LEARNING A SKILL

It’s our first day back to home schooling and my husband has also returned to work after a well deserved Easter Break. An anxious time to be returning to work as a doctor. When he left the house, both daughters shouted out ‘Stay away from the Virus’!

My daughter M aged 12, has online learning from 9 am to 3 30pm with only a break for lunch and snack. I just see her at lunchtime till she finishes. She looks forward to seeing her friends during lessons on Google Meet.

K, my other daughter, has to be persuaded to do some learning after her long break. K has no live teaching so it’s up to me to help her! K has never liked me teaching her since her infant days.

School work for K was sent in the post and we have been attempting the work slowly. However K is not impressed with my teaching and I somehow am not making the lesson interesting enough.

I finally got K motivated when I found a Maths lesson taught by a young and fit looking male who also danced and sang while he taught! Perfect! Before we knew it we had been learning for 2 hours!

I now have the challenge of finding similar videos for the other subjects!

There have been several funny, messages and videos on social media about getting ‘Back to school’ today.

I noticed an article in a newspaper a few days ago about a Mum who was getting irritated by people encouraging others to use this time to ‘learn a new skill’. She is a Mum that works full time and needing to work from home as well as educate her children. She felt she had no time to learn a new skill and people should stop posting such messages. I felt sorry for her. I work part time and it can be stressful enough getting K to do a little school work.

I also noticed the media reporting on the low numbers of children logging on to home computers. Sadly there are families who do not own computers or have to share computers with their siblings. or with parents who are working from home. Some families might also be using this time to provide alternative teaching. There maybe families who are struggling at this difficult time in several ways and so finding it difficult to find the time to fit in homeschooling.

The media also indicated that children are ‘missing out on education’ and are ‘lagging’ behind. This is something I don’t quite understand. We are only into our 3rd week of home schooling since lockdown. We have had 2 weeks of holidays and today is most students’ first day back. How is it possible to be already lagging behind and what are we comparing this lag to?

There was also a headline in a newspaper that said schools may re-open in 3 weeks. Are we forgetting we are in the middle of a pandemic? The ‘deadly virus’ still lurks around and will do for a while. Why are we rushing our kids back to school? Thankfully this isn’t the case .

When I was growing up, school and education was important to me. I advise my children on the same importance of education.

I also encourage them to explore their interests and hobbies in music, drama and dance. It has definitely helped build their confidence and help them feel good about themselves. I think it is important to help develop and improve their interest/talents. I think the artistic industry helps with self expression and communication. A skill that will come in useful for public speaking in the future. Music has been shown to help with brain development, therefore improving learning ability.

With busy lives after school hours, my daughters have learnt to organise themselves as they juggle school/homework/exams. Joining various clubs and groups helps expand their friendship groups. Dance is also their way of exercising.

I think whether we realise it or not we are all ‘learning a new skill’ while in lockdown. We are also learning from each other and learning about each other. We are learning to adapt, compromise, manage our anxieties and unlock our creative sides.

We may be building current relationships and developing new ones in a way we never have before.

My daughters are finding themselves involved in complicated conversations about the pandemic and learning to make their own judgements just by listening to the news.

Their sibling relationships is blossoming as they spend more time at home together now than on a normal school day. They are building memories that they can share one day when they are older. A moment that changed their world but created a time when the family spent quality time together at home.

They are learning to express and understand new emotions that they are feeling now as they go through a situation that we do not know much about.

Three weeks ago, M suggested we started a ‘Theme Night’, where we dress up to a theme for dinner. I am ashamed to say that I am one of those Mums that buys rather than makes outfits for school dress up days. Our themed nights have been fun as we source clothes and props around the house that we can put together. ‘Unlocking my creative side’.

During this pandemic, children are strenghtening their resilience, exploring their creativity, not just appreciating but valuing family life and friendships, and absorbing the importance of kindness and responsibility.

The older teenagers are probably using this time to reflect on their future role in society as they watch and admire the many heroes and role models helping communities and individuals.

I therefore think we are all subconsciously ‘learning a skill’ and providing a learning environment for our children and ourselves, without even switching on that computer.

Reading about and sharing each others’ new found skills and coping strategies I think is vital in supporting one another.

#Lovelife #learnaskill #embraceoneanother