Homeschooling

It never crossed my mind when my children headed off to school that one day I would see myself juggling HOMESCHOOLING, my profession and life, due to a pandemic.

Our journey begins like a normal school morning, kitchen chaos, my half sipped cup of tea on the bench, Grace having difficulty finding socks, cereal bowls finally making it to the sink and the TV on but no one watching.

I called out to the kids that we needed to start. I took a deep breath, but where do I start?

Assembly is the first item at school so I thought that would be a fun way to start! Not as a real assembly but as a play! Finn takes the role of Mr M using a vacuum attachment as his microphone. Grace and I stand like the students. Mr M started with the school pray, Grace and I followed on. Mr M asked, ‘Are there any birthdays in room today, any sporting awards, any privilege tickets?”. Grace and shook our heads. Mr M then handed the microphone over to Mrs N (acted now by Grace). Mrs N reminded us to wash our hands. Mrs N then ended with her usual statement of, “It’s time to get to class to fill up your brains!”.

Finn and I started with google classroom, a program that I had not used before. Finn sat beside me and when I asked for the log on details, his eyes twirled in his head, ants were in his pants, he had a few guesses, I rolled my eyes, then finally after a few minutes the penny dropped. I thought if it takes that long to get into the program this is GOING TO BE A BIGGER CHALLENGE than I first imaged. Once into the program there were set activities and Finn was keen to get started! One child sorted … onto Grace.

Grace she was more interested in what she would wear for a homeschooling! There were numerous clothes changes. I think even lip gloss applied!!! Once the fashion issue was sorted and hot chocolate in hand, Grace was ready to start. I quickly realised her concentration span was zero unless I sat right next to her. Grace also made it known that I didn’t appear to know what I was doing, unlike her teacher. I took another depth breath.

At the end of the first homeschooling day and after the kids were tucked into bed, I poured a large glass of red wine and sat to reflect.

Reflecting on all the amazing school teachers that filled my school days. I pondered about their personalities, their teaching styles, how they kept a class motivated, engaged and focused. I recalled fond memories of Mr McF reading poetry such as Banjo Paterson at the end of each day, Mr B’s science lessons filled with endless experiments and Mr W‘s my maths teacher that pushed the right amount to challenge. So many great teachers to write about them all.

I knew I was never going to replace the great school teachers Finn and Grace have, nor will I come close.

My goal was to make the most of this homeschooling time to spark my children’s little brains through curiosity and making learning fun!

By Mum