Tips for a Reluctant Homeschooler

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

Across this great country, and all over the globe, parents are frantically trying to figure out how to suddenly become homeschoolers with zero experience, preparation, or desire to do so.

This has led to a lot of anxious folks asking for advice from anyone they know who might have some insight to share.  As a home learner and a teacher, I guess I would qualify as someone with some insight.

I've seen countless blogs discuss this topic, actually.  Lots of well-meaning homeschoolers who blog have been sharing websites and resources and craft ideas and all that other good stuff for parents to access.

Frankly, it's a bit overwhelming, and I'm not even an anxious sudden homeschooler.

So I am not going to be one of those blogs.  I have no links to free subscriptions or worksheets to offer you.  Instead, I'm going to try to talk you through the next few weeks or months, in case your homeroom teachers haven't reached out yet.  My thoughts are based on what I know about AB and BC, so depending on your location, your mileage may vary.

1) Unless you're getting credits, you can absolutely take an early summer.
Schools and teachers, much like parents, are scrambling.  This, as our fearless prime minister likes to say, is unprecedented.  It is new to everyone, and nobody really knows what they're doing.  So your kid, for all intents and purposes, will be graduated to the next grade in the fall.  They will most likely be assessed based on what they've already done up to March 2020.  Some teachers can't even reach half of their students online right now, so it is highly unlikely that any "assigned work" or "homework" that your teacher assigns your kid to do while outside the classroom will actually count in any legitimate capacity.

For kids in Gr. 10 and older, there will be online options for them to complete their for-credit courses; these online courses already exist in BC and AB, so it's just a matter of the school being able to get your kids set up.

So, if you really want, read your teacher's emails and kindly decline to do the work, or pick and choose what your kid wants to do.  If you just want your kids to play, and especially if they are younger children, just do it.  It's not like they are going to suspend your child for not completing work!

2) Start with the heart.
If you're freaking out about this covid life, so too is your kid.  And your kid is likely also grieving; they are going to miss year-end field trips, their friends, their teachers, their "normal" schedules, their graduation, their prom, and their recesses.  They are missing play dates and playgrounds and sports and birthdays.  What they've lost, they may be grieving in their own way.  And a child who is distressed or in grief is not really in any shape to learn; their brains and bodies are too preoccupied with this other stuff.  So, instead of trying to get them to do a Canadian curriculum book from Costco or answer novel study questions, let them grieve, and grieve with them.  Soothe them, acknowledge their feelings and fears, and navigate those choppy waters together.  Fill their emotional buckets, play with them and let them work out those big emotions through heavy work in the back yard or by jumping off the couch 658 times.  Once they have accepted that this "new reality" is here to stay for a bit, they will be more ready to learn. Or maybe they will be ready for a break.  Either way, by focusing on mental and emotional health first, you can't go wrong.

3) Follow their interests.
One of the worst things about school is that the teachers tell kids what to learn; the curriculum and teacher choice dictate the content through which curricular objectives are to be met.

BUT - this is only one way to do things.  Here in BC, the core competencies outlined in the provincial curriculum are deliberately broad and vague to allow for ample wiggle room.  I suspect AB and most of the western provinces to be the same.  What narrow content a teacher focuses on is often as much determined by the teacher's interests as it is by the curricular requirements.

So maybe start with your province's curriculum.  Print that multipage document off for the subjects you want to focus on (for me, literacy and math/numeracy are the most important ones), and cross off all of the objectives and competencies that you already know your kid can meet.  Don't even bother to focus on those, but pick the objectives that your kiddo has yet to meet and make those your end goal.

Next, think about your kid.  What is their interest, and what are they curious about? What engages them?  And use those interests as springboards for activities and learning that fulfill those objectives you want to meet.

Or maybe, abandon the curriculum altogether and just follow your kid's lead and curiosity.  So often, our kids are taught to do as they are asked, but they don't get the opportunity to do the leading and the initiating.  I have seen this quite often from older students who don't trust their own judgement and who have no ideas to contribute when given an open-ended question or a task requiring divergent thinking.  These learners didn't suddenly lose their curiosity or ability to be creative; it was just devalued somewhere along the way of their earlier education, and those muscles became weak from lack of use.  But when kids are little, they are curious little sponges, exploring through play and learning from trial-and-error.  We want to cultivate that, or at least build up those muscles again, and this sudden homeschooling experience is an opportunity like no other to let our kids drive their own learning for a little while.

4) Keep them moving.
I'm as guilty as anyone of this.  It's easy to let our kids stay sitting on the couch or sprawled across the living room floor all day.  Social distancing at home, right?  But our kids do need to move, and their bodies are not designed to work optimally when they are sedentary.  It is another flaw of classroom learning that you can rectify at least in the short term, even if you don't live on an acreage with a ton of space.  Kids can bounce on hopper balls, swing from indoor mounted swings, run the stairs, bounce on mini-trampolines, do burpees, jump on the bed/couch/off a step stool, or have dance parties.  Give them ample time to move, and you can call it Physical Education if you want ;)

But mostly,

5) Don't sweat this.
You didn't choose the homeschool life.  You might still be trying to juggle a full-time job, or navigating life with every person under the same dang roof 24x7.  You don't need to be nailing this.  Put your own oxygen mask on first, and then do what you can.  Forget the Pinterest posts, the 250 free website links and worksheets your friends are sharing on FB, and the IG photos of all of your friends doing pro-level crafts with their 7 year olds.  Everyone's a hot mess no matter if they're posting it on social media or not, and it's not worth stressing over how you fare compared to the Joneses now.

Be safe, friends, and be well.  We will all get through this together 💕