Bonus Episode 4 – Homeschooling during the quarantine

Welcome to the Mentor 4 Moms Podcast!

On this episode:

Today we’re talking about education at home. What does it look like to bring kids into our home to educate them? How does this work? You can also check out the episodes I did over the summer on homeschooling. Especially if you are considering homeschooling beyond this current crisis. I think you’ll find that helpful on how to set a foundation for homeschooling long term.

For those of you trying to navigate homeschooling now because your kids’ schools are closed for an extended period of time, today’s episode is for you. For those in my community who have been homeschooling and already have some routine, this can help you navigate being so unsettled with all of your activities cancelled, as well.

I want to bring a conversation that is heavy on grace. We are all experiencing having our plans and path changing in a moment. Now we have to figure out how this works and how we can get our footing back under us. The first thing we need to understand is that we cannot stop children from learning. What we get to do as parents is guide them in what is important for them to learn, what is worthy of knowing.

We are all in an unsettle period. These are not normal days. On a normal day what we would say is worthy of knowing and focusing on would be different than what we are experiencing right now. Trying to implement the normalcy of what was important yesterday when today is completely different . . .

I want to give you a little support in figuring out the logistics of your kids’ safety and care along with navigating your own work. This is more important than what books or information they need to be learning or what tests they need to take. That is too much to take on at this point. For those open to the idea of homeschooling long term, getting familiar with what homeschooling looks like and getting connected with homeschool groups is more important now than what books you need to buy to get started on Monday. Let’s take a collective breath.

For those that have been homeschooling a while, let’s give ourselves the grace to figure out our new normal without those outside resources. We need to recalibrate all of our plans and our ideas of where we are and what we’re doing. Maybe we were doing eight subjects with our kids and need to take it down to three. If get those things doing, we can call it good. Then we can have fun researching some fun things we can do without the pressure of trying to implement that tomorrow.

If we try to just jump in and start homeschooling right away, we may be OK for a day or two, or a week. But burnout is going to catch up wit us if we don’t give ourselves the time to ease into what we want it to look like. I can understand the fears of our kids being behind or missing out or being cared for. I get that.

We all share that. But if we make decisions driven by fear we miss an opportunity to be led by God who moves in peace. I don’t want us to make fumbles and errors around our care for our kids because we allowed fear to drive our decisions instead of waiting for the peace to make a quality decision we won’t regret. That is what I’m advocating for.

If you’ve already come to a peace with it and are ready to get started, go for it. If you’re recognizing you want to at least have one thing figured for your kids and they can do math every day while you figure out the rest, then let them do math every day. Give yourself permission to let that be OK. What we think could take months for our kids to do they can do in days or hours.

What I’ve experienced with my kids homeschooling through sickness, pregnancies, family emergencies, is that they learn in spite of me, not because of me. I have had time where I haven’t been as ‘on it’ with checking their work or helping them and I come back to ‘assist’ them and find they’ve made huge leaps in their learning and are further ahead than I ever imagined.

The other piece of this is that unsettling times or crises are counter to learning. It is very difficult to learn in stress mode. We need to look at ways we can reduce the stress and give some grace. Then they can thrive in learning. But when everything has changed for them and we’re just concerned about not getting behind, then they haven’t had the space or the time to get their stress levels down so they can learn with ease. You’ll find the retention is not there as they’re doing the work.

I promise you that when they are ready for learning you won’t be able to stop them. They will learn everything they need in order to move forward. I promise you that. If we could just chill for just a moment and not let our anxiety take over and we end up crashing up and burning.

So, what does this look like? Here’s some things they will learn. These are things that matter right now. They’re going to learn about germs and hygiene. You could even read and find videos about science and history of past diseases, depending on age and interest. Another aspect is home economics, caring for the needs of the home, and how to eat healthy with what you have in the house and manage that.

They can learn about caring for the needs of others. They could write notes or do something to encourage a neighbor. Maybe they can do some journaling every day to help them destress. Pull out the games. Games are great ways to practice math, strategy, words and spelling. Doing these things will involve learning. Remember, you can’t stop children from learning. Your job is just to point out what is worth knowing.

You can grab a magazine or other print material you have them find all the 5- letter words, or other games around words. You already know you can go find homeschool moms to support you through blogs, websites, eBooks, so many resources. This conversation is more about how to do this in the middle of these unsettled times. I would say it looks way more practical than like traditional classroom studies. We want to have some fun and be relaxed about it.

I want to encourage you that there are so many ways you can facilitate education at home even as you’re trying to figure out what this looks like for you long term. For some of you this will be a transition point for you. When you’re ready for more detail on structuring that, I encourage you to check out the series I did on laying a foundation for homeschool.

For those of you who this is just a band aid, having been thrown in this situation, I want to encourage you that there are multiple ways to facilitate learning while you’re trying to navigate finding the resources your kids will need long term.

For those of you who’ve already been homeschooling and you’re committed to homeschooling and just trying to figure this out, I want to encourage you that you cannot stop your kids form learning. Your children can make up time so easily once their stress is relieved and once their minds are ready.

Right now, all of us are so at our capacity with information and trying to navigate change that trying to also facilitate learning in the midst of this can be challenging. Appreciate where you are as you move forward instead of comparing yourself to what any other mom is doing. All across the nation, kids are in the exact same situation you’re in. We’re all surviving and figuring out what’s next.

Give yourself permission to make the right next step for your home and release the comparison. You do not need to keep up with what anyone else is doing. Instead, just figure out what the right next step is for you. If I can support you further around this, please reach out. I am happy to answer your questions. Exhale and take it at the pace that God’s grace is allowing you to go.