Parenting in a Pandemic? Mom Bloggers to the Rescue!
By Jan Pierce
These past few months have been some of the most abnormal of our entire lives. Nothing is on our usual schedules and many of us are home with our children all day long, every day. For those of us who are choosing to homeschool, this will remain true even after summer break is over. Wondering how to fill the long hours? Ta da! Mom blogs to the rescue. Check out these.
African-American Homeschool Moms has all kinds of resources, including a list of apps for homeschooling parents and innovative ideas for extracurricular activities in the COVID-19 era.
Buggy and Buddy is a fantastic, user-friendly site run by an elementary school teacher who shares art, science, STEM, and STEAM projects for toddlers through teens. She includes a great section on activities based on children’s books.
Busy Toddler offers a gazillion ideas for cool activities to do with your toddlers—from sensory play to tasks highlighting fine motor skills. There’s also a homeschool preschool curriculum called Playing Preschool.
Cherish360 is the baby of Jennifer Borget, a part-time journalist who writes about homeschooling a child with dyslexia and teaching kids about diversity and inclusion. She put together a great list of 30 websites to help parents homeschool and also has a collection of 20 children’s books with African-American protagonists.
Cool Mom Picks has a huge selection of activities for kids of all ages. Check out the back-to-school “mask self-portrait” art project and the review of the Anti-Racist Baby board book. Then dive into the extremely informative “8 Things to Think about If You’re Homeschooling Because of COVID-19 This Fall.” The website creators’ also have an award-winning podcast, Spawned.
The Dad Lab is a bit of a work in progress, but it does have some great kid/parent science projects. The mother lode of science projects, however, is in The Dad Lab book, to which the site links.
Indigenous Homeschoolers is a private Facebook group to support Native families. See the “Native American Homeschoolers” page on a2zhomeschooling.com for other resources, such as the Native Child Curriculum.
Mommy Maestra features homeschooling advice and children’s activities specifically geared for Hispanic families. See the “A Comprehensive List of Spanish Curricula” post for educational materials in Spanish, or, if you want your child to learn Spanish, see the “Master List of Spanish Learning Resources.” Also check out Cinco Puntos Press for bilingual books. Want community? Join Monica Olivera, the blog’s founder, in her new Hispanic and Bilingual Homeschoolers Facebook group, which has already garnered more than 10,000 members since it started in June.
Mommy Poppins has a section, found under the “Virtual” tab, dedicated to free or low-cost virtual classes, parties, camps, and programming for kids.
No Time for Flash Cards focuses on crafts, books, and all sorts of educational activities—all searchable by age. If you are schooling at home, there is a section for teachers.
Untigering is the voice of an Asian-American momma who debunks common expectations of unschooling and gives you the scoop on topics like how kids can learn math in the real world.
Jan Pierce is a freelance writer specializing in education and parenting. Find her at janpierce.net.
These past few months have been some of the most abnormal of our entire lives. Nothing is on our usual schedules and many of us are home with our children all day long, every day. For those of us who are choosing to homeschool, this will remain true even after summer break is over. Wondering how to fill the long hours? Ta da! Mom blogs to the rescue. Check out these.
African-American Homeschool Moms has all kinds of resources, including a list of apps for homeschooling parents and innovative ideas for extracurricular activities in the COVID-19 era.
Buggy and Buddy is a fantastic, user-friendly site run by an elementary school teacher who shares art, science, STEM, and STEAM projects for toddlers through teens. She includes a great section on activities based on children’s books.
Busy Toddler offers a gazillion ideas for cool activities to do with your toddlers—from sensory play to tasks highlighting fine motor skills. There’s also a homeschool preschool curriculum called Playing Preschool.
Cherish360 is the baby of Jennifer Borget, a part-time journalist who writes about homeschooling a child with dyslexia and teaching kids about diversity and inclusion. She put together a great list of 30 websites to help parents homeschool and also has a collection of 20 children’s books with African-American protagonists.
Cool Mom Picks has a huge selection of activities for kids of all ages. Check out the back-to-school “mask self-portrait” art project and the review of the Anti-Racist Baby board book. Then dive into the extremely informative “8 Things to Think about If You’re Homeschooling Because of COVID-19 This Fall.” The website creators’ also have an award-winning podcast, Spawned.
The Dad Lab is a bit of a work in progress, but it does have some great kid/parent science projects. The mother lode of science projects, however, is in The Dad Lab book, to which the site links.
Indigenous Homeschoolers is a private Facebook group to support Native families. See the “Native American Homeschoolers” page on a2zhomeschooling.com for other resources, such as the Native Child Curriculum.
Mommy Maestra features homeschooling advice and children’s activities specifically geared for Hispanic families. See the “A Comprehensive List of Spanish Curricula” post for educational materials in Spanish, or, if you want your child to learn Spanish, see the “Master List of Spanish Learning Resources.” Also check out Cinco Puntos Press for bilingual books. Want community? Join Monica Olivera, the blog’s founder, in her new Hispanic and Bilingual Homeschoolers Facebook group, which has already garnered more than 10,000 members since it started in June.
Mommy Poppins has a section, found under the “Virtual” tab, dedicated to free or low-cost virtual classes, parties, camps, and programming for kids.
No Time for Flash Cards focuses on crafts, books, and all sorts of educational activities—all searchable by age. If you are schooling at home, there is a section for teachers.
Untigering is the voice of an Asian-American momma who debunks common expectations of unschooling and gives you the scoop on topics like how kids can learn math in the real world.
Jan Pierce is a freelance writer specializing in education and parenting. Find her at janpierce.net.
