I want to write about COVID-19 school.
I have two in high school (10th,12th) and two in middle school (5th, 6th).
Our schools/teachers moved everything on-line rather quickly when they shut school down.
The middle school had packets to pick up for 2 weeks worth of work.
The high school teachers emailed students and sent links to work.
They offer ZOOM meetings for kids to join if they want to; but it's not required.
We had a scheduled spring break during this closure time and the teacher's aren't giving homework during that time.
It was very stressful at first.
I did not want my kids to fall behind.
But, even more stressful, was trying to keep up on everyone's work and making sure that it was getting done.
Sidenote:
I have homeschooled almost all of my kids at different points in their school life.
And it took a while to get the right mindset.
In regular school, there are grades and tests to show where kids are in the learning process.
With homeschooling, there is no one to compare my kids learning with except their own.
I had to figure out that my job was not to "keep up" where they should be, but rather help them develop the learning and skills necessary to succeed in life.
(By the way, COVID-19 school is nothing like homeschool! No field trips!)
Anyway, it was stressful.
I was starting to feel like the cranky taskmaster that I try really hard not to be.
Thankfully, I remembered my homeschool mindset and it helped me not stress about school work anymore.
We did a family council and talked about all the classes and assignments that each child needed to focus on.
I put the control in their hands, not mine.
I asked them to be diligent and that I was there to help them not push or pull them.
I asked them to think about what classes they would feel stressed about not being caught up when/if school started again.
And that they should make a schedule and do a little bit of their work every day; especially in Math, English, and Science.
Our schedule has school work between 9-11, with extra time built in after lunch and quiet time, as needed.
And it's working.
My older kids know what needs to be done and they are mostly getting stuff done on their own.
Having a week of no school assignments coming in has been helpful to realize that there's no rush to get things done.
Learning is happening.
I have kids being able to focus more time on things that they really enjoy and want to learn.
And most importantly, I'm not constantly nagging at kids to get their stuff done.
I don't know how long we will be doing school at home.
I'm not sure what it will look like when they go back to school.
Grades don't matter to me as much as learning does.
(Although, grades matter to getting scholarships to college and that is important!)
I want my kids to remember this time at home as different and challenging.
But not as suffocating.
For our family, that means Mom backing off and loving more than nagging.
I promise that some days are better than others.
I truly believe, as Gordon B. Hinckley used to say:
"It will all work out."
We really like food in our family.
It's a bit of a running joke in our family to say, "Cluffs like food."
My husband has a family history book of the Cluff family from late 1800s and early 1900s.
Our family got a kick out of reading the descriptions of the different family reunions.
A lot of the descriptions were about the food served.
That's why all the food times on my schedule are marked in bold.
Eating is important to us.
It's in our blood.
Also, if I didn't put regular eating times into the schedule, I'm pretty sure that my kids would be grazing all day long!
There are not a lot of chances to feel in control of life right now.
Making a schedule of food gives me at least a sense of control in that area.
I even scheduled out each day's snacks and lunches for 2 weeks.
And, like all hard schedules that I write out, they end up being "guidelines".
My kids know what food is in the house and they get one type of snack per day at the appropriate time.
It makes my life easy.
And my kids get fed.
And in case anyone is interested, here's our list of snacks and lunches:
Pretzels*
Granola bar
Fruit
Crackers*
Gogurt
Goldfish*
Nuts
Popcorn
Veggies/Hummus
Treat
Nachos
Sandwich
Pasta
Ramen
Pizza Quesadillas
Mini Pizzas
Mini Sandwiches
Leftovers
* they read the serving size on the labels to know how much they get.
The thing is, my kids are always hungry.
So, my favorite line to use is, "It takes 30 days to starve. Come talk to me after not eating for 29 days."
I guess it sounds kind of harsh.
I really love my kids.
And I love my sanity.
And, we really like food.
So, I want to talk about the very first thing in my COVID-19 schedule.
When school was in, I had kids that needed to be at school by 7am.
That meant we had to have scriptures no later than 6:30 every morning.
I always set my alarm for 5:20am with the idea that I could read news and scriptures before getting everyone else up and ready.
It worked ok.
A couple of months ago, I decided to read and write down all of President Nelson's invitations.
The idea was to pick one and work on it for a few months.
After re-reading all of his talks, I realized that more than anything I wanted to work harder on receiving personal revelation - really hearing God speak to me.
So, after getting kids off to school and exercising with friends, I made a stronger effort to take time to pray and listen to God.
I would get completely ready to go to work and then I would stop.
I'd shut my door and just pray.
I decided to carve out 30 min of my morning doing this.
Even though I didn't think I could really pray for that long, I did not want to feel rushed.
It became my most treasured time each day.
A time to slow down and express all of my feelings to my Father in Heaven.
And a time to feel His love for me and any direction I needed.
Fast forward now to kids being home ALL the time.
They don't need to be out the door early.
But, I've kept the habit of getting up early in the morning.
I still do my scripture reading and exercising and getting ready.
The kids know that we start doing breakfast at 8:00.
But, until then, I will be in my room for my alone time.
So, don't knock on my door!
It is still the best part of my day.
That time is exactly what I need to be able to face each day.
My patience has increased.
As well as my gratitude.
And when I follow any promptings that I receive, my day goes great.
When my kids were really little, and getting ready for church was a monumental effort, I learned that if I didn't get myself ready first, then it might not happen in time.
I still have that testimony.
If I don't take the time for the "needful" things as my very first priority, it's less likely to happen.
I know God wants to speak to me.
He loves me.
And I know He loves you.
Make time to Hear Him!
I thought that I would post the schedule that is currently working for my family.
The ages of my kids are 18, 16, 12, 10.
I have always been a schedule person (see here).
5:30am-8:00am - Mom time (this is when I exercise, read scriptures, pray, get ready, etc)
8:00am - Breakfast
8:30am - Family scriptures
9:00am-11:00am - School work
-Snack break-
More school
12:00pm - Exercise time
12:30pm - Lunch
1:00pm-2:30pm - Quiet Time
2:30pm - Zone cleaning
-Snack break-
3:00pm-6:00pm - Project time/other school/free time
6:00pm - Dinner
They take turns picking a movie or show to watch every night after the kitchen/dinner is all cleaned up. As long as they got all of the necessary school work done.
9:00pm - Bedtime
It's working pretty good for us so far.
I'll post more about each block another time.
I'm trying to post a little bit more to record memories of this time.
COVID-19
It's what everyone is talking about and thinking about lately.
Our kids have been out of school this whole week and will be for the next 2 weeks.
It's been nice to not have to get up so early and get people out the door.
My husband commented the other night, that every night feels like Friday night.
Church has been suspended.
Well, going to the church building with others was suspended.
We are still doing church in our homes as a family.
And we have been given permission to administer and partake of the sacrament in our home.
Since every day feels like a Friday, I have really been looking forward to Sunday.
It will definitely feel like a different day than the rest of the week.
So today, Saturday, I made sure to prepare for honoring this special day.
I want my home to be able to feel and keep the Spirit from our worship.
In the Old Testament, the Lord spake unto Moses saying:
"Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Exodus 31:13
The Sabbath is the Lord's sign to me.
I look forward to being sanctified and listening to the Lord.
