This is the last week of school and while I feel a sense of relief, I am also attempting to embark on a new adventure of summer homeschooling with my kids. When I chose to take a sabbatical from work, my intention was never to homeschool. But here we are, in an unfortunate time, and most, if not all parents have spent a large amount of time giving kids lessons, and working with them on school work. While many parents have mixed feelings about this new role of teaching, I have to say, I am appreciating the opportunity I have to teach. It gives me a sense of added purpose in my role as a stay-at-home mom.
After these last few months of virtual school, I decided it might be time to try homeschool given the uncertainties this year. I know this is not a small undertaking. I applaud those moms and dads who homeschool their kids because it is not easy. It requires a lot of preparation, a whole lot of patience, and a passion for teaching. My memory of learning and school is very different from what school appears to be now. In India, most classes are heavily populated, school curriculums are densely packed, kids are extremely competitive, and there is no moving up unless you are tested and successful at it.
My kids were going to a Montessori school and we love the methodology used in this form of education. I want my kid to have a passion for learning and not be forced to learn without reason. When you can relate what you learn to the real world, it makes learning enjoyable because it is more than a concept in a book. My first grader had a geometry assignment where she was learning 3D shapes. She had to find objects in the house to match the shapes and write a sentence about them. We both went on the hunt around the house to find the objects, and I got to help her understand how the 3D shape came to life.
This is what I believe is the hardest part of teaching – making learning fun, interactive, and graspable. After doing virtual school for a few months now, I understand that the distractions are different at home, and the attention span cannot be the same as in a school learning environment. So with that in mind, I’m hoping I can find the right balance of teaching my kids, keeping them engaged, maintaining my sanity, and coming out feeling a sense of accomplishment with the endeavor.
