I thought about homeschooling our son way before he was even ready for school, but the thought of putting his education in my own hands unnerved me. I do not feel capable enough to do it. Then Coronavirus invaded our quiet life and both parents are forced to face this new challenge in parenting called HOME SCHOOLING.
Okay let us do this again, I stand corrected, we are doing DISTANCE LEARNING instead of saying HOME SCHOOLING. The difference? I am not really sure. One thing is sure, we didn’t choose to teach the school curriculum at home but rather brought forth by the current situation. Therefore, our kids will be instructed by their school teachers in the home setting, with parents to supervise for accountability...and so they are learning from a distance. I think Home Schooling is a totally different set-up for both kids and parents. Well, anybody out there please shed a light on us regarding this...
teachers rock!
As I have mentioned, our current Coronavirus pandemic has pushed us to make decisions for the greater good. Looking at both side of things I've always had the highest respect for teachers, but now in this altered present time it has elevated all the more, I salute you all for your patience (I mean I only have one in my classroom now 😜; imagine having 33 different personalities and emotions); your enthusiasm radiates in your students; your creativity to put all these and plan new ways of teaching and learning all in a blink of an eye. I highly commend my son's teacher, you are a rock star Ms. Solnok! She is on a roll with preparing the students for this distance learning. I like her energy, her lively attitude and her very long patience with the kids. She is a ray of sunshine for the kids when they do their Zoom Meet-Up and she has this drive to purposely motivate these 9 and 10 year old's to follow through and deliver!
moms' challenge...
Growing up, I had this dream of teaching. Being an only child, I am used to solitary play. I would usually play teacher with an imaginary class with board and stick and all. I never thought that it would come to reality, teaching and getting my own son through to finish fourth grade with flying colors (I hope!).
My son clamors for attention from dad and mom, and one of his goal is to get an award from school so we can be proud of him (Oooh, I feel like a bad mom now). Just before spring break we received an e-mail from teacher saying he will be accepting an award for the trimester. Two days to awarding it was cancelled, and now with the Coronavirus pandemic it is not even a reality. I am not sure whether it was for the better that we didn’t tell him about his award or not.
This distance learning is putting a lot more stress on moms than anybody else. As you must have read my previous blog, I work in the healthcare and that means I don’t get to be counted to “Stay Home”. I still need to go to work and serve the sick and the vulnerable. I feel for all those parents that have more than one child and a working mom too who are part of the essential work force or still have to work while at home. Juggling these two things on a daily basis can get a little bit crazy. Of course, we want our kids to learn and develop according to standards and more so excel in their craft. I honestly do not know how some Moms like Leah can handle more than one child (not to say her youngest are twins!) and still have structure and organization in their life is simply saying - You are GREAT at this thing called “Motherhood”. She’s not just a mom of multi-grade kids, she’s also an active parent in her kids’ school, and at times a student herself trying to build her own career. Mind you, they still have time for fun! Let us ask her how she does it. Take a peak her kids life (on the picture above: The INDUCTA Kids).
Well, how about we add this stay home situation to the equation? I think we can rightfully say Moms are gifted. Moms are just one of a kind, aren’t we?
A new friend of mine through our online Bible Study with Proverbs 31 Ministries shared her thoughts on home schooling and touched on three things she learned from an unexpected decision too. Her experience happened during a personal crisis but it is so close to what we are all forced to be in today you can clearly relate. I learned a lot from the three things she mentioned on her blog, I am sure you will too. Click HERE to read more.
"Hang in there! Give yourself some grace and those kids of yours lots of love and just enough freedom." -by Jennifer Hernandez
As a home schooling parent for the meantime, I needed structure for both of us, that is, a schedule to run our lives; a lot of patience to get us through the day, the week, this month and I feel like for the rest of this school year; I need to call my creativity back so that we can learn in different ways, not bore each other and be able to get out there for a bit. I have to compromise with my Little Man too. We have to play together for his PE credits because teacher said so! Ugh!!! You know what, mothers as we are, we will do anything for our child, right? So we played ‘HORSE‘ one time, it's a basketball thing he learned from YouTube (I didn't just say that he learned something from YouTube, did I?) and mind you it was fun and a good physical activity.
moms new normal...
On the brighter side of life, I get to spend more time with my Little Man; he gets more cuddles from dad; doing more things together and seeing him grow and mature in strides right in front of our very own eyes. We are just making the most of the time we have and the moments we can spend with him. It is not the length of time but the quality of the time we spend with him that matters (though most of the time he complains it is not enough...plus Mommy is working way too much hours now...wrong combination of pandemic and distance learning!!!)
But hey! We did not choose to be in this situation but we do not have much choice at the moment...so what do we do? We endure, we move on. We go on. We make the most of what we have. And we do what we do as parents. This pandemic has shown me what I already know that on my own I can not do much..but if I rely on my Sovereign God "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13) This is one of the things this crisis is teaching me that I need to rely more on GOD. We get down on our knees to pray more. We read and study GOD's word. And with a lot more time in our hands, we are forced to be quiet and to rest, reflect and recharge. I have always believed that through all these, God will be glorified!
Whether it is home schooling or distance learning, it is a challenge right in front of many parents nowadays as we face this pandemic. Let us take on the challenge, spend our quarantine days more productively with our kids; and maybe we can start learning something new too, whether on our own or with our children. That'll be fun! We can also find ways to have fun with the family - like dancing, singing, watching movies together, baking, cooking, starting a new hobby, starting a "New Normal" in the midst of this present reality.
What do you say? Are you on for the challenge? Ready to be your child/children's teacher for a long while? Ready to take on the challenge of a "new normal" and a life of a home schooling mom?
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