After being quarantined at home for five months with four kids, one husband, and no end in sight… you can imagine how excited (but also sad, because – firstborn) I was to get my oldest out of the house and off to kindergarten. No lie, I can honestly think back to my own days in kindergarten and remember so many things; the setup of my classroom, the other kids, my teacher (best EVER, btw), eating lunch with my first friends and more. Needless to say, I had some solid memories and I was SO excited for Bennett to make some of his own.
In July, there was a glimmer of hope that he could still have an in-person experience but in the end, our district decided to switch to virtual learning for the first few months. SIGH. We had bought the supplies, the fresh new sneakers, and talked up how great it would be for him to go to school for the first time. Selfishly, I had dreams of packing his lunch every day, walking him to school with the other neighborhood moms, and leaning in hard to the SAHM life. Now we had to rewrite that story and spin the “having kindergarten at home” scenario into something super cool and exciting…YAYYY!
::: GULP:::
Around a week or so before the school year started, I set up a learning space for Bennett. Like a good millennial mom, I first checked Pinterest, found things that went with our style, and did some online ordering to get everything ready…
- Alphabet Wall Canvas
- Children’s White Desk Chair
- Over-Ear Headphones
- Clear Supply Caddy
- Felt Pom Garland
- Utility Cart
- Children’s Adjustable Height Desk
Once all of the goods arrived, I felt a little bit better about the whole thing. I knew my biggest challenge was definitely going to be managing the other kids in the same house while B would be learning. I don’t totally trust him to wear headphones and pay attention but I’m sure there will come a point where I decided to let him do his own thing. Until then, my plan was to keep him muted as much as possible (sounds like teachers will want this anyway), try and get the timing right on naps and bottles for the twins, have Liam to do some real self-discovery (aka independent playtime lol) and make sure I don’t truly and honestly lose. my. mind.
The first official day of school came and went. We still did all the standard first-day pictures, ate a special breakfast, took a final inventory of all our important kindergarten supplies, and logged in to Google Classroom without a hitch. I was pleasantly surprised at how well his teacher managed 20 tiny people for hours a day AND got them to learn some stuff, too. I will say that after just a few days of sitting across from Bennett while he’s in class, I have all the catchy kinder songs in my head (singing about sentences, how to be a good listener, and make new friends) and find myself reciting the pledge of allegiance when I lay my head down at night. It’s no joke, spending that kind of time listening to what he’s learning and reciting and practicing, it’s really hard not to pay attention, too.
Full disclosure: it’s been 4 days so far. It’s easy but also exhausting. It’s sweet to watch him learn but so hard to watch him get frustrated. I don’t think I realized how hard I would want to jump on every little thing. I now fully understand and appreciate why kids should get out and go to school. It’s pretty hard to be a parent and teacher at the same time so I imagine that’s why homeschooling isn’t always the norm (ps sending all the high fives to those who homeschool – you’re honestly my heroes and I can confidently say that I can/will never be you). In the end, there are definitely some pros and cons to the whole virtual learning situation but in my mind, as long as my kid is learning something…ANYTHING…I’m a happy parent and will do whatever I can to make it work.
In an effort to convince myself that “this too shall pass” and “everything will be fine,” I now present some evidence-based strategies to get your little learner setup for virtual-school success, courtesy of my friends at Good Housekeeping:
- Create the best space possible.
- Establish rules and goals.
- Rely on routines and systems to get and stay organized.
- Make work meaningful.
- Play to their strengths.
- Focus on relationships.
- Embrace a growth mindset.
- Stay as positive as you can.
Seems easy, right? I’m sure if you do those things it will basically be a walk in the park…feel my sarcasm lol.
How’s virtual learning going for you and yours? Give me all your teacher-Mom wisdom and stay strong, friends!