Quarantine-School: Transitioning
Painting by Paul Gauguin via WikiArt
The streets are more quiet, but our homes are more noisy. To add to the noise we’re adding in the voices of teachers (who are rock stars!), curriculum (lots of it), and the growing overwhelm that might be rising within.
The transition from traditional school to schooling at home will not happen overnight. Allow yourself a slower season, a season of pairing back and digging in.
When I’m feeling overwhelmed with a new rhythm our days have taken, I try to get some time alone to pinpoint what specifically is stressing me out. And I try to consider how each of my children is doing and what they might be needing more or less of.
Some thoughts:
If you’re not having fun, they’re not having fun. Some things that help me have fun: beautiful materials, fresh air, a bright uncluttered space, and a drink that makes me feel like I’m nourishing my body. It doesn’t have to be majestic, but it does, for me, have to feel like a heart expansion. I want to feel like we’re diving into deep and good things together, that we’re turning our hearts toward things that matter. (If you’re teaching something and you don’t know why: why it’s useful or why it’s important, at least make it beautiful, make it fun.)
Draw. There are loads of resources for this online. Check here & here.
Read//Listen to Audiobooks. Some of our favorites: Narnia Series, Little House Series, Little Women & Little Men, and anything by Francis Hodgson Burnett (The Lost Prince being a recent favorite.)
Don’t just do it to do it. Many schools are providing curriculum. Use it as a tool to learn the concept. Use what you need, and let go of what you don’t need.
They may not need to learn it now. A lot can be said for teaching certain things when the child’s brain is developed enough to grasp it quickly. I know a woman who didn’t teach any elementary age math because by jr. high and high school they just grasped the concepts so quickly, it was energy wasting to force it in the earlier years. (That said, we do math, but maybe you don’t have to.)