Homeschooling with Tim & Bailey #1: Nature Walks and a Quirky Squirrel

Photo: BirdPhotos.com / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)

Dear fellow educators: Wow. Yesterday, along with millions of families around the country, we started our pandemic homeschooling. So I thought I'd share some of our ideas and experiences here. But first, how are you doing today? Really, how are you? This is not a courtesy question for you to skip over. I, Tim Clue, genuinely want to know how you are doing.

As a natural collaborator and connector, I'm not used to this forced isolation and I told my daughter I was sad, and she asked, "Why?" I told her our school doesn't have a name, a mascot, or even a principal. I asked if she wanted to be the principal and she said, "No way, that job sucks!" I asked if she might choose a better word, and she took a moment and said, "Nope, that's the right one!." 😊

I said, "Well then, what's the name of our school?" She looked serious for a moment and then said, "It's too early, Dad. We can't name it quite yet."

Every single day is shaping up to be an exploration and adventure. Yesterday for PE we played one of our old favorite games, which you can adjust geographically for your kids. Here in Chicago, we just call it "Dog, Cat, Bird, Squirrel, Rabbit, Other." We walk through our neighborhood and count the animals and give them random names.

My favorite for today was "Quirky Squirrel." Like all of us, he seemed a little off. You get extra credit points for spotting a squirrel or a rabbit, however, and extra pad time if you find something unique that can be researched or looked up on the Internet.

In this game, the camera phone is allowed so that your children can take photos if they want. Yesterday this stupid, simple game touched my heart when she asked if her best friend Tally could join her. I said, "How can we do that?"

Of course, in typical smartypants-think-they- know-everything-at-10 fashion, she says "Duhh, Dad, WhatsApp video." I smiled and said, "Let's do that tomorrow." Then she shouted "Squirrel!" and we tapped elbows.

If you'd like to be a part of the journey of our makeshift school, random anecdotes, thoughts, games, stupidity, and philosophy, keep following my page and let me know what you think in the comments.

In the next installment we'll share the name of our school, and how we're going to build some ground rules.

The Unlikely Teacher,
Tim Clue