You’re not home schooling
It’s been ages since I wrote a blog but I’m really sad to see the posts and hear comments from friends saying how stressed they are about school work. Some feel there is way too much work and too many emails. Others feel just as strongly that there is not enough of either. I’m writing to tell you – please don’t worry about school.
Not even kidding.
Stop it.
You decide how much work you want your child to do. You decide what schedule you want your child to follow. You can use the tasks supplied by your child’s teacher a little each day or all on one day or not at all. You can feel free to go on the internet and get as many worksheets as you like and load up your child’s day to keep them busy. My caution is this – please do not accidentally stamp out any joy for learning your child may have.
Please do not add stress and anxiety to your child who is currently living in a world full of stress and anxiety.
Here’s the thing….
The whole world of education is on pause. No one is falling behind because no one is moving forward.
Everything is going to be ok. Kids will be ok. Parents will get through this and we will all come together to make sure we all come out on the other side in one piece. There are so many things to be anxious about in this uncertain time in a very real, global way I sincerely want everyone to hear this – please don’t worry about school!!!!
Teachers are providing learning tasks that are meant to maintain skills your kids already have. We are obligated to provide some work for you that focuses on literacy and numeracy (and health and core competencies). There should be NOTHING sent to kids that they don’t (mostly) already know how to do.
You are not home schooling!!! You are parenting. Just be a parent. Have some fun with kids. Do some learning together. Schedule their day with chores and fun and outdoor time and downtime and a little learning. In many ways the most important learning in life does not ever happen in a school. You already knew that though.
Please know that teachers are not being lazy when they do not provide a schedule of 5 hours of work each day for your child. Teachers are providing exactly what the Ministry of Education has tasked them with in this unprecedented time. What you don’t see is the daily on-line meetings they are having with their principals, with each other, with individual kids and with their whole class when they can. They are missing your kids so much and they are working to do what they have been asked to do – completely change their job expectations overnight, which they are doing with grace and caring.
We know for sure that staying connected with your class and teacher – having that continued sense of belonging and community, is important for your child’s mental health right now. Doing some literacy and numeracy work will help keep those skills up for when we get the green light to start “school” again. If you can help your child stay connected and encourage them to read each day, it’s going to help. If you can’t, we will not leave anyone behind when we are able to open the school again and welcome everyone back.
There is a lot to be anxious about right now. Please don’t add an expectation to ‘home school” to the list. No one is asking you to do that. Here’s a link to the Ministry website offering alternate activities for you to do with kids:
https://www.openschool.bc.ca/keeplearning/
Take a breath. “School” is on pause. We want to stay connected. We want to maintain skills kids already have. We want everyone to know we miss them and love them. When we come back we will carry on together.
Until then, stay well!
Stacy