My Take on Home Schooling
Hey, I hope you’re all having a great day. It is the first day of the Easter holidays today and therefore that means one thing…NO MORE HOME SCHOOLING…Yay!!!! [Jumping for joy]
Hard Work
Following on from my last blog, parents of school-aged children are having to home school their children.
I’d like to say it’s been fun and exciting but the reality of it has been stressful and hard work. Well for me it has been, not sure about the rest of the moms.
My Kids…
My daughter, a 13yrs old academic child, knows exactly what is expected of her to become the Veterinary Surgeon she has always wanted to be.
She is being regimented in her studies and completing all (and in some cases more) than what her teachers have been setting her, through their electronic system.
My son, on the other hand, is an 11yrs old know-it-all. He is clever but can be very elusive. I believe his brain thinks far quicker than he can physically do anything. Therefore has an attention span of a gnat.
He seems to get bored really quickly and is much keener in doing practical learning rather than reading or writing. However, he is bloody brilliant at Maths.
The school has set up an online Times Table Rockstar battle that he can take part in with his friends. (He seriously puts me to shame in Maths).
In fact, anything to do with online learning is great for our son. Especially now he has expressed an interest in becoming a Computer Engineer and/or a Website Designer. This only recently came apparent when he started Year 6 in Primary School.
Apparently, he is also good at fixing computer issues at school. The teachers ask him to fix the overhead projector or computers in the computer room when they are not working. If the truth is known he just likes to feel important. A trait he seems to share with his sister too.
Life Lessons
So, after the first few days of lockdown and stressing what they should and shouldn’t be doing, we decided as a family to do the majority of home schooling ‘lessons’ in the morning and then after lunch get outside and do some life lessons learning.
We have been very blessed with the weather so far. Most days it’s been dry with a bit of cloud and some days we’ve experienced a nice bit of sunshine.
The patio was cleared of weeds, the lawns were given their first mow of the year and we cleared up the leaves in the front garden. We have also planted some vegetable seeds into a propagator.
Weekly Chores
As well as all that, the children have had to continue their weekly chores. Hoovering and dusting their rooms, emptying and refilling the dishwasher, making or cooking their own lunchtime meals and generally helping around the house and garden is usually asked of them.
Screen Time
We are very strict with screen time, always have been, and always will be. The children tend to have access to their gadgets between 5.00pm – 8.00pm during the weekdays. At the weekends a couple of hours in the morning before 12.00pm is allowed and then again after 5.00pm.
Their dad and I agree that too much playing on electronic gadgets is not good for them. In fact, when they have stretched their screentime in the past it has proven to affect their personality and behaviour. So we restrict the use of them and their behaviour is much better.
Having A Clear Out
Our daughter is hoping to have her bedroom painted this year and have new furniture too. (Not sure if that will be financially and physically possible at the moment).
Nevertheless, she has sorted through all her drawers, wardrobes and bookshelves, getting rid of anything she doesn’t want in preparation.
Daily Exercise
Our son has taken to walking the dogs with his dad every morning. Then as part of our daily allowance of exercise, we as a family have been getting out the bicycles. Taking a leisurely ride down the lanes and footpaths we have available to us, has been a really nice experience.
Grateful
We are very blessed to be living just on the outskirts of our village. This has encouraged us to self isolate for the last 10 years that we have been living here. So I have to admit the ‘loneliness’ I hear people talk of has been no bother for us.
To be honest we are just very grateful we can all be together. We are keeping fit and healthy and enjoy what time we have.
Eventually, we will all have to step back onto the hamster wheel of life again, and before we know it, we will be wishing for lockdown again. We’re never satisfied are we?! lol 🙂
I’d Love To Hear From You.
How have your coped home schooling? What have you done to keep the little ones occupied? Leave a comment below, I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Clair xxx
