Home Schooling Pressures Through the Eyes of Our Children

 

This week I am delighted to share the voice of one of our parents who has very kindly shared him and his wife’s reflections on homeschooling. 

 

Home Schooling Pressures Through the Eyes of Our Children

 

I spoke to Mrs Drummond recently about seeing homeschooling through a very different lens in this lockdown period.  Mrs Drummond asked if I’d be willing to share my perspectives, which she felt may resonate across the broader parent cohort.

 

This lockdown has been very different for me, with both my wife and I working on front line C19 initiatives.  Therefore, despite being at home, I have had much less time to devote to home schooling this time round.  Requiring both the children to just “figure it out” until Mum or Dad can check in with them at “some point” before or at lunch time.  

 

As parents, I think we all saw our children rush to school in September 2020 - we witnessed them come back from school full of anecdotes, happiness, a renewed passion to learn, hear about the friends they played with, games they made up or something completely random that could not possibly have happened at home.

  

In the last couple of weeks I have seen the challenges of leaving children to try and cope with online schooling themselves through a new lens.  Internet dropping, computer’s freezing, having nose bleeds midway through a test, not hearing an instruction, the printer jamming, running up stairs or downstairs to dial in on time, timing a restroom break… can all take an incredible toll on adults, let alone our children.  At school the instructions are verbal, they are direct and there is ample opportunity to ask questions.  At home it becomes lonely for them very quickly, together with the shorter winter days, there doesn’t seem to be adequate time to get out in the fresh air before it gets dark. 

 

We need to appreciate how difficult this time is for our children.  We must remind ourselves to praise them for coping with the multiple challenges of trying to learn online; reassure them its ok if the internet drops, or if they have a nose bleed, or the printer jams half way through assessments or time critical tasks – simply put there are just some things in life that neither they nor us as parents can control. It has definitely allowed the children to gain a different level of independence and organisational skills which they may have not experienced otherwise. These will be life long skills they have gained. 

 

As parents I am sure we are also very grateful to the school and teachers for all the meticulous planning and efforts to ensure the children are learning, keeping busy and that each day goes as smoothly as possible for everyone involved. 

 

By Year 3&5 Dad