Homeschooling 101: Q&A with Heather Lipson Bell
As many of us are coping with the idea of another semester of virtual learning for our kids, we thought we would ask an expert for some tips and tricks on how to help your children continue to enjoy learning.
Heather Lipson Bell is the founder of Performing Arts For All, an amazing organization focused on inclusion. Heather also homeschools two brilliant young kiddos, and has been doing so since before the pandemic. We sat down with her to get her advice on how to create engaging learning environments, how to balance teaching with your own work, and why it’s important to have fun.
What’s the best way to schedule homeschooling around work?
One of the benefits of homeschooling is that it allows schedule flexibility. My husband Jeff and I do not work traditional 9-5 Monday-Friday jobs and as I am not a morning person, we can create a timeline that works best for our family.
For younger students, most curriculums don’t take more than 2-3 hours a day. You also don’t have to have them all happen at the same time if that doesn’t work for your work schedule. I started having a lot of meetings in the morning, and quickly realized that I cannot be in meetings and expect learning to happen at the same time. When my kids are learning, I’m there to help if they need to ask questions, if there’s technology issues, etc.
Some families prefer to follow a more structured schedule, and while that may look different than ours, the time spent doing required learning is a relatively small portion of the day, and allows many families to find a way to balance work with schooling.
How have you created a learning environment in your home?
Every kid is different, so if your kid needs structure and space for them to learn, make that. I went to Michael’s and got rolling carts with drawers for each subject so that we could have a better way to stay organized and the kids can “be in charge” of the space. Everyone’s space is different as well. We approached it with a play mentality - maybe the table works for one class, maybe over on the floor for another. We made a calendar with their zoom/google classroom logins for each class so that they can look and keep track themselves.
Unless there are things that your kids can learn together, try to set them up in different spaces. I know that for many families this is hard, but even if it’s just their space in the same room that helps. Also, it’s ok to give one kid a break so you can help the other. I try not to do more than 30 minutes at a time since my kids are younger, but it’s ok for one sibling to take mental breaks or work independently while you’re working 1:1 with another.
Most important is to make sure the kids have outlets to stretch and move. We’ve all lost so much movement during COVID, and kids need outlets for their energy and well-being. If it’s a 20 minute dance party break, or a walk around the block - that will help them focus when it is time to be back inside.
What’s an example of how you’ve gotten creative with your children’s interests as teaching opportunities?
My son is currently very into dragons, and the other week he had a complete meltdown - he was absolutely bawling - because he wanted to have an AI dragon and didn’t think he could do it. Rather than tell a 9 year old that AI dragons are out of the realm of possibility, I started from the beginning and asked him, “Why is having this AI dragon important? What could it do? How could it help society? (I always try to tie learning back into how it interacts with all of us).” After he told me, I then said, “Ok, well how would you build an AI dragon?” He said, “Well, first, you’d probably need to draw it to see what it will look like and the wings. And then maybe I could rent a small 3D printer to print it, and then maybe get a bigger one…” and he built out a plan on how to build his dragon. Now, whenever he’s had enough screen time or if he needs an activity, we can point him to “dragon project” and he’s so passionate that he spends so much time on it. MIT is also offering free online coding classes that are kid friendly, so that’s been great for him to start learning the skills he might need for the AI side.
If you just listen to your kids - they’ll tell you what they want and need to be happy. Use whatever it is that they’re currently into - maybe it’s soccer - well soccer balls are covered in octagons - that’s geometry right there.
What are some other online or virtual resources you’ve been using?
There are so many free things online! Many museums, zoos, and aquariums in America are free online right now to look at virtually. There are so many worksheets and online videos that you can use to supplement subjects or give your kids more information.
Beast academy - $60/year - but really fun math as presented in comic book format, and video lessons with the teacher
Dance downtown LA has been doing a free family dance class every Friday online
Aerial America and Aerial Britain - we learn about history/geography this way
Calm optics - screen glare glasses - $20, cheaper options on Amazon - these aren’t online, but because screen time has increased so much, I want to help protect my kids eyes
Free JPL/NASA: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learning-space/
Free K-12: https://ca.pbslearningmedia.org
Free: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize (FYI: Bitesize has classes w/David Attenborough which is how I found them)
Free K-6th : https://www.coreknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/CKHG-Additional-Activities-K-6.pdf
4th graders and their families: Free pass to National Parks: https://everykidoutdoors.gov/index.htm
Free: preK-8: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/k-8-grades
Any last thoughts for parents who may be struggling with being “teachers”?
I think a lot of parents feel the pressure of having to teach and there’s a lot of “I’m not supposed to be the teacher, that’s what teachers are.” But we need to remember that we’re always first and foremost a teacher. Our kids learn so much by watching and observing us, so while they may not listen in the same way to us, we are still teaching them.
It's important not only to understand your child and how they learn, but your strengths and weaknesses as well. You don't need to teach them everything! There are so many incredible teachers and programs, even friends and family, excited to support you and share knowledge about any and every subject that you can possibly imagine.
All of this is a challenge, whether you’ve done it before or it’s completely new, or if the format keeps changing. Maybe you hated learning or had a really hard time with a specific subject - is there a fun way that you can do it?
If you approach it as “everything is learning” it makes it a bit easier. What do you do with your kids when they’re not learning in a structured way? When you watch movies, when you do activities - ask them “Why is this important? How does this help society? How would you make that better?” Listen and engage with your kids, and give them opportunities to teach you. If they have interest and pride in something, it will improve their confidence.
The school is a small part of all of this - what are projects that you can do as a family?
Travel virtually
Write a Dear Covid letter
Make home videos - let them write a play and film and edit it
Get a musical instrument and explore, learn, play, create!- There are many inexpensive options and sometimes free options: ex: our library loans ukuleles.
It's not going to be perfect every day, and that's ok. Have fun and enjoy the adventure!
