If you’d have asked me a month ago if I’d ever consider homeschooling ‘over my dead body’ – or something like it – would have been my response.
Quite frankly I can’t imagine anything worse – yet here we are in the middle of the worst pandemic in living memory and millions of us have unwittingly found ourselves instant homeschoolers.
Admittedly being almost nine months pregnant and having my maternity leave hijacked by the lockdown doesn’t help, but it’s fair to say patience isn’t one of my virtues – and nor is key stage two maths or split diagraphs or the notes on a clarinet.
So if, like me, you’re worried about unschooling while all this is going on I thought I’d share how I plan to (try) and survive coronavirus homeschooling without losing the plot completely!
8 ways I’m going to (try) & survive coronavirus homeschooling
1. Don’t be a slave to a schedule
And don’t be intimidated by other people sharing their super duper, all-singing, all-dancing illustrated ones on social media, either. Having a routine is great but don’t let it become a source of stress because that’s not going to help anybody.
2. Enlist all the help you can get
From Joe Wicks aka The Body Coach who is holding live PE lessons for kids every weekday morning on his YouTube channel to the naturalist Steve Backshall hosting a Q&A session on his social media channels, there are a host of celebrities coming forward to help make things a little easier. Twitter is great for updates on who’s doing what and where.
PE WITH JOE starting Monday morning at 9am on my YOUTUBE channel: The Body Coach TV Please please share this with as many people as you can Our kids need this more than ever. Share it on your stories, your wall, your Twitter, whatsapp and school newsletters pic.twitter.com/ioFGeFRpuK
— The Body Coach (@thebodycoach) March 19, 2020
3. Remember not all learning happens in a classroom
English, maths and science are all very well but shopping, laundry and cleaning are equally important life skills too. For example, ‘non academic’ things we’ve done so far include doing a ‘stock take’ of our store cupboard to establish exactly what food we have and the kids have come up with meal ideas based on the ingredients.
4. Get outdoors as much as possible
Which is just once a day if you live somewhere without any outside space like us. We’ve been making full use of our one trip out to exercise by tiring the kids out as much as possible on their bikes and scooters. If you have a garden, even better.
5. Try and be grateful for the little things
Like not having to leap out of bed to make packed lunches the minute the alarm goes off in the morning, and not feeling like a glorified taxi service when it comes to after school clubs. Every cloud has a silver lining and all that.
6. Make time for you
Remember it’s not all about the kids. Most of us didn’t ask for this homeschooling malarkey yet it’s been foisted upon us and here we are. Remember to make time for you – even if it’s just an hour here and there.
7. Remember you can do anything but not everything
Which, when you think about it, applies to so many things in life. For example, remember that teachers don’t make the lunch and they don’t clean either, and the chances are you’ll be doing both of these things – and more – while homeschooling at the same time. So give yourself a break and just do what you can.
8. Try & put things in perspective
Bear in mind that the kids are more likely to remember how they felt during this time than what they did. So if that means ditching the online learning and academic stuff every now and then in favour of curling up on the sofa and watching a film, then so be it.
Have you found yourself unwittingly homeschooling in the wake of coronavirus too? Do you have any top tips for coping? I’d love to hear what they are!
I’ve really not had issues with the home schooll thing so far – except how boring everyone’s FB has become showing their kids making lunch or doing school work at the kitchen table (Like LITERALLY this is happening in 124 countries – we can all see it in our house, we don’t need to see it on SM too! That’s my cranky rant)
I do worry in the weeks to come about the isolation from their friends. I am encouraging them to face time at recess and lunch. Or play a game or exercise with me (this appeals to no one except me, apparently).
However, one bridge at a time…#KCACOLS
My toddler is easy, my teen on the other hand is a little more difficult. Her school have set the kids things to do at home, but keeping her motivated is proving to be a challenge. Mixing it up and doing fun things in between the work seems to be helping. #KCACOLS
Great points especially appreciating the little things and seeing we can do anything but not everything. Sorry your week off rest has been thwarted! #KCACOLS
These are exactly the rules I’m applying to home learning right now too. It’s important we set ourselves these rules so we can keep our sanity too! #MMBC
I feel for you because I remember being pregnant and having to homeschool two other kids. (I’ve been homeschooling for well over 9 years almost 10 now.) I hope you’re having a good pregnancy!
These are all WONDERFUL pieces of advice for others that aren’t used to homeschooling. Shoot it’s even a good reminder for those who have been homeschooling for awhile.
#KCACOLS
These are great points. I am glad my daughter is in secondary school and her home schooling needs very little input from me, all her lessons and coursework assignments are online and she can communicate with her class and teachers when online.
I totally agree with your points as parents we have a lot to do in our day to day lives and enforcing a strict homeschooling schedule isn’t feasible for a lot of people. We can only do so much and it is much better to enjoy this time and make some memories than be strict about learning. Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time
My OH is homeschooling his class. And his approach is ‘little and often’. Like you, I never thought that I would be doing any teaching. We can only do our best. #KCACOLS
Oh we are all in a pickle all over the world right now!
As a home educator by choice who went through all those feelings of frustration at the beginning (I was a teacher so thought ‘I got this’ when it is such a different beast than teaching in a classroom) I empathise so much with all the parents who have had this foisted upon them.
You have got the right idea though, it’s more important in the long run that your children see home as their safe space than as the space they fight about worksheets and fractions. The learning can be done in many many different ways #MMBC