What weird times we are living in these days aren’t they friends. I’ve started and stopped so many blog posts and instagram posts over the last few weeks because I am just not sure how to be helpful. As I mentioned in my newsletter, if you subscribe to that, I don’t want to add to the noise of all the suggestions being made on social media. There are so many links and articles being shared of fun things to do at home with your kids, but honestly I’m not that fun! So most of them seem too stressful for me and I skip right over. It is not my desire to produce any content that causes anyone to stress. That being said, this blog post is basically a mumbo jumbo of my thoughts.
This is not homeschooling that is happening right now. Yes, the school aspect of our day hasn’t changed much but the rest of our life has. We weren’t secluded to our home prior to this and we saw quite a few people! We are stir crazy and lonely too! What parents are embarking upon now is not the same as homeschooling. You are being asked to deliver a program that you didn’t have a hand in selecting or preparing. This isn’t a choice you made or planned for but instead one born out of crisis. That right there is different than homeschooling, which is usually a careful decision. All that to say, the knowledge I have of homeschooling may not be as applicable to some of you who are finding yourself in this new crisis schooling.
It might be easiest to summarize my thoughts in point form:
- If you are homeschooling and have been all year, continue to follow along as I will continue to share lots about our homeschooling days.
- If your child was in a school outside of your home until COVID, their teacher is most likely providing them with work to do and support on this journey. I can almost guarantee their teacher cares about them very much and wants to support them in any way possible. This is uncharted territory for the teachers as well. Most likely, what is being sent home is enough for your child to finish out their year.
- If, for some reason, you need / want more (or different) for your child than what is being given, I can help you. But you may want to speak with the teacher first.
- If you’re child needs some help that cannot be provided in this current arrangement, I am willing. I can try to help over facetime or zoom.
- If you are finding yourself loving this new arrangement and thinking you may want to pursue actual homeschooling, let’s chat!
- Other than that, I hope I can provide you encouragement. My heart wants a positive learning experiene for all kids but even more than that, a positive family relationship.
More than anything, I want to see families using this time to strengthen their family bonds and do things they never had time for in relation to studying the Bible together. So many families say they struggle to find time to have family devotions and I really hope that this will be a beautiful blessing born out of this odd time. Even if your child’s teacher has you covered for school work, I can still help you with this aspect of teaching your children the Bible. Maybe this is something I will try to do more posts about going forward, but feel free to reach out too if I can help you. I am happy to recommend our favourite family Bible studies we have done or to tell you about how we teach out kids directly from the Bible.
I post most frequently on instagram stories which also post to facebook. Following me there will give you the best glimpse of what I do on a day to day basis with the kids.
Again, these are strange times. Take care of yourself and your kids physically and emotionally. I hope that looking back, this will be a time your kids remember for the connection they had with their parents! Enjoy your kids and prioritize mental health. I love you all.
