Even though I don’t normally talk about life here on our counseling and coaching blog from a homeschool vantage point, it’s been weighing on me to share that piece of my life a bit more since the conundrum people are talking about of trying to homeschool and work is actually my day to day life.
Backing up a bit, I’ve been part of the homeschooling world since my first nannying job to a homeschool family back in Michigan. My boyfriend’s aunt needed a sitter, and let’s just say the babysitting job outlasted our relationship, you know, the stuff of teen life. However, apparently, the seeds of homeschooling were planted there unbeknownst to me and add ten or fifteen years to my life and a kid of my own and I’d joined the ranks and have always run my private practice alongside our open learning posture. My kids have learned a bit about running a business, also! 🙂
To be fair, all three of my kids have taken physical a la carte classes every year of our journey as well as received some in-home instruction, and in one busy season where my husband was a full-time student, an actual certified teacher helped. Today my daughters will tutor with an algebra tutor and my son and both daughters will Zoom their theater and dance instructors, although soccer is just plain canceled. It’s a variety of learning, studying, and working, not unlike what they will encounter in college. In fact, as I get ready to position my eldest in dual enrollment at a college, I’m finding the transition and advantages of it rewarding and I don’t regret this unique journey though I’ve seen dozens of friends (of course) tell me they don’t for one minute regret NOT doing it, thus, I’ll cut to the chase and offer a few tips to those in this temporary and unchosen situation.
The biggest tip I have, if you read nothing else, is to give grace to yourself and your kids. This is not a chosen path for most and there is no one, even regular homeschoolers living “their best life right now.” Even if you did homeschool all the time, however, you still need grace – it can be hard and you need the ongoing reminder that no one is perfect on the days you feel like you weren’t everything your kids deserve. Keep learning from your own and their mistakes and shift as needed!
Here are some other practical daily tips, however, for the balancing act I’ve learned from many others and from my own observations.
1. If you work full time and can’t commit to any time with the schooling, www.abeka.com has options for a full-time video teacher. It’s not cheap but it’s a lot less expensive than daycare and it’s the number one private Christian school option out there whether at home or school and has been used by private teachers for decades with great success. Another classical choice is www.veritaspress.com but there are dozens and dozens of online-only schools and most states also offer a completely free online school, such as Florida Virtual.
2. Otherwise, if you’re trying to help assist your child’s teacher (most are trying to Zoom for at least an hour a day, I know), or likewise if you’re the main teacher, have the kids of all ages make a daily list during breakfast (older kids the night before), complete with schoolwork, fitness, chores, and rest/fun/often time with God alone or as a group. The list has their own unique independent imprint to it but I look it over during breakfast cleanup and add the chores and make sure it covers the necessities. Boys and some active girls NEED more than one fitness time such as a video or bike ride plus evening activity. It’s not optional and they are usually glad they went but not always 🙂
3. Favorite sites over the years that I have supplemented their school books with for free are ixl.com, artforkidshub.com, brainpop.com, Audible, Librivox, vocabulary.com, chesskids.com, typing.com, starfall.com when they were younger as well as abcmouse.com and www.pbskids.com. Gutenberg.com has a lot of classics for free also. Kids National Geographic has a lot of great videos about planets, animals, cultures, etc also. I’m looking at www.outschooling.com for my son right now for some additional support since his co-op will not be Zooming and there are some fun classes I’ve always wanted him to try.
4. If you were to go as far as to log grades in a grade book, Igradeplus.com has a great free system I use, but I also just use an Excel spreadsheet for basic record-keeping, amongst saving a sample of work for auditing purposes, though I’ve never needed that.
5. Morning is the best time to get work done for most humans big and little. Push for as much work as possible while everyone is alert. Try to time up everyone’s work time together including yours. Leave the rests and breaks and sugar for later in the day or make the early breaks shorter and don’t introduce Phineas and Ferb till they are done using their brains (if at all lol).
6. If your younger kids have any tendencies at all for mischief, seat them right next to you (facing you) if they use the Internet. Many of the games on apps will show ads for really crazy stuff, you’d be surprised, and once reading begins, how fast they can channel surf, but of course this is happening all day long in schools anyway from what teens tell me!
7. Allow for transitions into your evening or I promise you, it will seem like a never-ending twilight zone, and some days it still will. Such is life, right? But that’s why there’s so much support online – people of all personality types do it and it looks different for everyone. All the same, transitions (and self-care) are key for all of us. Go for a long walk or bike ride or ride in the car with music, clean, bake, or do something to stir up enough time to really enjoy some time transitioning. We like to karaoke to musicals like Les Miserables, Hamilton, and Into the Woods while we drive or unwind. Just watch for language and mature content depending on ages! 🙂
I suspect even if this season goes “well,” some will leave this period of homeschooling with disdain – it’s especially hard when it’s forced, there aren’t any as many perks like mid-semester vacays, and there’s literally no social component – but my hopes are also that a few who thrive in it may even find a blessing in this strange time – plus there is still the perk of doing schoolwork without social impression management aka in your athleisure (aka pajamas) occasionally!
Whatever you do I hope these days have their glorious, silly, and just plain fun moments too, the highs will peak a bit more, I hope, with some of the lows. Praying for you to stay safe and healthy also, for you to give what you can, as well as to steward and to be creative with your finances.
Trust God in this time and do your best, you’re doing a great job!
Love Living Life Intentionally With You,
Christa
