Coronavirus Journal Entry 6: Unschooling During a Pandemic

I’m not sure what this whole craze is about pressing ahead with homeschooling. This isn’t a time to accelerate, especially with our kids. If anything, this is a time to completely take your foot off the gas and re-connect with them over super slow days jam packed with a clean slate.

Now is the time to talk about what is going on in the world. It is time to ask them what they think. It is time to ask: if you could do anything at all, and know you aren’t going to be judged or graded, what would that be? You might be surprised with the response.

In the past I have repeatedly lost the war over screen time. This is not the time to go at it again. On a similar note, I have let my kids quit school before to take up homeschooling. It went well enough for them to survive it. I feel like this is another one of those times where letting our kids off the hook is a good thing. This definitely includes school.

Instead of logging into ZOOM, do something else. Go for a walk, make some art, build a huge fort in Minecraft together. Do something that previously might not have mattered and let it take up your time together. Now is what we have, so seize it by zeroing out the stress of perseverance.

If you’re looking for a few neat projects (without pressure!) to do together, I have a list of things that have worked for us noted below: The Eames House of Cards has been a fun tool for us; sometimes we’ve created wacky structures while talking about tween life, breakups, ways to approach your new boss and also plain talk, free from weighty subject matter. It’s a self explanatory zen game, really, and just as fun to work with others, as it is alone.

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We’ve had success making the planetary mobile above as it has led to some long term interest, conversations, questions and fascinations about space. And I cannot SING enough praises about what a difference adding a growing fixture has made to our little indoor garden. For instructions on how to grow one using materials your quarantined-self already has, check out this handy-dandy video tutorial I made.

If you know me at all, you know I love dressing up…even if I have nowhere to go. In any case, this ensemble reminds me of my kindergarten teacher when I went to that funky hippie school in Connecticut. Just go with it, no one will see you, you sexy beast. 🙂

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Finally, here are some really great books that have helped me transition from traditional school, to homeschool and finally unschooling. Side note: The book titled: What your Second Grader needs to Know is one of those state assessment/common core nonsense books. I appreciate this one because it merely serves as a guide to see where your kid is at versus what society is expecting. It barely matters to me, so I’ve used this as a jumping off point only, when Leopold transitioned last year.

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I hope everyone is doing alright out there. At least doing the best they possibly can be. We are stronger together and our kids are right here, are by our side.

xo, So Called Mom