Having the kids at home

So online learning has begun thanks to the coronavirus! In fact it began over a week ago. I have to say that I’m so proud of my older two kids. Being in grades 6 and 5 (or for those in the U.K. years 7 and 6) they’ve been given a lot of responsibility to moderate themselves. 

Our eldest just gets on with it, but she’s a self-confessed bookworm and has made sure that all of her free time is taken up finishing the Harry Potter series or looking up theories on Harry Potter. Also, Hermione Granger is her role-model. Could be worse, eh? J.K. Rowling has done most of the work for me in terms of the importance of knowledge, friendships and strong women. We’ve all been made to take the ‘Which house are you in?’ test and are all a mixture of Gryffindors (the husband, eldest and middle child) and Hufflepuffs (myself and our smallest). The eldest loves that her 2nd closest house was Ravenclaw “I am just like Hermione because everyone says she should be in Ravenclaw”. It’s made us all think about our personalities and our life choices. I was a Gryffindor in my younger days but my girl called it and has said for weeks (before I caved and took the test) that I’d be a Hufflepuff because I’m so hard working. I like that she’s acknowledged that and sees it as a strength. Oh and I must mention (because he needs celebrating) that my husband is a rare almost equal mixture of each house with only a couple of percent between each result.

As for the boy he’s doing really well too. He need a a little more guidance which mainly consists of me telling him to read the instructions again and then he tends to understand. I’ve gotten to see a lot more of what he’s learning which is great. The school are doing a brilliant job and telling them to get off their screens as much as they can. But, as always, where my girl exceeds expectations with words and acquiring knowledge, my boy exceeds expectations with a pencil and a sketchbook. He has always enjoyed art but, over the last couple for years, he’s come to realise that he’s really rather good. He’s loving the freestyle of the art projects set by the teacher. He’s drawn two amazing dinosaurs. For the one below he looked up a video on YouTube of how to draw it, watched it, paused it as he needed, and followed it closely. What a wonderful result.

As for the small person well she’s utilising every dressing up costume we own. She’s singing her school solar system song (I now know all the words) and doing many a sticker on the solar system theme. And occasionally she’s getting annoyed at being ignored by her siblings or frustrated because I need to help one of the kids with their work before dealing with her. In fact I’d say she’s got the rough end of the stick in this situation. I play with her, keep her busy with Lego and some Paw Patrol or some Cosmic Kids Yoga. We’ve set up her play tent in the garden so when it’s dry she can get out. But she asked me yesterday “Is it a school day? Is it a proper school day?” She obviously misses the interaction with her friends, plus it’s hard to explain to a 4-year old why school is closed and it’s not a holiday.

But she loves her new Chase hat (slight change of subject, I know). It was supposed to be her Christmas present but she only got it last month. In fact that’s what I managed to achieve before the school shutdown. 

I also finished my eldest daughter’s sleep mask which helps my restless girl sleep at night.

And my son’s dinosaur head glasses holder

He was always leaving his glasses in his bed pocket and I was constantly knocking them out due to my incredible clumsiness. He’s snuggled it and played with it and used it for its intended purpose.

I’m quite pleased with these as I used little bits of patterns here and there but they’re mostly my own inventions. I think I’ve done ok.

And me, how am I coping? Well I’m consuming more coffee than usual and not having as many rest days so I’m utterly exhausted but I’m looking on the plus side:

• I’m getting to see my kids loads
• We don’t have to get up to catch the bus at 7am!
• I can make sure they eat during the day (not always successful on that one)
• We can be vaguely flexible and take off to the park 
• We’ve seen friends
• I get to see more of how their school works
• We’re exploring our area closer to home a lot more

In fact my kids’ school has made the news internationally because their online program is so innovative. It’s really good and gives me extra faith in this particular school and that it’s the right place for our kids.

Now, as the rest of the world start to close their schools too, I can offer advice to those who are preparing for homeschooling their kids. The biggest piece of advice I have is get out, leave the house, go for a walk or to the park. The other day it was pouring with rain but I took my kids out on a puddle walk a den they loved looking at the river and watching a cormorant fishing. Although I’m definitely no expert on homeschooling. I’ve got a ton of help and just follow a formula set by school. My job is to just make sure everyone does what they’re supposed to. That’s easy isn’t it? Refer to my gin bottle for the answer.

See you soon, I’m off for more coffee.