2020 continues to be a world turned upside down. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there that feel the same way for various reasons. Of course, COVID-19 has remained one of the biggest obstacles this year, but so have other worldwide issues.
I am not going to tackle those here because it would be impossible. From the very beginning, I’ve tried to focus on my immediate family and the way that we’ve been impacted. I can say that we’ve been rather fortunate. I’ve been allowed to work from home at least until the end of the year. Together with my husband, we’ve done all we can for our boys these past months of boredom.
Another Curveball
I believe that, to some degree, we were all under the impression COVID would start to disappear by the fall. Maybe it was wishful thinking or false hope, but I know I hoped for it. Partially because I have three boys ranging in age from 1 to 5, this presents certain challenges.
The first challenge is the utter boredom they’ve all endured, which has not gotten better as things have opened. Though we’ve tried Brookfield Zoo and a small-town zoo in the area, they haven’t been able to let loose the way they have in the past. Having to say away from people in larger areas has put a damper on moods, though we as adults fully understand why that is a necessity.
Our second challenge was finding out what to do with school, as millions of people have had to do. My oldest son was ready to go to kindergarten, even went through the signup process with the local district and nearby school. Unfortunately, two factors became a problem. Our first is that though our son loves technology, he hates to learn through the computer partially because he needs some help with his speech. Second, our district had no idea what to do with this school year.
Decision Time
This led us to make a couple of decisions in a short amount of time, which is why I can apologize for being so MIA. I’ve been forced to do some research on homeschooling, which took a good couple of weeks. Eventually, we decided to go down that route, at least for this year, but it sure wasn’t easy.
I had no idea how many different homeschooling programs there were out there, but we finally settled on one that would benefit him the most. The less computer time for him, the better, but with the core information covered, we have fun doing science experiments, learning about religion, and we’ve even added the Polish language as a lesson.
Preschool
Our middle son is signed up for a tiny Catholic preschool, which means that with the proper precautions, they were able to open their doors. So far, he loves it! My heart is so happy to watch him go with such excitement every time I drop him off!
Homeschooling
Homeschooling became the name of the game for the 5-year-old. Surprisingly, he likes it! It’s the cutest thing because he takes a small wagon they plan with as his school bus, and he calls me his teacher. Sure wasn’t what I thought would happen any school year, but we are making do the best we can.
On with the Show
If there is anything I’ve learned during 2020, is that all bets are off. We’ve learned as a family what we need to do to thrive together and not just get through the day. Homeschooling became a fun adventure, one which embraces the preschool as well. If there is any advice that I can give is for each family to do what they believe is best for them. If you are able to have your kids take classes virtually, that is great! If you need to homeschool, power to you! Whatever the decision, make it yours and make it fun!
