You Are Enough!

          In the last week we have all experienced many changes to our daily routines out of necessity to combat the spread of Covid-19.  One of these changes has been the temporary closures of public schools.  I’ve seen many cute memes and some posts from friends about their experiences so far.  Our local Homeschool Association challenged us to reach out to friends who are new to educating their children at home and so here I am trying to do just that.  Homeschooling is not for everyone, but it works best for our family.  I’m grateful for the privilege to teach at home and I love it!  I am by no means an expert, but I do have 13 years of experience now, and am willing to share some basic information for those finding themselves in new temporary waters of continuing their child’s education from their homes.  

          First of all I want to encourage you to take a deep breath (several if needed) and relax.  I firmly believe God has blessed us all with the children he did because in His divine wisdom, He knew they needed us as parents and we needed them as children.  You CAN do this!  You ARE enough!  Let me say that again….because I think you need to hear it again….You.  Are.  Enough.  The reason I know you need to hear it, is because over the past 13 years I have needed to hear that, especially on a rough day or in a rough season with a child.  A HUGE  thank you to my fellow homeschool mamas who have come along side me, listened, and encouraged me with that simple statement over the years!  With that said, I know many have expressed their gratitude for their child’s teacher this past week.  I encourage you if you haven't already to reach out to your child’s teacher and express your gratitude and gratefulness for all they do every day for your child!  They work hard and they care about your children!  Let them know how much you appreciate them!  Have your children write them a thank you note or color them a picture!

          Secondly, you do not have to try and replicate your child’s classroom schedule at home.  You know your children best and so you can create a schedule that will work best for your child’s physical, emotional, and educational needs as well as your families overall needs.  Maybe your child needs more sleep.  During this time let that particular child sleep in and get extra rest.  Maybe your child is an early riser.  During this time let that child get their chores and academic work done early.  Maybe you have multiple children home and their wonderful personalities clash.  It’s ok to designate different learning spaces for some physical distancing in your own home for everyone’s benefit during certain periods of the day.  I’ve seen some pretty wonderful examples of daily schedules on Facebook floating around.  That may be what works best for your family….go for it!  You may want to set up stations in your house where a child does a certain chore or learning activity for a designated amount of time and then you switch stations.  The possibilities are endless and the bottom line is this – You don’t have to and should not feel pressure to follow someone else’s plan for their family.  Choose what works best for your children and your family! 

          Next I would encourage you to have a set time each day for “Quiet Time”.  Oh how I dreaded this when I was younger in my own home.  Very happily every day after lunch my mother would say, “It’s quiet time!”  She always seemed very excited for this particular portion of her day….and now years later I understand why!   As much as we love our children, we also need a little break.  I want to be clear….this time is for YOU!  How you structure quiet time may be different from how I do it, but again, choose what works best for you!  At our house when I need quiet time, I have the children get books and read on their beds or in a special quiet space for a certain amount of time usually 20-30 minutes.  I have from time to time given them blankets and pillows to create an individual fort of sorts and then they read in those.  This past week I had them on their beds.  They boys share a room and instead of reading I found them engaged in a tickle-wrestling match so I’ve had to re-think their quiet time spaces – physical distancing J!  While my children are reading, I get to do something FUN…NO CHORES!  So if you need to get into your chocolate stash and just sit then go for it!

          Another tip is if you haven’t already done so, teach your children how to do basic household chores and do those TOGETHER!  Turn up the music and dust and vacuum the house while dancing and singing, wipe down door knobs, switch plates, and high contact areas.  Sort, fold, and put away laundry together.  Teach your older children how to properly clean the bathroom.  When our oldest went to college, he shared there were a lot of his classmates who didn’t know how to do such basic things.  He thanked me for taking time during his years at home to teach him these things!  In our house our children (based on their abilities) unload the dishwasher, sort the clothes on laundry days, clean up their own spots at meals, sweep and vacuum floors, dust, take out the trash and sort the recycling.  Everyone helps unload groceries and have learned or are learning how to properly put them away.  The older ones help me meal prep and re-bag bulk food for the freezer.  Everyone makes their own beds and cleans up their own toys/activities.  Because I am particular about how the dishwasher is loaded…I may or may not be known for coming along behind someone and re-doing it…I typically do that chore and besides Brad and our oldest at home, I am the one to run the clothes washer because I am particular about that too.  I encourage you to also spend time cooking together and teach basic food prep skills.  The bottom line here is…do it together and teach them.  It may take longer at first, but trust me…it WILL pay off in the end!

                    One of the first things someone will question about home education is the socialization factor.  I just want to assure you that temporarily educating your children at home will not affect your child’s socialization negatively.  The definition of socialization is “The process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society; social interaction with others.”  Learning about socialization and exposing your children to others and different situations starts in the home.  What a great opportunity you have now if you haven't been intentional about this before!  Take some time daily to teach your children how to interact with not just their peers but with people of all ages, shapes, colors, and abilities!  We work very hard here in our home to make sure our children can interact with the very young, their peers, and their elders.  We work on the right way to answer a phone, how to introduce yourself, how to give eye contact and a firm handshake.  We talk about not being glued to your screens but to know when to put them away.  We’ve been complimented on our children’s behavior and interactions with others of all ages.  I just want to assure you socialization is not learned exclusively in a classroom with peers; it can take place anywhere and it starts with you!

          The last main thing I’d like to share is that it is OK for your child to be bored.  In fact, it’s more than ok!  Children today live in a screen age where they potentially can be entertained 24/7.   It’s not the end of the world if they have to figure out on their own how to entertain themselves; you do not have to be their social planner.  I would caution you...from my own personal experience...silence however, is definitely suspicious.  You don't need to constantly entertain, but you also need to be aware of their location and activities!  With the weather warming send them outside!  At our house a few summers ago, I came up with the “I’m Bored Page” and posted it on the inside of a cabinet for them to use as a resource.  We sat down together and brainstormed all different kinds of activities they could do at home on their own or with their siblings instead of T.V., Movies, Netflix, iPads, etc…and I wrote them down on one half of a sheet of notebook paper.   It started off slow, but they really did a great job and filled their side of the paper in nice time.  Then I titled their side of the page “Your Choice”.  Next, I titled the other side of the paper “Mom’s Choice” and listed things like clean the baseboards, scoop the cat litter box, vacuum, etc…  You get the idea…things that needed done around the house or exercises like do 100 jumping jacks, run around the block 5 times, etc…   If they got bored and couldn’t decide on what to do, they could go to the list and choose from their side.  If they complained they were bored, I got to pick an activity on my side of the paper for them to do!   That summer I didn’t get to use my side of the paper.  They never seemed to get stuck or if they did, they would go look on their paper in the cabinet!

          Here are some other miscellaneous tips:

·         If you are a Christ following family, now would be a great time to start daily family devotions and prayer time after a meal or before bed if you don’t already do so.        

·        Take advantage of all the free educational and entertainment resources available online to families right now with virtual tours, games, experiments, and lessons!  Our favorite one so far is the daily virtual animal encounters on the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden’s Facebook page!

·       Board games and card games are great ways to build family relationships and create family memories.  Picwits, Headbands, and Taco, Cat, Goat Cheese Pizza are some of our favorites!  We’ve even printed off a Paper version of the cootie game and you roll a dice and draw certain body parts.  Real fun!

·       We love teaching Character in our normal school year and we use Character First materials.  At this time we are learning about respect!  Great resource!

·        Read to your children daily if possible for 20 minutes.  Right now we are reading Ramona the Brave via the Libby app using our library card.

·        Journal your experience with your family.  Get a notebook or type out on a word document what you did that day, something funny that happened or their high/lows.  It doesn’t have to be fancy.  Take pictures to document this time at home as well.  Later you can use your journal and pictures to create a photo book and you can show your grandchildren what happened in this time in history.

When we started this journey over 13 years ago, Brad and I had an advantage many of our friends did not have last week.  We discussed home education and we prayed and sought after God’s direction.  We talked to others who home schooled.  We went to a conference and we educated ourselves on what it really was all about.  We did not go into it lightly and we planned and prepared for it.  We were able to choose what curriculum worked best for our children's learning styles and we made plans for each of them.  What we did is not what so many have been temporarily required to do at home now.  Instead of desiring to educate your child at home and making necessary plans, families have been thrust into education at home and are overwhelmed with the dramatic changes that have taken place.  I hope these tips will help you.  You can do this!  It’s not permanent!  You are enough!