Corona Chronicles- Homeschooling...

​Facebook has been brilliant lately in getting us through some of our darkest times and those times are called HOMESCHOOLING.  Some of my favorite memes are: "Homeschooling today is Dishwashing 101, Honors Laundry, AP House cleaning etc" or another favorite: "If you see my kids locked outside, mind your own business. We are practicing a fire drill" And finally "In school today 2 kids got expelled for fighting and the teacher was suspended for drinking on the job."  I am extremely blessed to have 2 boys that get along very well- best buddies so there has been no fighting, however the thought has crossed my mind of cracking a beer at 10am.

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​Many of you know that for 26 years I was a teacher.  I left teaching 4 years ago and the reasons why are for another blog- but one thing I do want to say is that education is one of the most important professions.  I believe the profession is so imperative and important that I felt I needed to take a break from it! But along came The Rona... and here I am- teaching.

I want to thank all of my boys' teachers in Charlevoix Middle/High School for keeping up with assignments and posting those assignments online.  I've enjoyed seeing how creative those teachers are being and loved seeing my kids interacting with their teachers and friends through Zoom and other platforms.  In our house, we have a schedule posted, and it's been a treat getting my boys to follow the schedule (saying this sarcastically). The morning starts at 10:00 am and many times this week I've had to threaten with tardy slips.  The work time is from 10-12 in their classroom (the kitchen table), and then we go to lunch in the cafeteria (the kitchen bar), then we have project time that I've created (see pictures below), and then they do something physical and outside (playground, recess).  It sounds like smooth sailing, but it is anything but.  If you listen in to our conversations, you would hear things like- let me see your google classroom-now! Let me see your googles or I'll be taking your phone.  Stop texting. Give me your phone. Focus on your work. Leave your brother alone- he's reading. Stop kicking your brother under the table. Stop laughing at your brother- it encourages him... etc. So those are the not so pleasant parts of the homeschooling.  THERE are some really positive things going on.

Along with my boys' school work- we are doing "Mom projects."  I have one "academic" project going and one life skill project going on.  I feel fortunate to have a teaching background so I've been able to pull from my background.  We've done some fun academics and I've learned some things that my boys don't know.  For example- propaganda. While doing a project about WW2 and finding similarities to what's going on right now- I found that my boys didn't know what progaganda was.  What a great teaching moment.  Another example was learning what an oxen yoke was.  The latest project we are working on is The Oregon Trail.  My boys have taken on identities of emigrants on the trail.. One of them is a farmer and one is a teacher.  One of them just got bitten by a snake and one just encountered bad weather- snow and hail.  When they were at their jumping off point (Independence Missouri) they were to buy their supplies.  Jack didn't buy an oxen yoke because he thought they were eggs.  What a great teaching moment that was after Henry and I made fun of him.  These are really good things. 

Life skills- sewing and cooking. Plants seeds, ironing and playing cards.  There have been so many wonderful things we've been able to learn and talk about during these lessons.  My greatest hope is that they carry these lessons on through their life so that when a button pops off their shirts they can sew it back on, or when they are making dinner for a date- they know how to measure accurately, or when they want to start a garden of their own- they understand what it takes to start seeds inside.  How to play Euchre with their parents when they come visit us when we are older.  These are things that I will cherish about our family during this time. NO we aren't on the beach in Florida where we were planning on vacationing and yes I'm freaked out about my future as a massage therapist, but we are making the best of it and I truly hope that you are as well.  Tomorrow I'll be sharing what I'm doing during this time (beside exercise) to stay mentally well.

Much love and gratitude
Sandy