Educational Agility

Yesterday was our first day of e-learning. It was...okay. Each grade kindergarten through sixth has a Choice Board with six learning activities for each major school subject (math, science, social studies, reading, writing), plus a category for specials (art, gym, music, library) for the week. The kids are supposed to pick one thing from each category each day, totaling five or six (depending on the grade) tasks each day. In theory it should take no more than two hours.

It took more than two hours.

I sat down with the kids in the morning and went through the offered selections. Then, using a variation on the agile board method, we wrote down each task they were responsible for for the day on a sticky note in their assigned color. Then we made one door of our TV cabinet the To Do side and other door the Done side and stuck the Post-Its on the appropriate side. Peter used the mirror on the sideboard for his sticky notes since his assignments are due at the end of the week instead of the end of each day.

This method actually worked pretty well. The kids had some autonomy over what they did and were aware of how much they had accomplished and how much they still had to do. That didn't necessarily mean that they moved faster or worked harder, just that they could see the big picture for the day up front.

We attempted to plug the schoolwork into the schedule that we've been using for the last two weeks. Instead of finishing at the appointed time and moving on to free time, everyone kept doing schoolwork right up until dinner, then Sophie did a little more in the space between dinner and Family Home Evening, just to finish the day's tasks. Some of that extra time was because of tantrums or timeouts or strong negative feelings about needing to make and follow a plan to get the work done. I'm hoping we can cut those particular things out and get through the required stuff faster today.

Quarantine Week Two: The Pictures

 

 

Crisis Management

Tomorrow marks two weeks into this brave new world of living inside our house all the time. Here are my thoughts so far, in no particular order:

• I'm a confusing combination of extrovert and homebody, so I'm happy staying in, but I miss people. 
• I really wish we could spend more time outside. The park/walking trail that we visited last week is now locked down, so that's out. We tried to play outside our house but found at least a dozen peanut shells around our home. There weren't any around our neighbor's homes. It's been going on since shortly after we moved here, but never so many at once. For a long time I wanted to think maybe it was someone snacking while working on the grounds crew (but they haven't been here in months) or a squirrel (but that would be a very particular rodent to only choose our house). Whatever the reason, we can't play outside. 
• I wish we had a yard.
• We have eaten very well. Bryan and I both like to cook and we've jumped right in to making use of time to prepare meals. And we're being extra diligent about eating all the leftovers.
• We go through a lot of food.
• I learned how to make Tartar Sauce this week.
• And coleslaw.
• And hoagie rolls.
• Our regular weekly shopping trips look like we're hoarding. Bryan got groceries yesterday and overheard another pair of shoppers judging the abundance of items in his cart. He turned to them and said, "I have seven people in my house, this is just a regular shopping trip." They scoffed and walked away.
• This whole thing is pretty scary.
• Our school district will officially begin distance learning on Monday. Thankfully they're not requiring daily teleconferencing meetings for each child (imagine a class full of Kindergartners on a video conference), but instead will post daily assignments to be completed by the students that day. We'll see how that goes.
• Peter is going stir-crazy at the lack of socialization. He really wants access to online gaming all day long so he can talk to his friends. He'll have to make do with what I think is a generous hour and a half. Yeah, he's an extrovert too.
• I asked Cooper if he wanted to video chat with his good friend from church and school. He said, "No, I'm okay." He is not an extrovert.
• Phoebe has a daily check-in with her class where they type messages to each other on a Google Doc. I think it's the highlight of her day. She's also an extrovert.
• I'm not sure if Sophie is an introvert or an extrovert, but I do know that she's loud. So loud. 
• Topher really, really, really loves having all the kids and Bryan home.
• I love it too.

Lunch Selfies

Advanced Reading or My Brother's Kindle

Quarantine Week One: The Words

Last week went exceptionally well. We had a good balance of school and work and play and family time. We can't really play outside (I'll explain that in a later post), which has been hard, but opening the windows has helped.

Many states canceled school last week and had the kids jump right into online learning as their teachers were scrambling to set it up. The state of Pennsylvania just canceled school without sending home required work. Based on what the superintendent of our school district has said (that every child in the district needs access to a screen and the internet) and what's happening with the spread of COVID-19, it appears that our time at home will extend beyond the original two weeks. That means our teachers are spending these two weeks getting ready to move their classrooms to online formats. But for now, we don't have that in place. So while the rest of the country complains about being suddenly thrown into homeschooling, we could take the two weeks as time off.

We aren't.

I mentioned last week that we put a loose schedule in place. We also setup some ground rules for each weekday (chores and school) and we chose to make Saturday (fun breakfast, more chores) and Sunday (church at home, attempt at resting) feel different from the rest of the week. Here are the ground rules:

• get dressed everyday, no pajama days
• open all the blinds in the house and let in whatever sunlight we can
• the kitchen is only open during certain times of the day, no all-day grazing
• we study the scriptures as a family as soon as breakfast ends
• everyone does chores
• everyone does school
• everyone exercises
• each of the three big kids has a thirty minute turn taking care of/playing with Topher in the afternoon so I can make dinner

Depending on who you are these either sound restrictive or lax, but they were just right for us. These rules meant that by 3pm each day all the kids had their charts done and were eligible to play video games. Peter and Phoebe are good at getting stuff done when they want to, but Cooper and Sophie really struggle. This plan helped them a lot, which means Cooper and Sophie love the schedule while Peter and Phoebe are not fans.

School consisted of Khan Academy, Prodigy, First In Math, Scratch, Starfall, PBS Kids, piano, reading lessons for Sophie (a review), worksheets that her teacher emailed, and lots of reading. My mild obsession with having educational materials on hand has really paid off this week. I guess I'm still a homeschooler at heart.

We did have rough spots. 

I am now on the clock and working with at least one child all the time from about 7am to 9pm, depending on when kids wake up and if Peter goes to bed on-time, so I'm very worn out. I've eked out time for my personal scripture study, but beyond that my usual reading has taken a major hit. Plus, I am an extrovert and, while I do love the extra family time, I need other people too. This means I've been on Facebook waaaaaaaay too much after bedtime. It's not real social interaction, but it's something. I've texted with several friends and family members, checking in to see how they are, and we've started using the app Marco Polo to connect with people. That helps too, but it's still tough.

Overall though, it was a good first week.

Quarantine Week One: The Pictures

Somewhere Under the Rainbow

Sophie's kindergarten teacher had all the kids (and their families) create and turn in leprechaun traps more than a week before St. Patrick's Day. With the schools all closed this week, that means that Sophie's trap is still at school. It also means that I didn't need to dash her hopes of catching a leprechaun at home (because I just didn't have the energy for that kind of magic this week) because we didn't have her trap. I did get a few pictures before she turned it in.

Books, Brothers, Bedtime

Green Day

We had a great St. Patrick's Day at home yesterday. It included wearing green,

eating green oatmeal for lunch (because I didn't get up in time to make it for breakfast),

and enjoying potato soup, sauteed cabbage, and Irish soda bread for dinner.

Have I mentioned that cooking for people is my love language?

To Guide Us In These Latter-days

Because church is canceled, we had a lovely, very spiritual Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School/Primary lesson on Sunday in our home. Peter prepared the Sacrament, Bryan blessed it, Cooper passed it. They were all so careful and reverent. My heart swelled with joy watching them each serve our family in those ways.

The girls all played a roll as well. Sophie gave our opening prayer, Phoebe shared the third Article of Faith, and I taught the lesson. Peter and Cooper also shared their testimonies of specific topics and everyone participated in the lesson. Topher wanted to share as well, so he stood at the front of the room while Cooper spoke. 

We had planned to take an hour for all of it, but we ended up going closer to an hour and a half, only stopping because Topher needed to take a nap. When I finished my lesson I asked if the kids could feel the Spirit in our home. His presence was strong.

In all of this chaos and uncertainty, I keep going back to a few important points. We've been prepared for this for years. For as long as I can remember the leaders of the Church have counseled us to have food storage on hand in case of an emergency. I have dedicated space in my basement for that food. Additionally, we've been practicing home-centered church for over a year now, ever since President Nelson announced that we needed to realign how we worshiped. Our current experience might have been much more overwhelming if we hadn't already been having several small church lessons each week as a family.

I have a testimony that we have a living Prophet on the earth today. He is inspired. Our family is much more prepared for this pandemic than we might otherwise have been because we listened to and followed his counsel.

It Will Be Okay

Remember when I wrote about not having any snow days? I lamented that I could really use a break and that an unexpected day off would be welcome.

Be careful what you wish for.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic that is sweeping the world everything is canceled. Church will be held at home until further notice. The kids have the next two weeks off from school. There's no dance this week. Bryan will work from home until the end of April.

I think all of these cancellations are very wise. If we can do anything to slow the spread of the illness, then we should do it. And I'm certainly not complaining about having everyone at home. But there has been a heightened sense of anxiety at our house. We always have an undercurrent of anxiety, but this has kicked it up a notch. We've had lots of talks about what's happening and what we can do to help. The kids aren't complaining about being stuck inside, though I am really wishing we had a backyard right now.

We are safe. We have a fully stocked pantry and supply room. We have a daily schedule worked out. We're ready to do school and church at home, and that's good because we may be here for the duration. Aside from a case of the common cold, we are healthy. It will be okay. It's still scary, but it will be okay.

An Adorable Distraction

It feels like the world is in a state of chaos. I have many thoughts, but not enough mental bandwidth to write them down at the moment. Instead, here's a picture of a boy who thinks bow ties are cool and sometimes asks to wear them, whether he's going to church or not.

President Phoebe

A few weeks ago Phoebe's class held a President Museum. Each kid picked a President of the US to research and represent during a morning gathering for parents and the other third grade classes. Phoebe chose Warren G. Harding. Cooper let her borrow his suit for the presentation. I darkened her eyebrows and used dry shampoo to add white to her hair.

Topher really enjoyed watching Phoebe pretend to be someone else.

See the circle on the table to the side of Phoebe? Each of the kids had one of those. The parents had to tap the circle to activate the presentation. The students had each written and then memorized a list of facts about their president.

Each student had a pose that they adopted when they weren't giving their memorized speech. This was Phoebe's, based on a photo she found online of Harding.

Here it is again, from a different angle.

About twenty minutes in the whole class gathered on the stage and sang patriotic songs for the parents. Phoebe was in charge of pushing FDR in her wheelchair. She wanted to make sure we all knew the chair was a prop and that her friend was actually fine.

Phoebe did a great job and it was fun to watch her perform!

Strings

How to Impress Third Graders

Last Friday was the big Career Day presentation. After confirming when I would present, Phoebe's teacher increased my allotted time from 15-20 minutes to 20-30 minutes. And, as is usual for me, I over prepared.

I arrived at the classroom with a laundry basket full of stuff. Most of the kids didn't know what job I was coming to talk about. I opened the presentation by pulling three colorful scarves out of a bag.

Then I juggled the scarves.

I told them that my job requires juggling, lots of juggling. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it gets big and out of control (as did my juggling at that moment), and sometimes it gets so big and overwhelming that I drop something (cue a dropped scarf). At that point I asked the kids if they knew what job I was talking about. The first girl that I called on said, "A mom?" I told her she was correct and that I was there to talk about being a parent.

I told the kids that some parents work inside the home and some work outside the home, and that I was one that worked inside the home. Then I went to the board and asked them to name some of the things that parents do for them at home. They started slowly, but picked up speed. Soon they had the entire board full. One boy called out in shock, "How do you have enough time in the day to do all this?!"

At this point I asked the kids to guess how much it would cost to pay someone to do all the jobs they had listed. The highest amount guessed was $100,000. I told them about the annual Salary.com article that comes out at Mother's Day and says what they think a stay-at-home mom (which I extended to include stay-at-home dads) would be worth financially if they received a salary. Their 2019 calculation was $178,201. The kids thought that sounded like a lot of money. Then I asked if we actually make money as parents. They said no. One kid yelled out something about hugs. I responded by telling them they were right, parents are paid in hugs and kisses and lots of homemade artwork.

Next I had Phoebe help me unload my basket. It was full of books, toys, kitchen utensils, band-aids, coupons, weights, cleaning cloths, various medical supplies (including a stethoscope), a baby doll, and a stuffed dog. I told the kids that we were going to play a game. They would take turns and do as many parent jobs as they could in one minute. I had a stack of index cards with tasks like "read to the baby" and "pay a bill" on them. I called out as many of the cards as time would allow and the kids scrambled to use the props I had supplied to do the job. We only had time to do this with three kids, but they appeared to have lots of fun, and the rest of the class cheered them on. This helped illustrate that parents have a lot they're responsible for but not a lot of time to get everything done.

Then I told the kids that they were going to take a few minutes to write thank you notes to their parents or grandparents or whoever did most of the care-giving at their house. I passed out blank cards and envelopes and the kids got to writing. While they wrote I pulled out my ukulele and said that one thing many parents do is sing lullabies. I asked if the kids had any favorite lullabies we could sing while they wrote their cards. Thank goodness one girl said Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, because I can play that on the ukulele. The girls especially liked this part and they happily sang with me while I strummed and they wrote.

I finished off by telling them that each parent is different. Some of us love to sing and read books with our kids, some of us play sports with them. But one thing that we all have in common is that we love our kids and work hard to keep them safe and cared for.

Phoebe's teacher had a question for me when I concluded. He said he remembered how much time it took to take care of his oldest daughter when she was born and then how much more time was required when his second (and final) daughter was born. He wanted to know how on earth I managed five kids. Without saying a word I walked over to my bag and pulled out three scarves. I started to juggle again and told the class that it really is like juggling. I have to balance and juggle how much of my time and attention each child gets.

That's when I announced that I had a scarf for each child that wanted one and handed them out to the students. I had also purchased enough referee whistles for the entire class (a hilarious suggestion that came from a dear friend), but when I mentioned that to some moms with school age children the night before the presentation they looked panic stricken and asked if I was really going to send whistles home with a bunch of nine-year-olds. Huh, they had a point. So I held onto those. I also meant to hand out balloons and talk about keeping the fun in parenting, but I totally spaced it. The scarves were enough.

Overall, I think it went well. Phoebe was pleased and the class was really engaged. One girl kept yelling out, "Phoebe, your mom is really fun!" High praise from a third-grader. Big thanks go to Bryan who retaught me how to juggle scarves when I discovered that that particular muscle memory didn't reach back twenty years to when I first learned. That was not something I should have left until the night before to check on, but he was a good teacher and it all worked out in the end.

When I finished Phoebe hugged me and said, "I didn't know you could juggle!"