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Corona Curriculum

Rebecca Lynn
12 min readApr 9, 2020

As a venture capitalist and a mother of three kids ages 6, 10, and 13, these weeks at home have been eye-opening on a number of fronts. At first, we thought this would be a couple of weeks. We went by the school work packets and online meetings. I was initially impressed with the level of organization and planning from our school — our teachers deserve our gratitude (and a pay raise)!

However, as it became clear that weeks were turning into months, I took a new tact. I saw that my kids were not challenged, and that much of what they were doing was busy work. They also had holes in their learning.

I became “that mom.” My day job as a venture capitalist is great because every day, I dive deeply into a subject that I may know very little about initially. I am expected to become an expert in a matter of days or weeks. I also love school. Over the years, I’ve racked up a degree in Chemical Engineering, a JD, and an MBA. Thus, diving into the educational curricula for our kids was something I always wanted to do, but given limited time, had handed it to someone else.

So I jumped in. I did online research, spoke with experts, and tapped my homeschooling friends (special thanks to Minal Hasan who has run a homeschool for years)! I learned a lot. My friends encouraged me to share it, and that is what this post is for. For better or worse, my kids love being homeschooled. They are asking to continue to be homeschooled because they are learning so much more, and they are enjoying what they are learning.

My kindergartener has made dramatic leaps in reading, writing, and math in a few short weeks. My fourth grader, who complained of boredom before, is excited about what he is learning each day, and my eighth grader is completing classes that will count for high school.

The core things I discovered are below.

First, homeschooling is accomplished in about three hours a day. You don’t need more than that, and this is far more focused instruction than the kids are actually getting in their regular school. Like many, I was driving myself crazy at first thinking I had to fill 8 am to 3 pm with materials, but this simply isn’t the case. Three hours a day — that is what you should target. Kids also need time to be bored and discover. The greatest inventions were usually born out of months of boredom or time alone.

Second, I realized that a detailed schedule is ESSENTIAL. Teachers have it right. You have to have a schedule down to the minute. This helps the kids know what is expected, when to expect it, and when they will get breaks.

Third, I am so grateful for all the online resources. They are both incredible and overwhelming — Khan Academy should be given a medal of honor at this point! I weeded through all the options, and I outlined below the resources I found were the most helpful. If you do this, the kids will be ahead of the game. I also included the list of all else for those of you who like to be thorough (or whose children enjoy the exploration). And don’t shun offline books. They can provide the roadmap and the online sites can provide extra engagement. There are many sites that are offering 30 day free memberships. Take advantage of these offers to try out new sites and resources.

Finally, this time period has been a fabulous opportunity to get the kids ramped up to speed on cooking, cleaning and chores. Today, we are learning to make baguettes! My son is now mowing the lawn. My kindergartener does the dishes. My thirteen-year-old is cooking dinner. Beds still aren’t made, but we’ll get there. Maybe.

Below is our corona curriculum schedule along with the resources we use. Feel free to amend this as you want to or need to. This is what works for us, and we are making changes continually. Also, expect the day — everyday — to go off schedule. However, as for any battle, you must go in with a plan. It will change the minute you hit the field, but a plan is essential! Be flexible and go with it once you are there. Sometimes, the kids had a bad night of sleep. Others, you had a bad night of sleep. Don’t be afraid to call it and take a break and bake cupcakes. We all are facing the Corona 15.

Please, please send me your suggestions! Like everyone who has had homeschooling thrown in their lap, we are constantly learning. We will share your suggestions with the community.

CORONA CURRICULUM SCHEDULE (to be amended to keep your sanity)

8:00–8:50 Breakfast, cleaning up the dishes and getting ready

Each day, a kid and adult pair are assigned breakfast duty. The kids get to make their favorite dish. Some mornings, it is simply cereal. Other mornings we have waffles, pancakes, oatmeal, eggs (when we can get them), etc.

8:50–9:00 Meditate

This may seem hard for little kids, but I learned that my kindergartener actually did this in preschool! Headspace is the best app I have found to guide the process, and they have a set of introductory activities. Be patient. The kids may wiggle a lot and think it is funny at first. Accept this :) This is good practice for you, too. It takes repetition and encouragement. Acknowledge if they are able to sit still for a few minutes, and it will get better each day. This is a good centering exercise for me as well, and it gets the kids tuned in.

Optional — If you have a really high energy kid, or it is one of those days, research has shown that exercising BEFORE starting the day helps with focus. My recommendation is a free app, The 7 Minute Workout. It is only 7 minutes, you have time! There are other themed movement classes for younger ages, but there is only so much I can take… I was never a fan of Barney or Elmo. Nothing wrong with good, old fashioned push ups, sit-ups, and squats!

9:00–9:15 Organize and explain the day

I find this is very important. I check in with the kids and find out what is going well and what is not. Discuss the plan overall for the day. They usually want assurances around when they will be getting a break, and we discuss options for what they can work on that day. Also, we have to integrate zoom meetings and other things they need to do for their current school.

9:15–10:00 Math

Math is by far the most straight-forward subject to take online. The resources are below, and they are very well laid out. Again, Khan deserves a medal.

Kindergartner, Fourth & Eighth Grader

  • Khan Academy — Can cover math from kindergarten through high school. It is completely free, though I recommend a donation if you can afford it! The best idea, which Khan suggests, is to have the kids go through and do the “end of unit quizzes” for the grade they are on. For each unit, kids can take the end-of-unit test. If they do well, there is no need to review that unit. If they do not, they can go back and do the work on the unit and take the quizzes that are part of the unit. I had my kids do this, and I did find they had holes in what they were supposed to know for their grade. They were able to quickly assess these holes and review the material they needed. Consequently, they have the option of advancing to the next grade level. [Note: Khan actually suggests going back through all end of unit tests starting at kindergarten no matter what grade your kids are in to fill in gaps, but this was soundly rejected by all my kids.]
  • Workbooks — we like Everyday Math in general (they have sticker stars when each section is completed). For our kindergartener, we are currently using one book, Scholastic 1st Grade Workbook, for math, writing, and language arts. For elementary grades, there are a number of books that work well and can be found on Amazon.
  • IXL.com — our schools use this. It is great as it covers each problem in specific detail and every skill per grade. However, there is no explanation upfront and just an example given when students get a wrong answer. It also has a diagnostic so you can test for missing skills and gaps. It is $19.95 a month (some school districts are covering) and also applies to language arts.
  • Singapore Math- Parents swear by Singapore Math. It is not online, but you can buy the workbooks from Amazon. It offers an entire, turn-key curriculum. If we commit to homeschooling for the long run, we will consider this option.

Eight Grader/High School

  • BYU Online Classes- If you have a child who can do high school level courses, then there is an option of making lemonade out of lemons, and you can let them earn college credit for the course they are taking. For example, my eighth grader is taking Geometry so she can test out of it for high school. You want to be sure that the school your child will go to for high school or college will accept the credit (or has a placement test). Brigham Young University has online classes that you can start anytime of the year, and If you live in California, they have courses that are University of California approved. The list of online classes is pretty amazing, and most are a couple hundred dollars. I found this far less expensive than other schools (though keep in mind, Khan Academy is free)!

10:00–10:05 Stretch break!

10:05- 10:50 Language Arts (Mon-Tues-Wed-Thurs)

This includes grammar, spelling, phonics, penmanship/cursive, vocab, reading comprehension, and depends more upon age. The best “one stop shop” resource is the aforementioned IXL.

  • Kindergartner — We mainly use Scholastic 1st Grade Workbook for handwriting and grammar — there are many on Amazon to choose from! Also, I hate flashcards, but they exist for a reason. We do sight words with them.
  • Fourth and Eight Graders — Wordly Wise for vocabulary and IXL for language arts.
  • Newsela is another in this category with writing prompts and news appropriate for elementary to middle school aged-kids.

Friday — Language — Spanish (or other language of choice!)

  • Kindergartner — Duolingo is one of the best I’ve seen for younger kids.
  • Fourth and Eighth Graders — Babbel — note: this app is tailored for adults, but is the best language learning app I have found (you will have to register kids as over 18).

10:50–11:15 BREAK and Snack

11:15–12:00 Writing/Research Project

  • Kindergartner — We practice reading here. She already did a lot of writing in the morning during language arts. To start out, we use Starfall, a great, free online app which helps the little ones create short stories with pictures to go along with it. (The company also offers physical books to order.) Beyond Starfall, Epic is an app that you can use to download many early reader books that are at the appropriate level.
  • Fourth and Eight Graders — We assign a writing project a week. It should be something they are truly interested in. This may be animals (what are the similarities and differences between horses and cows), topics of the day (how is COVID-19 different and the same as the Spanish flu), etc. Ideally, they would then present these to you or each other.
  • For the older ones with a love for writing, this is a great time to start the 90 day novel!

A few other helpful resources:

  • Grammarly — A free resource to check writing for proper grammar! And if you really want help on feedback for the work, I have used Upwork before to help you grade and critique work inexpensively.
  • Teachers Pay Teachers (Lucy Calkins) — Great curriculum by grade — about $100 per grade for a full year curriculum

12:00–12:45 Science or Social Studies (Alternate)

  • Core Knowledge is a free, online curriculum that includes textbooks for each subject area, teacher guides and activities — it is one stop shopping for science, social studies, and language arts! For example, there is a great unit for fourth grade on Europe and the Middle Ages, and Core Knowledge recommends fiction books such as Robin Hood to accompany the text (there is also a free teacher’s version and activity packet). You can download and print for free, or you can buy books. I recommend this for the roadmap for science and social studies.

There are a lot of other online resources in the area of science. None are particularly good to stand alone, but some are good supplements and are mentioned below. Also, this is a great time for kids to explore what they are passionate about. Many of the sites below give them more information on a lot of different subjects they may not get in school.

Science

K-2

3–6

7–12

Social Studies/History:

K-2

3–6

  • BrainPOP (note they have California Knowledge)

7–12

12:45–1:15 LUNCH — often leftovers from dinner

1:15–3:30 Outside time [hiking, playing, etc]

  • The kids were emphatic that they wanted time outside when it was beautiful.

3:30–4:15 Music, Art, Coding and Yoga!

Music

Art

  • Core Knowledge — Art History for K-8
  • BYU online- has a lot of options for high school art
  • Let’s Make Art- Great watercolor how-to videos! Today, we are painting carrots along with a video to show us how. You can purchase the kits, or just use your own supplies and watch the free videos.
  • Bold Color Bootcamp — Learn to use acrylics in this multi-week class. It is not free, but it is awesome! Learn to paint faces in bright colors.

Coding

  • Juni Learning — best coding app I have found. My two older kids are learning Python. The great part is that the app uses Zoom, and there is a college-aged instructor on the other side to help them one-on-one.

Yoga

4:15–6:00 Free time, reading, sports/activities

6:00–7:00 Dinner

7:00–9:00 Wind Down

9:00 Bedtime

The 100% solution!

If you decide homeschooling is for you, and you want someone to run it for you!

RESOURCE LIST:

Start to Day/Workout:

Education/Core Curriculum Websites:

  • Khan Academy — Free program, and math is detailed by grade.
  • Juni Learning — Scratch, Python and Java programming taught one-on-one online.
  • BYU (Brigham Young University)- Online classes and has a University of California approved curriculum (which means you get credit for it and why you may pay versus doing Khan Academy)
  • Go Peer — connects high schoolers to online mentors and tutors in college
  • Core Knowledge
  • IXL
  • Starfall — Free app. Learn letters and learn to read.

Science/Social Studies:

Science YouTube Channels:

Reading (especially for kids 0–6 years) where they read to you:

Podcasts:

K-2

3–5

6–8

Homeschooling
Coronavirus
Kids
Schools
Teaching And Learning

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Rebecca Lynn

Written by Rebecca Lynn

5.5K Followers

Founder and General Partner@CanvasVC. Investor in @LendingClub, @Doximity, @FutureAdvisor, @Check, @VidaHealth, @Casetext, @Gabi, @Owl, @Luminar, @FigureEight

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