20 images Created 3 Oct 2020
WHEN SCHOOL GOES ONLINE
A friend posted a picture on Instagram of her 11-year-old daughter wearing a school uniform, sitting attentively in front of a laptop and waving to her teacher during a virtual class.
My experience lay in stark contrast. During home lessons, my youngest child, a 7-year-old, often ignores the screen and climbs on me whenever possible.
Despite always finishing their homeschooling tasks, when asked what their favorite subjects are, my two boys usually respond in unison, "Break and lunch!" I'm dismayed every time I hear it.
When schools shut down on March 23 due to COVID-19. There wasn't much discussion at home about how to approach this new reality. There was little preparation other than ordering five reams of A4 paper, printer ink cartridges and a packet of school exercise books.
I quickly learned I wasn't as qualified as I had hoped. Patience is not one of my chief qualities. Nor is long division, coding, art, English literature, Mayan history or physics –topics I was suddenly "teaching," with the aid of materials posted online by their teachers.
The fact that so much of school has gone on-screen has made me push even harder to make space for low tech. We created a little stage out of a cereal box in which the kids put on puppet productions of children's books.
My younger son Joe relished the task of creating a mythical beast for an art assignment using photo collage. It sits comfortably on his homeschooling notebook next to his math assignments.
Lockdown has made our family bond, wrapping us in a tight hug, though at times it feels like a boa constrictor's slow squeeze. It has allowed my husband and me a glimpse into how our children approach learning and knowledge. Laughter, it seems, is a great route to education.
With no after-school activities we have the luxury of time, and the boys have found new interests. Ben has developed a love for early American history and Joe has been reading up on infectious diseases.
I know our family is fortunate. No one has lost a job. We can pay the mortgage and buy groceries. None of us have been ill.
But it's not easy, for anyone Nerves frayed from confinement — and the stress of insulating your children from pressure they only loosely grasp — make family interactions more tense and dramatic.
A simple arithmetic problem can seem insurmountable, and with nowhere to escape, seeing your child melt down at the kitchen table makes you question whether you are fit to mold a young mind.
If misery loves company, I've had plenty. Many parents have told me they've been reduced to tears, including one who spent three hours extracting one paragraph of writing from their child.
Others have felt unable to stretch themselves to cover all of the demands pulling them in different directions. And some tell me they regularly head for a glass of wine as soon as the day ends.
This may all be far from over, but I tell myself that if we can keep ourselves alive and sane during this period, we are all ahead of the game.
My experience lay in stark contrast. During home lessons, my youngest child, a 7-year-old, often ignores the screen and climbs on me whenever possible.
Despite always finishing their homeschooling tasks, when asked what their favorite subjects are, my two boys usually respond in unison, "Break and lunch!" I'm dismayed every time I hear it.
When schools shut down on March 23 due to COVID-19. There wasn't much discussion at home about how to approach this new reality. There was little preparation other than ordering five reams of A4 paper, printer ink cartridges and a packet of school exercise books.
I quickly learned I wasn't as qualified as I had hoped. Patience is not one of my chief qualities. Nor is long division, coding, art, English literature, Mayan history or physics –topics I was suddenly "teaching," with the aid of materials posted online by their teachers.
The fact that so much of school has gone on-screen has made me push even harder to make space for low tech. We created a little stage out of a cereal box in which the kids put on puppet productions of children's books.
My younger son Joe relished the task of creating a mythical beast for an art assignment using photo collage. It sits comfortably on his homeschooling notebook next to his math assignments.
Lockdown has made our family bond, wrapping us in a tight hug, though at times it feels like a boa constrictor's slow squeeze. It has allowed my husband and me a glimpse into how our children approach learning and knowledge. Laughter, it seems, is a great route to education.
With no after-school activities we have the luxury of time, and the boys have found new interests. Ben has developed a love for early American history and Joe has been reading up on infectious diseases.
I know our family is fortunate. No one has lost a job. We can pay the mortgage and buy groceries. None of us have been ill.
But it's not easy, for anyone Nerves frayed from confinement — and the stress of insulating your children from pressure they only loosely grasp — make family interactions more tense and dramatic.
A simple arithmetic problem can seem insurmountable, and with nowhere to escape, seeing your child melt down at the kitchen table makes you question whether you are fit to mold a young mind.
If misery loves company, I've had plenty. Many parents have told me they've been reduced to tears, including one who spent three hours extracting one paragraph of writing from their child.
Others have felt unable to stretch themselves to cover all of the demands pulling them in different directions. And some tell me they regularly head for a glass of wine as soon as the day ends.
This may all be far from over, but I tell myself that if we can keep ourselves alive and sane during this period, we are all ahead of the game.
