My kids have been learning remotely since March. There is no end in sight for us. I am working my tail off, the kids are working their tails off, their teachers are working their tails off. We've had ebbs and flows of things going pretty smooth and going like a goat rodeo, but one blessing (and curse) at this point is that we know the drill.
I know N and J will have zoom calls from 8:30-11:45 with a 15 minute break at 10:15. I know they will do literacy first and then math. I know what their asynchronous work looks like and about how long it takes. I know C will write about his weekend every Monday morning. I know he does Freckle on Friday. I know when he sees his new sight words. It is all predictable and known at this point.
I called this kind of monotony a blessing because consistency is important, routines are important. My young children can show a lot of independence when things are predictable. I also put that it is a curse in perenthesis because knowing exactly what's happening every single day has its drawbacks. What I wouldn't give, as we enter week 15 of school, for N and J's teacher to surprise us and do math first instead of literacy. What a party that would be! As much as we've needed to work hard to build these routines, I am also working hard to break them every once in a while to keep things interesting. Here are a few things we've done to make the monotony special...
Make a Difference Mondays
I go crazy for a good theme and good alliteration. One of the things we've been doing each week is making sure to end school a littler earlier on Mondays so we can put some good into the world. The boys helped make a big list with me of all the things we could do and we are slowly making our way through it. We've baked treats for neighbors, friends, and family and dropped them off, sent cards in the mail, helped rake Papa's yard, pulled weeds at a playground, etc. If the weather is nice on a Monday, you'll likely find us making a difference outside- it's a great excuse to get more minutes in the fresh air. I often have felt helpless during this pandemic. Going out of our way to be a little kinder has helped us all feel good.
Watching an Afternoon Movie
There is a lot of togetherness right now and I know I'll look back on that fondly. However, most of the 'togetherness' with my three bigger boys comes in the form of accountability coach during the school day. I haven't felt like just a mom in a really long time. So much of my day is spent making sure people are paying attention, making sure work is getting done, making sure no one is surfing the web when they should be watching their teacher do an example problem. It has added a complicated dynamic into our relationships as mother and sons. To help combat this, we've been sneaking in an afternoon movie/snuggle fest every so often. To sit down on the coach with blankets cuddling makes me feel like a mom in its purest form. They welcome the break and downtime, I welcome the escape of all my other hats I don't want to wear right now so I can just be their mom.
Fun Adventure Fridays
Similarly to Mondays, on Fridays we try to end the school day a little early and go on a fun adventure. Sometimes these adventures are more grandiose like heading up to Uncle John's Cider Mill and sometimes they are a simple hike in the woods to playing at a favorite playground. The only real 'rule' is that these adventures must take place outside of our house and yard. A change of scenery is NECESSARY. Thankfully, I've got a crew that's always up for an adventure. I'll need to be a bit more creative with this as the weather gets colder I'm sure, but for now, time in a new setting outdoors feels like a great way to end our week.
Team Time on Fridays
We've been on screens... a whole lot. I hate it. Like really, really hate it. Because of that, I find myself limiting appropriate screen time fun and my troops started to complain. So on Fridays, if they've had a good week and their work is completed, we spent a little bit of time playing some computer games. The boys LOVE this time and look forward to it every week. My favorite part of this "team time" is that we eat a special snack right before it. I've been buying the classic snacks I used to have as a kid (basically every Little Debbie treat that's ever been created) and slowly introducing them to the boys. I think their favorite so far has been the classic Swiss Roll. The next one we are going to have are Nutty Bars.
These few special breaks in our schedule have been hugely helpful in breaking up the monotony of our days remote learning at home. The thing is, I need these just as much if not more than they do. So much of my time with my boys right now revolves around school. I'm grateful to be home to be able to help and support them, but it has brought a lot of contention and conflict into our home for sure. I need these breaks- I look forward to them, enjoy helping to plan them. Some weeks we struggle every single day and these fun additions give us much needed respite.
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