Homeschooling. Again?
We’re all in this together: a pandemic that requires social isolation and societal shutdown. But we each come into this scenario with unique perspectives. Our family’s perspective is built on six years of homeschooling, followed by a transition to public school this year. Just when we had found our groove at school, we find ourselves thrust back into homeschooling with no choice or warning.
It is a hard shift for each of us in our own ways. But what can we do? We’re adapting. In our family, we’re easing back into home-school mode.
What does that look like for us? I have a 2nd grader and a 5th grader, so they’re working on quite different things. We tend to focus on academics in the morning and early afternoon, and then have free time later in the afternoon. For some families, it seems helpful to have a daily schedule, including time slots for each subject. But in our family that has been frustrating, because the amount of time each kid needs to spend on each subject differs. Instead, I post a daily checklist on a white board for each kid, including each subject, their chores, and any extra things I am asking them to do that day.
During this time of social isolation, one extra thing I’ve asked my kids to do is a daily act of kindness. So far we’ve written sidewalk chalk messages for neighbors, made a birthday card for a cousin, and filmed an Irish dance video to send to our relatives for St. Patrick’s Day.
My two kids work together on such activities, as well as on our daily Bible reading and some educational videos, especially in science and social studies. But otherwise they work independently, with me in the room to monitor and help as needed. Occasionally one gets frustrated that I am working with the other one when they need my help. But for the most part, it works out fine.
My kids have always been motivated to complete their checklists in order to move on to their free time [read: screen time]. This can be both good and bad; it’s good for them to have motivation, but they tend to rush antsily through their work, with tension building as the day progresses, just to get it done. I haven’t figured out how to avoid that dynamic, unless I take all screen time away. But that seems like a shoot-in-foot move, because screen time is the main time I can sit quietly and focus my mind on anything other than their schoolwork. I allow each of my kids 30 minutes per day of video game time, plus 30 minutes of watching shows or Youtube.
After they have finished their screen time, they play together or spend time alone; my son shoots hoops or kicks his soccer ball around, and my daughter creates accessories, fashion designs, and stuffed animals. Lately they’ve turned to Facebook Messenger Kids to keep in touch with their school friends. They’ve also created a family Olympics competition with events such as races, dance-offs, and trivia.
One challenge I’ll face next week: “spring break.” The kids say they don’t want to do any schoolwork during the week formerly known as spring break. But I think they’d actually be happier doing some academics, to keep a daily routine and keep busy.
Occasionally the thought of being cooped up in our house together for weeks on end strikes panic into my heart. And I think that reality is sinking into my kids’ heads more today; they’re much testier than they’d been earlier in this “school hiatus,” as we’re calling it. But I’m trying to take it one day at a time and wrap my head and heart around the new normal.
Generally, I believe all homeschoolers should be involved in social and academic groups. Without those outlets, it’s incredibly challenging and limited. This is true right now for both long-term homeschoolers and those temporarily homeschooling. We all need to give ourselves, and our kids, grace in this difficult, uncertain time, and we must remind ourselves that this, too, shall end.
Written by Page Lee.
Page Lee is an educator who lives in Cincinnati with her husband and two kids. When she's not sheltering-in-place, she enjoys running, going to the gym, hiking, and exploring new cities.
