It’s spring break and we’re doing school this week because we homeschool and we’re pretty good at adjusting and being flexible.
We were supposed to be at a cabin up in the mountains for the week. Then, like millions of others, we changed our plans as things shut down for COVID-19. I’m sad to miss our time in the mountains, but thankful that we are used to being flexible with our schedule. We’re getting schoolwork done now so we can take time off later.
The choice to do schoolwork this week was pretty easy, even for my kids. They put up a token grumble, but their hearts weren’t in it. There’s not a whole lot to do with coronavirus restrictions. And they know that working now means more time off later. I think homeschoolers get very efficient at recognizing how to use their time wisely.
Homeschooling gives us some structure during these times of ‘social distancing’ when our days have become remarkably similar to each other. We have no swim team, fencing, homeschool group field trips, volunteering, or special project groups to differentiate our days. Even the weekends don’t feel a whole lot different, except for no school. We draw the line at doing school on weekends.
Doing school when the public schools are off is a fairly common occurrence for us. It doesn’t make sense for us to do otherwise. Things get crowded when the schools are out. Martin Luther King Day and President’s Day are perfect examples. We continue with school on those days and take another day off later. Also, we used to take our spring break at odd times when most public schools were in session. In the past few years, however, we’ve been ‘forced’ to go during regular spring break dates since our kids started taking college classes.
The kids also usually get some school done when they’re sick. I’m talking about regular colds and flu, not coronavirus here. They may or may not get a lot of work done, depending on how sick they are. Sometimes they’re just sick enough to not go out in public but well enough to get at least part of their work done. These days of getting a little done add up. Even this week, when everything’s a little off-kilter and we don’t seem to be operating at full steam, we’re making progress.
That steady progress shows up in a big way at the end of the semester or school year. You’ll look back and realize just how much your child has learned and achieved. Sure, they have more things they need to learn. But that’s how you set your goals for the next semester or year. Then, after you set your goals, you take a good long break.
We do always take a nice chunk of time off for Christmas and we definitely take the whole summer off. It’s important to plug along and it’s equally important to stop and rest. To change up your schedule. To go camping and hiking and…. you know, I cannot wait for summer! We’ll see how things go with the virus and then we’ll either end school a week earlier or start a week later in the fall. Either way, we’re looking forward to a nice long break over the summer.