JULY 20, 2020
School has gradually reopened...with new normal definitely. And this coming Wednesday is another batch of pupils to complete the back-to-school announcement while still fighting this deadly pandemic Covid 19. Parents are definitely worried about sending their children to school especially those smaller kids age 10 and below. As a parent myself, with statistics of new cases still persist daily, I too worry about her health safety. But sending her to school is our best option to get her academically schooled as the husband and I are required to be back full time at work.
Speaking of being academically schooled, @amydangin did an online chat with some mommies regarding homeschooling their children. Will not go in details of the chat but head over Amy’s profile and you’ll get the link to her Youtube channel for the said conversation.
Amy highlighted that by week 3 after MCO started, she was already stressed out by the amount of online homework that kept coming for her two sons to complete and later decided not to bother to keep up. As long as she knows her children are still being ‘schooled’ without needing to comply with homework and all.
I feel the same...especially when I have to keep up with giving out online classwork to my students as well. I only started giving out Online Classroom by 2nd week after the 1st mid term break. At the same time, my daughter’s kindie has also started giving out some work to be done at home. So, I thought ok easy peasy, kasi kerja online to my students and at the same time attending to my anak’s school work. Tetttt! So wrong.
It was a disaster. My teaching time with her only ended up stressing the both of us and this prolonged for about 2 weeks. She wanted me there, teach her and argue with her. But this mom couldn't handle the arguing part too much as my own online classroom was demanding and overwhelming.
So, I stopped.
I stopped forcing Ticia to do her schoolwork. Of course I showed her the teaching videos that her teacher sent but as for worksheets, I went with the flow. If she’s up for it, she’ll finish it. Vice versa.
What she did then during that supposedly class session?
Watching her Netflix show on TV, Youtube on mummy’s laptop, cycling around the house either on her tricycle or the scooter, feed the kittens, play with them, chase butterflies and sometimes tree lizard at nearby bush, swim in her mini indoor pool, role play with her dollies and plushies, play dressing up and makeup, singing, dancing, drawing, coloring and all those filled her days at home.
Yet, with all these activities that seem to be just play and play, she still knows her ABCs and their sounds, count numbers to 20 and knows quantity, write her name and some alphabets. Perhaps not reading yet but we’ll go through this eventually before she gets to Primary 1. I know she’s learning well, so...yeah.
I did worry that her teacher would think i’m a lazy mother but i realized, my sanity and the quality of my relationship with my daughter as well as my husband are more important than wanting to make sure all homework is done and submitted to the school.
But, you are a teacher! You surely must know that you need feedback and the easiest way is to get students to do homework and submit them. Yes, I know. But no, i don’t force them to submit for a lot of different reasons that they might be having while trying to catch up with the new learning norm. Of course, this would be different if we are not facing this difficult time.
Some parents did ask the school if they can homeschool their children especially during this pandemic. Yes, you can. Parents are required to write a formal letter to the school that they are not ready to send their children. However, parents must also be aware that after 22nd of July, there will be NO MORE online learning i.e. teachers giving out teaching and learning materials via Google Classroom or other medium of online learning. Hence, parents must ensure that they are able to provide home-based learning for their kids so that once the kids are back in school, they will not be clueless on what has been going on in school. That is temporary homeschooling.
As for permanently homeschooling your children, well, while our education policy has made it compulsory that all children aged 7 to 12 are required to be sent to school, you can still opt for not sending your children for formal school. Of course, this requires formal application to the ministry. No details here but if you seriously looking into this option, drop by at the local Education Department to forward your enquiry.
All points taken (hopefully), you know your children better. School is a learning place for children when parents aren’t able to do so, mostly because we are working ourselves. If you reckon keeping them at home and teaching them on your own is your best option, then by all means do it. It’s not for everyone but yes, it’s doable.
Whatever it is, we just want the best for our future generation.
And we also pray that this pandemic will be over very soon.
Stay safe, kita jaga kita.
PS: This is my personal POV as a mother of a 4 year old and a teacher. Scenario could be different for parents with children of various age.
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