Play School at Home

Have you been lonely lately? Then maybe you can play school at home with friends, siblings, or anyone else that you know. It's fun and you can work on your teaching skills such as teaching math, science, and any other subjects. Everyone will enjoy this easily learned and fun game.

Steps

Setting Up the Pretend School

  1. Choose what to include in the pretend school. For example, have a classroom, library, elective classes and maybe a principal's office.
  2. Set up the classroom. Include a bathroom (optional, you can also have this down the hall), a teacher's desk, desks for the students, and a board.
    • Outside the room, you'll need a library, a cafeteria, the principal's office, and a hall.
    • Have a recess bell, to tell your students when recess is over, or you could use a whistle.
    • Set up a white board or blackboard, or just use paper. If you're just in a house to teach, use a computer, go to the "Notepad" program.. Format size 72, font: Times New Roman. You could also visit the "Paint" program and fill with color black, and use the eraser to draw or write.
    • Have a sign-out sheet for any reason the students have to leave.

Adding Characters to the Pretend School

  1. Invite your siblings, friends or relatives to play with you. Don't make someone to play with you if they don't want to. You can also play alone with some stuffed teddys.
    • Teachers: Decide with your friends who will be the teacher/s. If you can't figure out who to be the teacher/s play rock, paper, scissors and then take turns in a little bit. Have them write on a whiteboard, use a pointer, and assign small problems. Act like a real teacher.
    • Students: You can use a small tote bag or a backpack to keep things like pencils, notebooks,and other things you'll use in. Raise your hand and behave or be the "bad kid" for the day.
  2. Choose your teaching name. Put a sign in front of the door that says what your teaching name will be and a classroom number.
    • When you make up your own name it can be serious or silly. It may be fun to come up with a silly name to depict your teaching 'personality'. For example, if you want to be a mean teacher, you can use a name that is unpleasant or the name of a fictional mean teacher in a book. You could be a dreamy teacher, with a proper name.
  3. Pick the grade level you'll be teaching or learning. If you are teaching every subject at once, then you probably will not need a grade. If teaching high or middle school, choose a subject.
  4. Get a teacher's grade book. You'll use this for keeping attendance, the timetables, behavior codes and grades. You should probably draw out the plans for that day. If you are teaching P.E., track the students' progress.

Running Classes

  1. Ask the students to bring a binder, a bag, a pencil, and a book to read if they finish their work early and a snack or lunch!
  2. Create a schedule for your students. You can create full schedules to tell your students which classes they will be attending. Make sure that you include the academic classes like arithmetic, as well as the fun ones like art or choir (for choir you can use sing-alongs on YouTube)
    • Classes: Math, language arts, science, social studies, P.E, maybe even get out some books and have your class go to the library.
  3. Print or make your own worksheets and such things for the students. You can write them yourself, or use old ones that you did not get to finish.
    • If you want, you can use some of your old school workbooks for the students so you don't have to spend a lot of time making up work for them. That makes it so you know what you're talking about. Of course, you'll have to use the pages that you haven't used.
  4. Have a reward system. If your students do good deeds, add a gold star to a chart, or make a mark by their name and they can get a special treat! Also reward them if they do good with a substitute teacher. Don't reward them if they are naughty. Get some stickers to give to the students for good work, answers or behavior.
    • Make a misbehaving list. If the students misbehave, they'll have their name added to the list, which will result in loss of privileges - perhaps a timeout or no recess. You could even print out thinking sheets and tell the student to think about what they've done and write it down. You could even make the child stay after school and clean the classroom or give the student extra homework. If the child is very bad, pretend to call the parent(s) and find what punishment will be best for the situation.
  5. Have a snack prepared to munch on while on break. The classic teacher always has an apple, so bonus points for you if you have one as well. Plus, they're healthy!
    • Recess: After you've been playing for a while, have a break. Play a few games, have a snack, and then after recess is over switch teachers and students to keep the game fun.
  6. Make sure your students are having fun and not sleeping in class. If your students won't listen, write a note home and make a pretend mother or father to sign keep them in the classroom during recess.

Tips

  • Have different rooms for different lessons. It makes the school setting more realistic and creative.
  • If the kids are good give them stamps on a note-card and when they have enough they can exchange it for a prize.
  • Name your school.
  • Make it fun for the kids! Do more hands on stuff than papers and worksheets although a few worksheets is okay.
  • Let the students pass out some papers, be a nice teacher, and make sure you have more than just one student (because it will get quite boring).
  • Make some name tags and let your students choose their own names. Call on them by their name tag; don't call them by their real names.
  • If there is no one willing to play, a suitable substitutes would be stuffed animals!
  • If you are not allowed to print worksheets, copy them onto a paper.
  • Use fake names when you are playing so it will be more fun, like being an entirely different person. Example: Say your name is really Ms. Holmes and change your name to Ms. Wellish or something.
  • Ask your teachers if they have an old bell from years before. Also, if you have a chalkboard use that! Invite friends or if you can't use stuffed toys or even imaginary friends! Your teacher may have old workbooks he/she never used. Ask them if you can use them for a school at home. But don't be greedy! One can be more than enough! Maybe even signs that say ' Quiet Please!' or ' Line Up!' Be sure to make hall and bathroom passes and a sign out sheet/book.
  • Have a teacher answer book so you know all of the answers.
  • Have class rules such as: you can't answer a question unless you raise your hand.
  • Switch up teachers and students to keep the game going.
  • Have a color chart, so that when you make your grade book, you will kind-of have an idea of what their behavior code rate would be. Also, at the beginning, have them create clips for the color chart. Use clothes pins or other things like that. Then, have them decorate! This also will help you determine their personality as a student. Once you know their personality, you will be able to more easily make the perfect sheets and activities for them!
  • You should make attendance papers as well. You can print some online and make lesson plans by saying what students are going to do for independent work or if they will work in groups.
  • If you don't have crayons and other items that's fine! Just use pencils and paper!

Warnings

  • Always remember it's just a game and to not get mad if the kids don't want to listen to you as a teacher.
  • Do not force children into playing it with you. That makes it not fun for them and not fun for you!
  • You can play with stuffed dolls and animals instead of kids if you want

Things You'll Need

  • Students (1 to 10 kids)
  • Textbooks and teacher book
  • Classroom
  • Teacher's desk
  • Books (to read if done with work)
  • Notebook
  • Pen
  • Worksheets
  • Games to play (in free time)
  • Binders
  • Folders
  • Papers
  • Attendance and test grades binders
  • Treats for good kids
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Behavior chart/respect core chart
  • White board/chalkboard
  • Conduct book
  • Book marks
  • Markers/crayons
  • Rulers
  • Composition notebooks for students—you can use old school books to remark.
  • Pencil holders for the teacher and pencils for the students
  • Erasers
  • Index cards
  • Construction paper
  • Crafts
  • Colored pencils
  • Time out list
  • Passes To go places (e.g. restroom, office, etc.)
  • Job sheet (depending on grade level)
  • Prize box (for good kids; student of the week)
  • Turn in box (for completed work-optional if you only have one student)
  • Mailboxes for stuff going home (optional)
  • File for the worksheets if you have one

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