As a seasoned parent of 5 children, I feel pretty capable and in control most days...I feel like I have most of it figured out. One of my favorite parental tactics is offering choices, so when Ella Forever comes up the stairs in the morning wearing a tutu and ballet slippers, I offer her a couple of more appropriate choices for bike riding, or whatever other adventure she may be about to embark on. Generally, these choices are met with great dissatisfaction and lots of flailing (because we have created a bit of a monster, possibly), but eventually, I (usually) win. She, on the other hand, may not have won as big as she wanted to, but she got to make the final pick. After this last month, with school approaching and real decisions needing to be made, I suddenly "get" my youngest daughter's displeasure at having to pick from a bunch of lackluster options.
Don't get me wrong...I LOVE our schools here. My kids love our schools. I am a bus driver for our schools. I have great respect for our teachers and administrators who have worked tirelessly to come up with a plan to have school and keep students and teachers safe. Being an overthinker, however, this is how my brain has processed all of this: if I send my kids to in-person school, how long before they are home working virtually because of the petri dish factor? If my kid is puking, coughing, has a sore throat, has a mild fever, has diarrhea how do we determine whether he has Covid or just a run of the mill bug? Are they automatically sent home to work virtually again? Does anybody realize that in a family with 5 kids that we will experience such illnesses 5 times per kid in any given school year? Will my 1st grader be able to sit all day in a forward facing desk, mask on, distanced from her favorite people and actually be able to really learn...not just log hours? How will my anxious 3rd grader take it when people close to him start to disappear from the classroom for weeks at a time because they're sick? If I choose virtual the state is requiring students to log 6 1/2 hours a day...how is it feasible for me to facilitate that for 5 kids in 5 different grades on crappy rural internet when the 3ish hours a day last spring nearly broke me?
This is just a smattering of the questions that have swirled around my head for weeks on end now. Most of them have been addressed, usually kinda vaguely because I honestly feel like we are all in the same place...we. just. don't. know! How will this play out? Sure, there's a possibility that I will be wrong...school will go on, with all of its modifications and there will be very little fall-out. I fervently PRAY that's the case! But, if I'm right, as cold and flu season arrives, best case scenario is that everyone will be sent home to learn virtually and worst case scenario is that people get sick or worse. Neither of these scenarios work for my family. Take away the risk of illness, the whole feel of school this year, our beloved schools...it won't be the school we know and love! All the things we love...the connections, the group activities, the spark, the community involvement...all of that will be muffled. Our school, or any other school for that matter, has no fault here...it's just the situation we are in. They are doing everything right and they are creating the opportunities they can for the people that need them. They are strung up in an impossible balancing act and there is no right answer. I absolutely stand behind our district and the accommodations that have been made and the care, thought and love that has been poured into creating a working education for the kids in our community. I also stand behind every other parent out there that is having to make this impossible choice. None of it feels right and I, of all people, completely understand that. I have obsessed over this topic for the last month and know that what is right for my family will not be right for all families. We are all struggling right now and you will get zero judgement from me in your choice when it comes to school.
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When J and I were engaged and we talked about kids, he really wanted to homeschool. He being the primary breadwinner, however would have left me to the task of teaching and I wanted NO part of it. I had a great public school experience and knew that was the route I wanted to go with my own children. I also said I wanted 2 kids...he said he wanted "as many as God would grant him". Anybody else see a pattern here??? It's annoying how this man always wins! Truth be told, he is as in love with our public school system as I am (and I am quite smitten with the brood that God granted us), so this hasn't been a cut and dry decision for him either. Nevertheless, he may not have foreseen a global pandemic, but he called it on the homeschool thing and we will officially be embarking on this new adventure next week. I have poured over information and curriculum and I think we are (will be) ready to dive in. Maybe even with a little excitement. This decision gives us the power and most importantly, the consistency that my kids need to truly learn. After having them home 24/7 for the past 5 months, we have kinda hit our groove. This pandemic has driven the restlessness and angst out of us and we have grown quite content with our little sliver of paradise out here, so why not use it for our kids' education as well as our day to day? Our plan is to return to public school again, but who knows what this will bring?
Welcome to Kneuper Acres Academy!
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This is our school room! We're getting it ready and the kids have taken it upon themselves to create banners and posters of affirmation for this space. ❤️
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School hasn't even started, but the life science lessons are in full swing this week!
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| The kids have also been working hard in the kitchen with me and we plan to continue this through school. Measurements, meal plans, budgets. We will be very intentional with our lessons! |
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This was the scene of our family read-aloud book during last week's cooler weather. I think this is my favorite classroom!
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