Homeschooling in a Pandemic

If I wanted to be a school teacher, I would have chosen that career years ago. Being a teacher is noble, honorable, and a dire necessity to our civilization. Both my parents and my older sister are retired educators, but I am not. However, as a parent of 2 school-age children, I find myself thrust into this role due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I'm sure many of you share my dilemma. It's difficult to keep ourselves focused on earning a living, paying the bills, getting meals on the table, shopping, cleaning up, feeding the dog, having a life, etc. All while attempting to keep some degree of normalcy and sanity for ourselves. Yes, it's been difficult, it's still difficult, and it will continue to be difficult, but if we enable and force ourselves to strategize, plan, and then apply our efforts, we will overcome this and find a way to win.

I will begin by saying, we are now homeschooling our two youngest of seven, two girls in first and third grade. Their siblings are older, in college, married or engaged, working full-time jobs but all beyond the realms of needing home school and doing well. When the Covid pandemic struck, parents, children, teachers, and every other person involved in the education spectrum found ourselves swimming in uncharted waters. Consequently, for many students and parents as well, reading, writing, and arithmetic, have metamorphosed into confusion, procrastinating, and apathy. Storybooks, journals, worksheets, timed exercises, science projects, and other assignments usually completed during a school-day, are now sent home in three-inch-thick folders for parents or caretakers to decipher. Computerized math programs, laptop speech sessions, log-in problems, periodic delays, and other bugs have taken the place of the physical classroom presence of the teacher/student relationship. This is a profound interruption to the psychological, social, and physical development of every school-aged child. "Children, however, may be at particular risk. Living in a universe that is already out of their control, they can become especially shaken when the verities they count on to give the world order-the rituals in their lives, the very day to dayness of living-gets blown to bits," says Jeffery Kluger, senior writer at Time Magazine. Furthermore, Dr. Julie Carbray, a member of Psych Congress Steering Committee, states, "In this virtual world, there's a sense of more loneliness and less connecting with important aspects of a child's life-things like play, and just connecting with peers. Particularly for children and adolescents, there's been a greater sense of isolation." As parents and caretakers, we must stay aware of these issues and begin transforming not only our daily but our minute-by-minute routines and actions to set up a positive environment for our children. These issues are paramount and need not be overlooked nor forsaken.

School days are typically Monday through Friday for an average of 6 1/2 hours for 180 days during a school year. According to the National Center For Education, lunch breaks, recess, PE, arts and crafts, and music cut this time to approximately 4 hours a day spent on the core curriculum. That being said, let's look at some ways we can create a suitable and effective environment to achieve a conducive learning atmosphere.

Start the day like a normal school day. Yeah, like the days when school buses ran, parents scrambled, we had PTA meetings, music classes, ballet, and football practice, etc..and we spent more time looking for homework papers rather than a Covid prevention mask. But life goes on. Wake your children up at the normal time, make them get dressed, brush and comb their hair, brush their teeth and instill a sense of routine to the day's beginning. It is also very important that you make sure your child has a nutritious breakfast. Avoid high sugar content and fatty foods whenever possible. It is difficult enough to maintain a home-schooled child's attention without the extra distractions of feeling hungry or being on a sugar rush. Next, prepare the learning environment. Turn televisions and any other electronic distractions off. Put your cell phone on silent or vibrate and limit the access your child has to his or her devices unless it's being used for their learning curriculum. Many teachers are using online applications such as Zoom and FaceTime modules for teaching methods which provides some part of teacher/student interaction. This is why a groomed and well-dressed child will look and feel more presentable when on FaceTime or Zoom with their teachers and fellow students.

Start on time every day. I prefer 8:30 am because that is the time our school started each morning, and they are rested and fresh. Now, most likely you have total discretion on what subject your child begins the learning day with. I recommend beginning with the subject your child enjoys and is most comfortable with. My third-grade daughter loves reading and my first-grade daughter prefers working on her numbers. This gets the day off to a good start because it will give them confidence and a sense of completion. A child will always do better at something they enjoy. You must do your part as well. Avoid losing your patience, be constructive, and even reward your child when a task is completed with cheering, applauding, and high-fives. I've also discovered that allowing your child to overhear you bragging about their accomplishment to friends and relatives on the phone can work wonders. Lastly but very important be sure your attitude, temperament and even your body language reflect a positive and encouraging statement for your child even if you're not really "feeling it."

Take timed breaks. For elementary-age children, thirty minutes on one subject is the limit. Finished or not, it's time for a break. There may be times when online or "Live" learning sessions are required through the respective school districts and these are extremely important and you should adjust your break times accordingly. This first break needs to be approximately fifteen minutes and should include a trip to the restroom if necessary then some kind of physical activity. If possible and weather permitting, encourage some outdoor activities such as running, walking, playing with the pets, or playground activities. This will allow them to expel some of that childhood physical energy and allow their brains to regroup. Avoid your child's break time to be spent on cell phones, tablets, or watching television. They are not allowed in most classrooms, they can be distracting and essentially will defeat the purpose.

The break is now over and it's time to get back to learning. Finish any tasks that were not completed and move on to the next one. I have discovered that a short overview of the upcoming task is beneficial to both child and parent. If it happens to be a book, flip through all the pages before beginning to look for difficult words or meanings you'll need to explain. If it happens to be a math paper, look over all the problems and explain what needs to be accomplished and how you are going to help them. This prelude will give your child a goal to shoot for and will give you a better understanding as well. Some tasks will be considerably longer than others and more demanding but this is normal. Also, be attentive and available to help your child when logging in to any courses or sessions online. Once again, keep with your timed schedule and stay positive and encouraging.

By the time you and your child have completed the second session, you will more often than not be at least half-way through the required assignments for the day. Stay with the routine and allow them another break. This time, however, we are going to make this a structured recess from the schoolwork. Use your creativity in any way you want but you must involve yourself. For example, make this a physical education time by having your child do some exercises such as sit-ups, push-ups, running in place, dancing, aerobics, etc. Make this time fun for everyone. Other examples could be art projects, music, or simple experiments. As you know, the internet will give you thousands of ideas to expand not only your child's creativity but yours as well.

Finally, we have come to the end of the school day. I highly recommend a short review of all the activities and learning from the day. Ask your child questions about the day's lessons. Ask them what they enjoyed and what they did not. Your child's answers will give you a better understanding of the job you are doing and will offer the needed ammunition you will use in the upcoming days.

Now put all the books away, turn off the tablets, and allow your child to be a child. By the same token, you are no longer the "teacher," now you are the parent. Take some time for yourself, and allow your child to do the same. This will be the time when you take a walk, have a cup of coffee, or catch up on news and social media, while your child watches television or plays video games. Every household is different but the afternoon endeavors at home after homeschooling should be as parallel as possible to those of a normal school day.

At the day's end, be sure you and your family enjoy a nutritious meal at a reasonable time, enjoy some family time, and put your children to bed at a reasonable hour. "The National Sleep Foundation advises that school-age children should sleep for a total of 9-11 hours every day..." Turn off the televisions, cell phones, video games, etc. to promote the optimum amount of rest for not only your child but you as well. Tomorrow will be another day.

The Covid pandemic has made the education of our children more difficult but not impossible. Most if not all this responsibility has fallen upon us as parents. However, through planning, consistency, self-discipline, and follow-through we can change the course of this negativity to a rewarding and educational time. As a final thought, remember this. The next time you think you are sick and tired of having your children around 24/7....Just remember, one day they won't be.