Has your world been rocked? The changes. The cancellations. The fears being thrown around in the media. How does a homeschooling parent balance all of this? We want to keep a sense of normalcy in our home for the sake of our children but what about the parents who have had to bring their work home with them? Whether it is one or both parents now working from home on top of homeschooling, the challenges are real and the situations vary. I have spoken to parents who are expected to homeschool their children (with little to no assistance from their teachers) all while both parents are working from home. I have spoken to parents who have had to bring their work home and are absolutely overloaded with extra work because their services are required to help with COVID-19 related issues. Their children have to keep up with Zoom-schooling throughout the day and the parents are overwhelmed trying to keep their kids focused on school while working overtime in a not-so-ideal environment. I also know of parents whose teachers are requiring them to follow a strict 8 A.M.– 2 P.M. school schedule at home that mimics the school schedule that they normally follow. This is completely unrealistic.
Life is not normal for any of us, even those of us who have already been homeschooling for years. As if it isn’t hard enough, add a global pandemic to the mix and the challenges become real. The best part about all of this is that many homeschooling families have already been forced to take lemons and turn them into lemonade. Now is no different. The only difference is, we can help teach others how to do the same. Even those whom we never dreamed that we would be helping.
How can we help others? First, we can look back over the years and see what God has taught us. Remember specifically those first few months (or years) when the pressures felt so real to try and measure up. To try and become the perfect homeschooling parent. Well, it doesn’t happen overnight, and for the parents now thrust into schooling from home (though it is not technically homeschooling from a legal point of view) they are scared, afraid, and confused. But note, there is something in them that knows that they can do this. They indeed can teach their children at home and they need the encouragement and motivation from you that they are more than capable. Now is the time for homeschooling families to hold up the hands of these parents and let them know that they are doing a great job and can continue to do so as long as their state’s stay-at-home order lasts or even longer if they’d like. Rather than overwhelming them by showing them all of the possible curriculum options out there are offering unwanted advice, they simply need to know that they in fact can do it. We figured it out on our own, we learned what worked best for us, they need to know that they are no different than any other parent that has gone before them in home education.
Maybe some of them will become turned off to homeschooling because they realize they aren’t as patient as they thought they were or their frustrations seem to get the best of them most days. Encourage them that they don’t need to be so hard on themselves but the fact that they are home with their children will speak volumes to them. Even if the days don’t seem perfect, children are more forgiving than we realize. Encourage these parents to forgive themselves for ugly days and move on, their children need them and God will give them the grace to get through these challenging times!
