Open Letter to Pandemic Home-Schooling Parents

I want to talk to you… the parents who are home-schooling, home-schooling without choosing to. To those of you printing worksheet after worksheet… I mean, do we have enough ink for this? 

Getting a text from “Mrs Hoohar” asking where your submitted work is. Children learn – NON-STOP, trust me on that one! The second I said S**T for the first time in front of my one year old, he was bellowing it out for the neighbours to hear. 

But MOST importantly, learning isn’t always sitting, it isn’t always sheets of letters and numbers; IT’S NOT DOING TIMES TABLES ALL DAY. 

I can hear that sigh of relief; it’s almost like I’m watching you run to the recycling with those worksheets – better still, let the children LEARN about recycling, get them sorting the many wine bottles and worksheets out. 

So, if you’re feeling guilty, here’s something to take your guilt away…

Go for a walk, play a game of I spy, talk about the seasons, have a race and Google what your area looked like years ago! Show them pictures. So far, you’ve had a lesson in phonics, Geography, P.E, History, and Citizenship. 

Get them to count out the biscuits for their snack plate. Eat two yourself and ask how many are left. There’s Maths! Get them to do the washing up? Bake a cake? Measure the quantities. Home economics. And you can absolutely 1000% eat that cake for breakfast, dinner and tea! Oh hell yeah… Winner, winner, cake for dinner! 

Read a book at bedtime; they’re still learning… Literacy! But don’t feel like you have to do it all, put learning games on the tablet! Put a film on, fire questions after it – comprehension. Let them play in the garden. Have they seen the snow? Get them to draw a picture of the snowman they made! Get out the Lego and see what they can build! 

Learning doesn’t have to mean PRESSURE – and as for Mrs Hoohar’s text, tell her you’ll do the detention. The things they’ll learn now are invaluable; this is REAL life. And it really doesn’t matter if they don’t get changed out their PJs. Even if you do one or two things, that’s enough (I highly recommend the baking and eating cake, recycling and a film to finish!). 

Don’t worry. Good luck parents! You’ve totally got this.

Written by Bethany Dempsey from www.thedempseydiaries.com especially for Blossom Education.