We got our e-learning email from my son's teachers this morning and I am SO HAPPY to see that - in our school district, anyway - they’re making the focus about REVIEWING what the kids have learned this year, as opposed to learning new material.
This is fantastic news for all of us, but especially for those parents who still have to work outside the home and worry about how to help their kids with schoolwork, and for those of us who are just overwhelmed in general by the responsibilities of teaching our kids.
I wanted to share with you what we're doing in our home.
Don't let this schedule intimidate you. It looks very structured, but I assure you we're approaching this with flexibility. If my son is having fun watching a science video, I'm not going to have him turn it off when "time's up."
And there will be days when we may skip a lesson or two.
My goals right now with homeschooling are:
• Keep my son somewhat engaged in learning so that he doesn't forget what he's learned so far in the classroom
• Have fun with this (as much as possible) situation and let him explore learning about things he's interested in
• Go back to fill in some of the gaps in his learning from his early grades
• To take any and every opportunity to talk through any questions he has about our current situation
• Most importantly: to foster a love for learning
I am not worried about him not being on-level when he returns to school.
We - ALL OF US - are in a crisis right now. Our educators are in this boat with us - many of them are parents, too. They will take this all into account once our kids return to the classroom.
I'm not worried that he'll miss some earth-shattering knowledge that will have lifelong impact.
In the entire scope of his life, this time without classroom instruction will just be a blip. It's not going to hold him back from success in life.
We have so many other fish to fry right now besides stressing over how to teach our kids. DO NOT STRESS ABOUT THIS. Have fun with it. Model for your kids: "this is what it looks like to figure things out" or "this is how we handle stressful situations that are beyond our control."
