A change of focus during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Many parents out there are experiencing homeschooling for the first time, but I’m not one of them. For me, this is a second go-round. Not the pandemic part—I’ve never done this before. But I did homeschool my kiddo when he was in first grade, so I have been in this spot.
“Wait,” you’re thinking. “If you did this before, it was because you chose to homeschool. It’s not the same! We’re all floundering!” You’d be wrong. Let me give a little background.
Four years ago, I homeschooled my son because…well, it’s a long story. It wasn’t planned over the previous school year or a summer. It happened abruptly and without any solid idea of what to do. At the time, my heart knew the decision made sense, but my brain questioned daily whether I’d bungled his academic career and worse.
I didn’t. In fact, since then, he has only flourished, and we both know his time homeschooling played a big part in that. But I honestly think that the most important component wasn’t what I taught him. It was that I stepped up when he needed me and did what it took, even though it wasn’t my dream to do so. Unlike my amazing sister, who always knew she wanted to be a teacher, I felt the opposite. Nonetheless, when required to wear that hat for my kid, I pulled it over my ears, yanked up my bootstraps, and said, “Let’s do this.” I’m a Gen-Xer, after all.
Flying by the seat of our (homeschool) pants
Now that you know the crux of it, you’re probably thinking that I might know how you feel, and I do. This wasn’t your choice; it was thrust upon you by an invisible enemy forcing us all to change how we live our lives, even if most of this is temporary. We’re all doing this by the seat of our pants—most teachers included.
You know what? That’s okay. Teachers are trained for this. No, not this pandemic, though, they will certainly learn much from the experience just as they have with any situation that dramatically impacts their jobs. But they’re trained to plan far in advance, to prepare for the inevitable substitute teacher who needs to impart their lesson.
And that’s who you are: You are the sub. That’s right, parents, if you think of yourself as the teacher in the way that the regular homeschooling parents do, then you’ll pile on the stress. I know. I’ve been there, too. But I’ve also been subbing for the past year, and one thing I can say for certain is that YOU. ARE. THE. SUB. If you can be a SuperSub, teach new stuff, make it fun—awesome. If you can only do the same as you’d do when helping with homework, that’s okay, too.
DO. NOT. STRESS. You’ve got this. We’re all in the boat together, so reach out and ask those of us who’ve done this before, ask the teachers, pray, meditate, exercise, whatever it takes, but just be the best parent you can through this, okay? Enjoy your kids if you can, read to them and with them, cook with them, play with them, take time to love each other. The rest will sort itself eventually.
My homeschool strategy for this new reality
In the meantime, I’ll share with you my strategy for homeschooling over the next five weeks (or more…we’re closed until April 27th or longer). My kids are in 5th and 7th grade, and we’re mimicking the flow of their usual schedules. We’ve limited their duration to a max of 30 minutes for each subject and built in 20 minutes of reading on their own, but they’re bookworms. If your kid is younger, shorten the time—20 minutes total starting in Pre-K, adding twenty minutes for each successive grade level. Our middle school principal suggested no more than 2 hours total for their grades. Build in breaks—they get those at school, too, and younger kids need more of them.
And most importantly of all, don’t worry about being a Dolores Umbridge, stickler for the rules. Go with the flow as much as you can. You’ll all be happier for it. Good luck. I’m pulling for you.
For the latest information about the COVID-19 Pandemic, please visit the US CDC’s website.