I have thought about this a lot over the last few weeks. And I have to say that I am overwhelmingly confident when I say STOP homeschooling those babies!
We love our kiddos and we do not want them to fall behind. I agree 100%! If your school has asked you to do course work than get those things done! But stop trying to recreate school at home!
As many of you know I am a homeschool Mama Bear! We homeschool! We absolutely love it! That said what many of you are doing is not even close! We researched our curriculum for some time before deciding what was right for our families. You, my friends, were handed another’s curriculum mid-year. You are having a hard time knowing what to do and your children are used to another’s teaching style! This is 1,000 times harder than what I do each day.
As homeschool, we are completely out of our comfort zone as well! We do very little locked away in our homes with no friends. We are in co-ops, museums, playgrounds, with FRIENDS! We are struggling, so we know that you are as well.
So, my suggestion to you is please stop trying to recreate school at home! Your home is well, your home. And your kids need that and the feeling that home gives more than anything right now. So, if you are completing work given by your child’s brick and mortar school do it in the homiest kind of way. Math in the front yard watching the sun come up. Have a night owl do history in the window while you can see the stars. We have done science under the kitchen table. And more than a few days we have done things in pajamas in the middle of the afternoon in bed.
Don’t add more to them than you must! Every hour does not have to be a rigorous academic challenge. Charlie is in the kitchen helping me cook. (life skill, math, and science, for something we were doing anyway.) Have them help you with those pushed aside home projects. Play, play, PLAY! They need to remember this time as a time that as a family they overcame a challenge. That they did this with laughter and a whole lot of Grace! But that you all did it together.
Let’s all give ourselves and our kids a break. Do the best you can with what the teachers are able to provide, (And we all agree those teachers are saints!) and let’s let the rest go.