I'm a mom and a teacher and I'm STILL not prepared for home instruction

Given my supposed expertise in the area of education, I thought I might write some words of reassurance and gentle advice for the days and weeks ahead.

Allow me to say up front that nobody in my family is currently facing eviction, hunger, job loss or (knock wood) ill health in the face of this virus and global shut down. These very real situations for many people, and in my opinion are far more important than a couple of weeks of school.

This is not to diminish the value of education, but to remind us all that sometimes, formal schooling is just one more thing. Sometimes it's one more thing too many.

So that's the first thing: I genuinely believe that, in terms of their formal education, every child and teenager will survive a few months of interruption. I don't in any way mean to minimize the strain of disruption, but this disruption includes their social lives, their routines, AND the actual content they learn in school. The content is the piece that, in the short term, matters the least. The strain of social lives and routine, which includes sports, clubs, just hanging out, etc, is a much more immediate issue.

What this means is that, as an educator, my advice is this: do as much or as little home instruction as makes sense for your specific kid(s) in your specific situation. If this month of home instruction turns into 2, 3, or 4 months, then we'll be in a different boat (in more ways than one), but for now, give yourself and your kid(s) permission to not be good at this.

Personally, I find this equal parts hilarious and
adorable. I'm sure it will be great for some
families. I think we might make it to the
first yellow bar before it all goes to hell.

Then, assuming you do make at least an attempt at this online learning thing, here are a couple of tips that might help ease everyone's burden:


1. Remember that learning (at least the schooling kind) cannot happen when a brain is otherwise occupied with stress, strain, anxiety, or fear.

The higher the level of stress, the less new information the brain can take in. Take breaks, turn it off, walk away. There's no need to strain your relationship or yourselves because neither of you is prepared to teach or learn algebra in your living room while the world is on lockdown because of a global pandemic.


2. Remember that this has never happened before, so nobody actually knows what to do. 

This goes for state governments, local administrators, individual teachers, you, and your kid(s).

There will almost certainly be some districts or teachers that send home instructions that are overburdensome, overly vague, unwise, or flat-out wrong. There will almost certainly be some parents and kids who make mistakes even when the instructions from the teachers are very clear. It's ok. We're in this together.


3. Give yourself permission to trust your kid(s).

People are not always good at saying what they need, but they are pretty good at acting out if they aren't getting what they need. So if you have a kid who resists working on a particular lesson or even logging on at all, trust them that there's a reason and try to find out what it is.

This doesn't mean the 8-year-old gets to dictate what they will and won't do. It just means that even 8-year-olds (or 16-year-olds, or college students suddenly home) have reasons for doing what they do, and those reasons aren't laziness or naughtiness. Really. Even when it really, really, really seems like those are the reasons. Try to find out what the real reasons are and go from there.



Again, this is all meant as reassurance, and I realize it speaks mainly to people who even have the option of thinking they are going to try homeschooling. As we get our sea legs in this new reality, I hope we all find ways to help those who need much more than some reassuring words.

xoxo, Lex