Thoughts on Homeschooling in a Pandemic

There will be not be one of my monthly event lists for April, even through there are "virtual events" happening. Virtual events can certainly be worthwhile and provide a crucial sense of social connection. But focusing on them is too big of a change for my family as homeschoolers.

We have always homeschooled. I had a very negative experience myself with the one-size-fits-all approach of public schooling. One of my biggest motivations for becoming a mother was to share the beauty and wonder of this big wide world with a child. I wanted to be the one to see my son's eyes light up when he discovered something new and amazing, and didn't want to secede that privilege to a stranger. Or, even worse, to have that light extinguished entirely with busywork and dumbed-down nonsense. I wanted us to be a close family, rather than sending him away for most of his waking hours only to come home to more hours of homework. Plus,  there are many things school can't offer during regular school hours anymore in their pursuit of the Almighty Test Scores, such as sports, the arts, and even science, that would require extracurriculars to take away even more time from family. I wanted him to have plenty of unstructured time with friends and every opportunity to avoid bullies, institutionalized racism, and  frequent lockdowns (when police tell our neighborhood schools that there's reports of an active shooter in the area, so they make all the children huddle in closets). Public school is certainly right for many families, but it's not right for everyone.

We have been very privileged to be able to do this, and to see the positive results of our very personal choices now that he's in high school. 

Our choices have worked out well for my son. But they have worked out well because our choices have been made with him in mind and him alone. We never thought our choices would be right (or even possible) for everyone. 

Since school has been cancelled all across America, there has been a new national focus on homeschooling. I don't think this is good for anyone. Many homeschoolers across the nation are worried that families being forced to homeschool in the midst of a very stressful crisis is a recipe for disaster, because families are not likely to have good results under these conditions. It will probably cast homeschooling in a very negative light, which is something homeschoolers can ill afford. 

Not knowing much about homeschooling has never stopped most people from having strong opinions about it. Homeschoolers are worried our rights may be trampled on as a consequence.  They point out that what most families are doing is not authentic homeschooling, it's "crisis schooling", and a distinction should be made.

I agree "crisis schooling" can't be good for homeschooling, but I feel that there are many worse consequences of this tragedy for students. Things are dire for families who live in poverty, who rely on public schools for many things for their kids: meals, free childcare so parents can work, a decent education, social connection and a safe refuge in case of problems at home. Many of these families are least equipped to home educate, because they may not have internet service at home and are cut off from most other resources such as libraries, homeschool co-ops and support groups, and even thrift stores, re-use stores and used bookstores that can offer basic supplies at reduced prices. And these kids are the ones who are likely to suffer the greatest setbacks, all while potentially grieving the loss of family or friends due to this pandemic along with the rest of us. 

If you are reading this, internet access is likely not an issue for you. If so, you may realize that you are among the privileged. Most homeschoolers are privileged to some degree. The vast majority of homeschoolers are either among the relatively wealthy, or are able to get by anyway on one income in a two-parent home. 

Internet resources abound. We attend two homeschool co-ops, and as soon as this crisis hit our region, both shut down in-person classes. The directors of both co-ops asked all members to contribute to lists of online resources to share with the larger community. Articles have abounded in the local and national press in which homeschoolers are interviewed to offer "tips" as the obvious "experts". My first reaction was, "WHAT??? You mean to tell me that this quarantine doesn't represent a seismic change in your home education? Do you mean that you people really did spend most of your time at home already??? If not, are you okay with people assuming that's what homeschoolers do?" 

After homeschooling for over a decade, I am hardly an "expert" at "teaching at home"! When my son was young, I taught him to read and gave him language arts lessons, and I gave him math lessons. That used to take an average of 1 1/2 hours a day, about 5 days a week, to keep him a little beyond grade level. We usually did lessons while I did household chores and made dinner. That way he could sit at the kitchen table and I could be nearby to answer questions, without having to hover. Sometimes he just simply couldn't focus. We'd just switch lessons or pick up where we left off the next day. I made weekly goals, rather than daily goals, and by the end of the week they were met. 

Those lessons were important, but they weren't what made his education unique. For the past 11 years, I've been compiling an "event list" every month of wonderful local happenings. This has been foundational for his education. I discovered that lectures intended for the general public are often just fine for kids too.  If an expert can explain something to adults who know nothing about the topic, and make it interesting, it will usually make sense to kids just as well. I'd give him colored pencils and paper so he'd have something to do with his hands. He quickly got good at quietly listening, and the enthusiasm of people who are dedicated to work that they love is truly contagious. 

So for years he's been going to hear astronomers, physicists, biologists, historians, astronauts, artists, civic leaders, and just about any other kind of expert give talks about their work and whatever they are most passionate about. We've been going to archeology digs, living history events, star parties, open studios, theater, cultural events, Maker Faires, art workshops, guided hikes and canoe paddles, and tons more. For years we participated in spring frog and salamander counts where we would wade in ponds, identifying and counting egg masses, as well as numerous frog and salamander survey events. He became fascinated with nuclear energy, so we toured two nuclear reactors and the Hanford Nuclear Site. We would follow up on the things that he was most interested in, or that our family thought important for him to know about, with books, documentaries and hands-on experiments. And I would frequently ask him to write about what he learned. 

I would constantly ask myself what the most terrific way would be to learn about something. And I rarely felt it meant staying home. 

In just the first two weeks of the month, we attended the Café Sci event at the Science Center (a lecture on the technology behind autonomous flying vehicles), and a training at Audubon for Project Budburst (a citizen science project about phenology), went to a screening at the History Center of a documentary on the suffragette movement in Pittsburgh, took at charcoal drawing class at Mt. Lebanon Library with a professional art instructor, attended a Veteran's Breakfast Club event featuring a woman veteran who worked as codebreaker on Enigma (the top secret German code used in WWII) and several other woman veterans, watched a master class in sound design for film at Duquesne, and attended "The Band's Visit", a play at the Benedum Center, for which I scored discount tickets.

When the crisis brought on by the virus hit Pittsburgh, our plans were completely derailed. My son's Geometry, High School English and Electronic Music classes moved online via video conferencing, which is definitely not ideal, but works. (We are so grateful to his teachers for making this awkward adjustment.) His Personal Finances and Literary Arts teachers provided tons of lessons to do at home. I was teaching his Natural Science class, so I provided homework as well, plus the plea to get outside and investigate spring's arrival firsthand. But his glassblowing class at the Pittsburgh Glass Center was cancelled. And all the rest of our plans were out the window. 

Coming up in March, we had been planning on going to the Hindu Jain temple for their annual Holi feast and festival (open to all and very fun), a play at McKeesport Little Theater called "Nightwatch", a talk about the botany of mosses, a talk at Duquesne accompanying an exhibit on loan from Poland on the Polish role in decoding the German's Enigma code, two guided walks to witness the bizarre courtship dance of the timberdoodle bird (and hopefully hear owls, frogs and coyotes as well), a lecture with Rick Sebak and a local historian on the history of Kennywood, the Bookish in the Burgh teen readers and writers full-day conference with workshops led by YA authors from around the country, and a guided springtime evening walk in Ohio to observe frogs and salamanders. 

Not gonna lie, it stinks to lose all of that. As well as his opportunity to see

friends in person regularly. There is simply no way prescribing additional screen time is going to look good to me.

Yes, I know there are simply amazing things to be found online.

I know that many local, national and international artists, performers, educators and institutions are going out of their way to provide excellent online content for parents trying to "crisis school" and anyone looking to enrich their lives under quarantine. 

But that's just not my jam. I am just not the person to recommend those things.  I'm not going to compile an "event list" for April filled with virtual events. My son has plenty of constructive things to do without me making more work for him, and I'm opposed to adding to his screen time in any way. (Except watching frivolous movies just for fun. There must be time for that.) I can't justify compiling a list we won't use ourselves.

And if you, too, are somewhat privileged and not justifiably terrified you won't have the resources to help your kids without school,  I urge you to relax. Your children are under stress. They've been cut off from much that is familiar and meaningful to them. Even if they weren't feeling stressed for their own reasons, all of us adults are frightened and stressed, and it's bound to wear off. Let's just try to be extra loving, patient and forgiving. If they're angry, respond first by listening. Let's be generous when we can, bake with them, play games with them, read to them, watch silly movies with them, sing and dance with them, look at family photos together and tell them they're loved. Let's make sure they have plenty of phone and video calls with friends and family. Let's get them outside for fresh air and springtime when it's practical and safe. 

We will have the whole summer to calmly determine what needs to be learned, find resources and get it done. Hopefully in small doses. School is notoriously inefficient with time, and at no point will it need to be a full-time job to get them up to speed. In the fall, teachers will have to be prepared to tackle classrooms where many of the students haven't been taught, or haven't been taught the same things. Your child will be okay. And if you know what a privilege it is to have internet service when other families don't, tell your elected officials to help those families right now who are trying to "crisis school" without it.

So instead of an event list for April, I'm going to keep exploring nature and sharing the best of what I find. I'll be going to local parks as long as safe social distancing is easily managed, parks are open and we are legally permitted to do so. I'm going to look for the places that are worth visiting because they offer something particularly special. And I'm going to make an effort to share my findings quickly so that my tips may be helpful. 

I dearly hope that everyone reading this is safe and well, and able to make the best of a lousy situation. There is no way there's a silver lining big enough to make up for the suffering this pandemic is causing. But I still wish you all the very best of luck. We will get through this!