Grandparents can play an important role in homeschooling. That’s particularly true this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed millions of unprepared families into the world of school-at-home. 

Maybe you’re a grandparent not sure where to begin helping your grown children with the challenge of home education. Or maybe you’re a homeschool parent looking for creative ways to involve grandparents in the process. Either way, this blog post is for you!

Below, we explore eight ways that grandparents can step up and step in to take some of the burden off stressed-out homeschooling parents. Let’s go!

1. Invite younger homeschoolers to your home for lunch

If your grandchild is too young to make his or her lunch, then consider inviting them to your home one day a week for lunch. It may not seem like much, but it could provide some much needed relief to tired parents.

2. Help grade tests or papers

This is something you may be able to do remotely, depending on if your grandchild’s tests are in paper or digital form. Since grading tests can be a tedious task, your beloved homeschooling parents are sure to appreciate your help!

3. Babysit to allow for date nights (maybe more than usual)

By babysitting more often than you usually would, you’re giving your adult children the opportunity to do things like go on dates, spend time with friends, or just run some errands without having to worry about their kids. The time you spend with your grandchildren may help their parents keep their sanity. If a parent is feeling better about life, he or she will likely do a better job homeschooling.

4. Drive your grandkids to homeschooling groups or to other educational opportunities

Chauffeuring your grandkids can be a huge help for busy parents. This, of course, will depend on your state’s laws about where you can and cannot go, what is and isn’t open, and how comfortable you are going out due to coronavirus.

If local museums are not open or your homeschooling group isn’t meeting, consider visiting a park and pointing out what you spot in nature to your grandkids. Turn it into a conversation about botany, biology, or another science-related subject. 

Or you could take your grandkids to the grocery store and teach them about fruits and veggies. For teenagers, you could teach them how you pick out what to buy. This could help give them ideas for their own meals once they leave home.

5. Tutor your grandchild in your area of expertise

Here’s a simple but effective idea: Pick a subject you’re comfortable with and see how you can help your grandchild learn it better. Do you have a great interest in science? Then perhaps you could tutor your grandchild in biology, physics, or astronomy. Or maybe math is more up your alley, in which case you could help answer any math questions that may come up (from the child or their parent).

6. Talk to your grandchildren about what the world was like when you were a kid

This is a great opportunity for you to give them a cultural history lesson on what life was like decades ago. Here are some questions you’re grandchild might like to know the answer to:

  • What toys did you play with? 
  • What was the first movie you ever saw? 
  • What music did you listen to? 
  • What was going on in the nation or world during that time? 

Answering these questions just might pique their interest in history and open the gate to further discussions about history.

7. Share your hobbies with them

Use your hobby as an educational opportunity! Do you like fishing? Take your grandchildren on a special fishing trip and tell them what you know about boats, fish, and the proper way to cast a line. Or perhaps you have a love of cooking or baking, in which case you could make something with them in the kitchen, teaching them about the ingredients along the way.

8. Talk to your grandchildren about their ancestry

You don’t have to go too high up the family tree if you don’t know a lot about your familial history. This could be as simple as telling your grandkids about the ancestors you knew. So telling them about your own grandparents could work well here. Also, funny stories are a good route to take if you have them.

Just like talking to your grandkids about your childhood, this could potentially heighten their interest in the subject of history.

Wrapping up

That wraps up our list of ways grandparents can help out during the coronavirus. We hope we’ve been able to provide some practical ideas of how you can be a blessing to your family. And if you haven’t heard, we have a podcast dedicated entirely to homeschooling to give you even more homeschooling ideas!