch. Sometimes they hang upside down the couch, reading to themselves. Since they've been home from school we started reading together while curled up on the couch. The kids pass around Emelia like a little doll while I read to them. We decided to start a new book and while looking around I found my prized possession. I found a copy of Little House on the Prairie and our bookshelves.
Growing up I used to be obsessed with this book series. I was so obsessed that I even started waking up at 5:30, before the bus picked me up to watch it on Nick at Night. Let’s take a second to remember Nick at Night. Hands up if used to stay up as late as you could or wake up as early as you could to watch it! It used to be a badge of honor between my brother and I and who could stay up until 10 when Nick At Nite would come on.
I wasn’t sure what the kids would think, but they have already become obsessed. They love hearing about living off the land, hunting, and what it was like for the Ingles to live on the Prairie. We even got my husband in on the action. All five of us eagerly listen to each new chapter and talk about everything afterwards!
One of my friends saw how into the series we started getting and shared an activity to make her own butter. We just talked about it in the book and I knew the kids would love it. Plus if Ma can till the fields while Pa is injured in bed or make clothes for the entire family I can make some freaking butter with the kids!
Check out the recipe below! It was so easy! We modified it a bit and the kids danced around the house shaking up their little jars until they had butter! They couldn’t believe they made butter with their own two hands! We even made banana bread so they could try out their butter!
I loved seeing the kids do this activity because it brought the book to life for them. Like you all know, I’m truly far from a homeschool mom. My homeschool mom friends are hero’s in my eyes! If I can do this project with the kids, you can too!
ALSO, if you haven’t read The Little House On The Prairie series, now is the time! You can even buy the whole series on Apple TV for under $20. The first two episodes are slow but then it gets going.
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