Quarantine-School: Relationships
Image taken by Rossie Schwartz.
Prioritize the Relationship:
Rule number one of homeschooling: Prioritize your relationship with your child, above their academics. If you’re both screaming, crying, stressed, exhausted, over it, then it’s probably a good time to take a break.
Many times when families choose to leave the traditional school system, they have a season of unschooling.
They create a season where the child gets used to the new rhythm of learning as a life, and not as something that’s done behind a desk. Maybe your family already lives by this philosophy, great! If not, beware creating a classroom at home. You might not get as many worksheets done, make as many crafts or do as many science experiments. But with one-on-one attention, you have the opportunity to learn something deeply, learn it well, remember it.
Bethany Douglass has a great free resource with daily rhythm tips & conversation starters to use with your children. I’ve been reading her blog for years and find it endlessly inspiring and grounding.
What our children deeply long for is our attention, our encouragement, our interest in their interests. Quarantine, though stressful and fear-inducing, can be a time for greater intimacy and transparency with our children. An opportunity for us to expand into a new, better version of ourselves.