Feeding Giants

Dear Friends who are freaking out a little bit about this crazy everybody-is-a-homeschooler-now situation we find ourselves in,

If we were sitting across a (6 foot wide) table from each other, sipping hot cocoa through our face masks, and you needed a little encouragement from somebody who has already been-there/done-that, this is what I’d tell you:

You are going to be good enough. This whole Coronapocalypse situation is the stuff movies are made of, you guys. However, despite the stress, we don’t need to put undue pressure on ourselves. We don’t have to exactly recreate school (unless we want to), we don’t have to “create special memories” by entertaining our kids all day (unless we want to)…you will give it your best shot, and your kids will never forget the time the entire country homeschooled, no matter what they end up doing all day. And…repeat this one as a daily mantra if necessary…we will not sell them to the circus, no matter how tempting (also, the circus is closed). #solidarity

However, as a former teacher and homeschooling mom, I would also remind you that…

You don’t need to do school all day to be effective…because schools don’t do school all day. By the time you add in recess, passing periods, lunch, role-taking, paper-collecting, the teacher answering questions, waiting for other kids, etc., etc….public school isn’t 6-7 hours of work time by a long shot, even for high school students. You can get more schoolwork done at home MUCH faster because you can cut out all the waiting and unnecessary stuff (honestly, this is one of my favorite things about homeschooling…efficiency).

You can create consistency and structure simply. I love to make color-coded schedules and charts as much as the next mom, but that’s not necessary to bring a little structure to your day. To be honest, enforcing a rigid schedule just feels like…too much…right now for me. However, a completely free-form day is completely unproductive around here (am I the only one??). So, I aim for structure without micromanagement. In our house, that means that we have daily dedicated blocks of time for “school” (but not micro-scheduled for each subject or assignment) and “free time”, with a consistent start time each morning, and scheduled snacks and breaks…just enough to keep us moving forward and knowing what to expect next, but not so many things to keep track of that we fail our schedule by midmorning.

A few minutes planning saves a lot of minutes scrambling. Most of us with multiple kids probably have at least one who finished their entire 3 weeks of work in a few days and liked it…but not all kids are like that, right?! It can be really stressful for (most) kids to have a pile of work to do and not know how to tackle it. A little planning can alleviate that stress, for kids AND parents!. I will share a little more about our system in another post, but suffice it to say – taking the time to look over your kids’ assigned work (or figuring out what you want them to do if you have to come up with it yourself) and making a reasonable plan to tackle it will save you from shuffling and scrambling every day. Designated tasks/assignments to accomplish also give kids a concrete start and end point, which might help alleviate some anxiety about that pile of work. Pro tip: help high school students (or younger but responsible students) look through their work and make their own plan…ownership is important for those quasi-independent teenagers!

Do it however you want to, just do it. Personally, I am of the opinion that academic learning can and should take place in the home during this shelter-in-place situation and believe that parents with no teacher training and/or limited time CAN accomplish this with the right tools. However, just like parenting in general, you gotta find your own groove. What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa. We are a fairly structured family with teacher parents and kids who like to learn for fun, so we probably have a more school-like approach than some. However, that doesn’t mean another way won’t be successful…there is no rule book for home school. If you want to set up a room in your house as a classroom and make it formal, DO IT. If you like letting your kids lounge on the floor with music blaring while they do their school work, DO IT. If you need your kids to work independently while you work, DO IT. If you want to do all the baking, crafting, game-playing, etc. dreams of parenthood you’ve ever had, DO IT. If you want to go outside all week and do school on the weekends, DO IT. The only “should” is that the kids should probably do whatever their school is asking of them, somehow. But…DO IT YOUR OWN WAY and trust that your way is right for your family.

Friends, you’ve got this! Please reach out if you need some ideas or support – we are all in this together!

Love,

Sandy

P.S. – Coming up…hacks for motivating kids who don’t want to do their school work, ideas for keeping pre-schoolers busy, etc – stay tuned!

P.P.S. – And…to those classroom teachers out there busting their butts to help parents school at home…THANK YOU for all your efforts to put together work and connect with students during this weird, weird time. This is an educational partnership between school and parents like there has never been before, and so many teachers are ROCKING IT. Thank you!