Homeschooling During The Pandemic

Parents, it’s okay not to get this homeschooling thing perfect. 

I have now seen several posts on social media from parents describing how after a day — or even a half hour — of trying to home-school their kids, they now think teachers should receive a $1 billion a year salary. It is both an ode to the teaching profession and an indication that parents are really struggling with the new normal brought on by a global pandemic.

Now more than half of Americans are under some kind of stay-at-home order due to the spread of the coronavirus in the United States. This means that millions of students are suddenly having to start distance learning, over what may end up being a great length of time. Families have had to struggle with this new reality and try to quickly adapt to a jarring shift in daily life. Parents, in addition to worrying about work, the household, their family members’ well-being, and their own health, are abruptly also tasked with homeschooling their children. 

Let’s all admit it — it’s a lot to ask. Maybe even too much to ask. Parents, if you’ve had this thought enter your head, know that it’s not a crazy idea. It is okay to recognize the unfairness of the expectation that you should be able to juggle homeschooling together with all the other responsibilities you have, even with the incredible stress of a pandemic aside. Add in the latter, and it all may seem impossible. 

There will inevitably be hiccups and days you want to rip all your hair out. This is all normal and human. The first, and maybe best, thing you parents can do right now is tell yourselves this, and give yourselves some grace in the process. Once you’ve done that, you can try out some of these other tools for managing the stresses of homeschooling during a pandemic:

• Be flexible: the world is so out of whack right now that it may be more of a headache than it’s worth to expect everything to go according to plan. You may do well to relax certain household rules, like caps on screen time and strict meal schedules, to reduce extra stress and conflict in the home. Maybe enforcing that hour of textbook reading will lead to a fight, so instead you can all watch a documentary or YouTube video on the same topic. Letting your children sleep in on occasion could be a good thing for them and for you. 
• Tap into community support: people are coming together during this difficult time to help each other out and share resources. In my own neighborhood, the residents have been coming together to create active and experiencial learning opportunities for the home-bound students. The latest challenge was to put teddy bears in the windows for children to find and count from walks around the block. You could turn something like that into a fun and active math activity! Others have been sharing school materials and tips from their own experiences. Look out for neighborhood apps, forums, and groups in your area.  
• Get creative: have your kids act out that battle from history class. Find all your extra art supplies and have them make atom models out of whatever they choose. Discover topics that really interest your children and let them explore those at their own pace. Try some visuals for the visual learners and some hands-on activities for the experiential learners. There are so many great ideas out there you can find with internet searches and using all the innovative technology we have these days. 

For the majority of students, their home is not their classroom, and their parent is not their school teacher. Under the special and tough circumstances of the pandemic, it is important to recognize that forced homeschooling can be overwhelming, stressful, and not every parent’s strong-suit. Be extra kind to yourselves and reach out to your support networks, including teachers — who I’ve seen are eager to help — and counselors. Lastly, and importantly, look for ways to have fun and connect with your kids. You may look back at this period as a time of turmoil and distress, while they could look back at it as the time they got to spend with their family, playing games, having meals together, and learning in different and exciting ways. 

Isabel Tanco

Isabel has had the life-changing opportunity to go on service trips to Mexico, Chile, and Peru to help those living in poverty. Through these experiences, she developed a passion for helping those in need. She realizes that forming relationship and meaningful connection with others is paramount to holistic health and wellbeing. Isabel works with a focus on helping clients to address concerns with social relationships and their sense of belonging in their world. She believes that every person is the expert on their own life, and that they have the power within them to achieve positive change, growth, and healing. Being multi-racial and multi-cultural herself, Isabel enjoys working with clients who identify with minority cultural groups or are experiencing acculturation issues. She has experience working with adolescents facing a range of challenges, from depression, anxiety, ADHD, developmental concerns and severe trauma. She has also seen college students and young adults, who navigate the stress of difficult transitions and school and work life.

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