Ep 9 - Homeschooling During the COVID 19 Pandemic

To homeschool or not to homeschool? It’s really tough to make that call and figure out what’s best for your family. In this episode Keita shares her own experiences of homeschooling and the positive and negative experiences of home schooling through the COVID pandemic.

To homeschool or not to homeschool? It's really tough to make that call and figure out what's best for your family. In this episode, Keita shares her own experiences of homeschooling and the positive and negative experiences of home schooling through the COVID pandemic.

 
Ep 9 - Homeschooling during the COVID 19 Pandemic.png
 

In This Episode Keita Discusses:

·       Juggling an art business and homeschooling during the pandemic

·       Honest pros and cons on deciding wether to homeschool v’s public school

Mentioned in this Episode:

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00:05

Hello and welcome to the painty mama podcast. We're taught that artists are poor. Throw kids in the mix and it seems impossible to thrive. While balancing motherhood, creative projects, and building a business along with everything else is hard. I believe the universe gave you your unique talents and children, so you could live a full inspiring, creative, beautiful life together. Join me for conversations about creativity, motherhood, business, and finding calm in the chaos. I'm Keita Thomas, and this is the painty mama podcast.

 

00:39

Hello, lovely. And thanks for joining me for a chat today. We're talking about homeschooling - pros and cons. I think a lot of us have had to deal with readjusting during the pandemic this whole, it's pretty much been a year now since I've been homeschooling. And I wanted to record this episode because it's kind of like a time capsule for me, because I'd really like to look back on this time because it's been so unique in the experience of going through the process of homeschooling and really redefining how education works and what I think of it and how I want my kids to learn. And I think as a parent, we can. (I'm saying this like "we" can, but to be honest, this is more my stuff but...) I have a habit in life of kind of assuming that other people who are more qualified or skilled in certain areas know better than I do. And this time has really taught me that I have a lot to offer my children that I kind of had put a block on myself and thought "I couldn't do that". I never thought that I would be able to teach my child to read, for example, but that is something huge that's come out of this and such a unique experience that I never even thought I would get to have or had ever entered my sphere of possibility. So yeah, I want to use it as like a time capsule for me, but also, I thought it'd be useful to talk to you about it, because it's really been such a unique journey. And I've learned so much about the process and I wish I would have had something like this to listen to before I dove in so that I would be aware of the pros and cons because to be honest, I do feel like the balance is pretty even of pros and cons.

 

02:37

So for context, at the time of this recording, my children are seven, four, and three. So I have a grade one curriculum that I've been teaching, and it was kindergarten before that towards the end of last year. So we've been doing grade one at home since about November. And then I my son is in like pre K. And then my younger daughter's kind of in that like - just about to go to pre k (Well, I guess she could be in pre k right now). But we haven't been doing that we've been doing everything at home. And I want to talk a little bit as well about how I made the decision. And just a caveat before we start, I am not judging anybody either way on whether you decide to homeschool, public school, private school, however you decide to school, your children, I think that we all need to be empowered by the choices that we make, rather than making them or letting society make them for us. And I think that's kind of a theme that's been going on throughout the whole pandemic is that we've all caused... this whole pandemic has caused us all to question certain things. And I think it's important just to weigh up and see where you fit in. If it's not the same as me and your thoughts are completely the opposite. That's fine.

 

04:00

So our experience was; we'd moved house moved to a new town. We used to live in North Vancouver in BC and we moved a couple of hours north, back up to where my family property is in Pemberton BC, which is a very small town just outside of Whistler. There's a lot of positives about living in this small town anyway, we moved in December 2019. And then my oldest she started school in January at her brand new school and she just started to make her new friends at her new school and she was starting to fit in and it was really nice to see her settling in and then spring break came and she never went back to kindergarten because everything shut down! Then I kind of figured out how to homeschool, like a bit here and there, trying to figure out online of how I could keep her on track. And then her teachers (also in kindergarten). They were also trying to figure out how to, you know, adjust to online teaching and google classroom and some teachers were just like flying ahead with that. And other teachers were struggling to make sense of it all because obviously, it was really difficult. And I felt really felt for the teachers, I thought they did an amazing job with adjusting. And then it was summertime, we had an amazing summer here, it's so nice living in the mountains, there's like lakes near us, and it's just a really beautiful place to be. And it kind of had this vibe here in the summer, (and I can't again, I don't know where you are in the world, if you're near me, if you're not, and I think even town to town, it can differ). But here it felt like last summer that things were really easing off. And that things would be kind of going back to, you know, "normal" after the summer.

 

05:52

So I sent her back to school, back to the local school in September. But within a week, she had her first sniffle, and then she was off for a week. And then she got another one. And then she was off for another week. And then two weeks after that. And it was just like she had more time at home than she'd had at school. And by November, I was just like, "this is ridiculous". I was finding things for her to do and what I would normally have sent her back to school after like a couple of days if she'd had a bit of a runny nose or something. But it was that time of year, and I thought "I am just all over the place". It was like we had no routine because some days we were getting ready for school. And then it was like assessing everyday do I take her do I or not? Is she okay? And it was just very anxiety inducing for me. And also for her, the uncertainty of "do I get to go to school today or not", it was really difficult. And we were back and forth with the teachers with like sending work home. As they were with like a lot of other students. So I decided to sign up for an online school that's also local-ish to the area. And that made it a lot easier because as soon as we signed her up, there was like a week inbetween where I hadn't been logged in and stuff. But as soon as we got in there, the teachers were just on it, like they have these really easy curriculums that you can follow. And it took all the stress out of like designing my own curriculum, and I'm not a teacher, I don't I don't even really know what level she's at what she should be learning. So it was difficult for me to do that.

 

07:34

But then once we got the curriculum, it was like, "Okay, so this is the kind of thing that that we can be tackling every day". So it was like having a to do list every day, which made it really awesome. So into the pros and cons, I want to go through the pros first, just you know, to make it a bit more positive! There are some really amazing things that have come out of this, like I have had so much more time with my daughter so much more quality time, you know, when she was in school, and then she had like, ballet class afterwards, or she was also taking a yoga class. And then she was going to see her dad on the weekend. I felt like Sunday's was really the only day of the week that we properly had to connect. And with her being at home, we have just had so much more quality time together and daily time together. And it's been really, really nice for us and like that connective part of our relationship. And it's really made me reassess what matters in life. Like I was always sad when she was going to school, but I was like, "This is the you know, this is the way I got to do it. This is part of motherhood or just a chunk of it that I've got to accept is she has to go to school and I am going to miss her and that's the way it goes". But it's been really interesting to realize that it's there's not just one way to receive an education.

 

09:01

Yeah. So it's been really a case of reassessing how she's being educated and, and me educating myself on what it means to be teaching more mindfully because we teach as parents, anyway, all the time. It is a huge part of our jobs. I guess I just thought that somebody else could do it better than me, which has not been the case because to be honest, I feel like she's, you know, education wise when it comes to reading, writing math, she's really come a long way during this time, and also one of the pros as well has been having a flexible schedule. So before I was waking up at like 5:30am (which I am not a morning person! As anybody that knows me well know like I am the crankiest on a morning like it takes me ages to wake up my brain. And I'm like two cups of coffees and before I can actually function as a human). So yeah, it was like 5:30am wake up like rush to get things done, rush the kids out the door, rush to run to the bus on time. And it was fun. And there are pros to that as well, because it's kind of good for me to have some structure to be honest. But it has been really nice just been able to like, you know, sleep until like, 7- 7:30am. That's if you're a Mum. You'll know that is a lie-in, That is a lie-in. And so it's like, every day I'm waking up more naturally with like, when my body wants to wake up. And just having like, easy mornings, and having the opportunity to like squeeze a bit of yoga in together or like go for a walk before we start school. So just that flexibility has been really nice. And it's been so rewarding to teach. You know, when I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a teacher, (I wanted to be an art teacher, actually). But as a kid, that's always what I wanted to do. And it's kind of what I assumed one day I would end up doing, but I actually feel like it's something that was on my bucket list for like, since I was you know, seven or something myself. And I've done that now! So it's been like a really cool experience! And one that I kind of thought I would have missed out on is being a teacher. So it's been really fun. And like the lessons when you're in grade one, like, it's pretty fun!

 

11:30

Like there's a lot of making, you know, arts and crafts projects. And like, I'll add in the odd thing as well. And sometimes it's actually inspired some of the work that I've been doing as well, because we've been learning about space, and then I'm getting interested in the planets, which has totally changed. By the way since we were in school... If you're the same age as me, I'm 35. Yeah, the whole planet system is different now. So it's worth looking at, because I didn't realize it changed, but it has.

 

12:01

Also another thing is my middle guy, he is four. And he's always been like an absolute ball of energy, like one of those kids that just always needs to be doing something. And I always assumed with him, it was like a physical outlet thing. But he's been so interested in what my oldest daughter has been learning that he's actually been sitting down and I got him his own book. And he's been homeschooling with us as well. And it's been so cool! He is super obsessed with numbers. I don't know how he's my child, because I'm like, the worst at Math, well not the worst. I'm not terrible at math. But like, it gives me a headache using that part of my brain. And it always has. And he's asking me like ridiculous calculations and stuff. And I get like, "Oh, God, I don't know, if I can handle this amount of math every day". But he's found a passion in that. And it's been really exciting to watch him do that. And he's really developed an interest for learning, which I think is something that can serve kids for like the rest of their life. Like if you're interested in learning, it's everything really, isn't it if you're interested in what you're learning about. And yeah, just the one on one learning as well has been really great for my oldest daughter, because she sometimes struggles to believe in herself. Like she'll triple check her answers and be like, "is this right is this right", and I've definitely noticed that having that one-on-one and me constantly giving her that confirmation, she doesn't need that as much anymore. So she's starting to believe in her own knowledge and her own ability to figure things out.

 

13:45

And it only takes at home, it's like three, maybe four hours, if we take like longer breaks and stuff in between. But it takes like three or four hours every day rather than before. It was like rush out for the bus at 8:30am and then rush to pick her up at like 3:20pm ish for the worst. And that's almost seven hours without her being at home. And that's also without any extracurriculars at the end of the day after school on some days. But now it's like three or four hours for her and the rest of the time she can just, you know, be a kid rather than having to concentrate. And the sibling bonds have been really, (this is kind of I'm going to segway into the cons because the sibling bond situation), I've definitely noticed that they are tighter than they were say previously. There's a lot more socialization going on and playing going on between the three of them and it's been really lovely to watch them grow.

 

14:49

However the con of that is sibling fights get really real. (And to be honest, that is like the bane of my existence at this point in my life) is always breaking up fights, because, again, because they are spending so much time together. It's Yeah. So it's both. So the pro side is that they're super tight, tighter than they were before even though they were already really good friends. Yeah, so that's the pros and cons of that. And then another con would be socialization, which has always been my main concern, and has been my main concern about the whole thing because my oldest daughter, she is like, as always been the ultimate social butterfly kind of kid, like, goes up to anyone, and is just like a Care Bear. You know, the cat to remember the Care Bears? And she just like goes up to everyone is like, "want to be friends", like "we're best friends now". And she plays with anyone and talks to everyone at the supermarket. So she's had a rough time with not seeing her friends. And we went to the park a couple of weeks ago, and she saw some of her school friends. And it was so nice to see her talking to the kids that she missed. And also kind of heartbreaking to watch because I realized how much that she has missed out on and how much she misses that interaction with kids her own age. And I don't think that that can be replaced with any amount of sibling earnouts, or cousin hangouts or, you know, hanging out with me, like there's something about being around your peers, that is super important. And I know that she has been missing out on that.

 

16:35

Also, my youngest is three. And she has been getting less attention because I've got a focus that three to four hours a day on curriculum. And I can include my son in that. But my youngest is just a little bit too young to have the patience or the skills really to like sit and learn. So there's been a lot of like, kind of, I feel like I haven't been playing with her as much as I would be if, if my oldest was at school, I haven't been playing as much it's more like "oh get the colors out and sit there", there's been a lot. (This is like my main con as well), it's been a lot more screentime in this house. Again, it's for the same reason because I still have to work on my business. And I still have to give a lot of attention in the day to my oldest and her learning and organizing the day and organizing the lessons and getting the materials ready. So that while I'm doing those things, there has been a lot of like, iPad games, TV way more than I would ideally want her to experience. And yeah, it's been harder for me to focus on work and squeezing time in the day to make work because obviously three to four hours of my time, that I would take maybe one or two of those hours to work in the day, I've got to find that somewhere else instead. So again, that's meant more screentime more "run along and do your own thing, kids because mommy's got to work". And I don't particularly enjoy that part of it, because I want to be able to be present more for my kids. But I also want to be able to work without feeling so guilty.

 

18:28

Also another con, which might not seem like a major one, but actually is quite time consuming when you add up all the time. Because we're spending more time at home and everything is done at home. The house work has got way more because we're always in here, there's always out bits of paper, and I'm busy doing the schoolwork. So I can't actually focus on like, you know, getting the laundry away real quick in the morning as often as I usually would do. So yeah, the house is messier, because there's more people in it all the time, which creates more domestic duties for me. So that's my list of pros and cons. And I feel like that list is so even, like it's pretty balanced. The amount when I've tried to weigh it up. It's like, I just can't figure out which is the best way to do it. And you know, I don't think there is a best way to do it. As I said in the beginning, we've all been going through something that has never really happened to society or any of us before. Being expected to work at home and work efficiently while we have children around has been an adjustment for sure. However, I do feel like it's one of those things that has taught me so much about myself, about what I need, about how structure is pretty important for me to have even though I resist at every turn, and it's just taught me again about how resilient we are as people, as women, as mothers. About how much we can handle, not to say that we should handle it all, but just to have that knowing of "I can", has been such a blessing.

 

20:17

The older I get in life, the more I start to realize how much I underestimate my own abilities, and what I can handle and what I can do in life and the possibilities that lay out there. And I don't know about you, but I'm tired of thinking small, and putting myself in a box. And I'm constantly trying to push those edges out. And I hope that you do too! So with all that in mind, and now that vaccinations and things are coming out, I still don't know how I feel about that, yes, you might hate me for that. But that's okay. Because we're all different. I just don't know how I feel. And all I'm in control of is what goes on in my zone. In my life. And that's initially why I made that decision because of the anxiety was getting so overwhelming. And I just thought, "Well, I'm not in control of what's going on in the world. But I am in control of what's going on with me, and how I can react to that. And I'm in control of my environment. And I'm in control of my home. And I can make that a safe place for my children and for myself. And I can create what I want to create, I can create the life that I want to create in that space".

 

21:32

So yeah, overall, I'm leaning towards going back to school and returning in September, from our oldest to go in grade two, and my middle child to go into kindergarten because I don't feel like I can handle teaching two curriculums at the same time, because I've already struggled with the one. And kudos to the moms who were you know, teaching multiple kids at the same time as working and balancing. I don't know four curriculums at the same time, I don't know how you done it, you are an absolute flippin superhero in my eyes! And if that is you, I see you, and I love you, and you're doing amazing things for your kids, you know, it is worth mentioning as well, I am a single mom. So the pressure has being solely on my shoulders, and I'm trying to grow business at the same time, I can only do so much with that much time. And although I do have the sense of guilt about putting my business first, come September, when (hopefully), the children will be going to school, and I'll just have my youngest at home with me. So I think that'll free up a little bit more time. But I also have to remember that my business supports my family as well. And although I'm really gonna miss the time that we've had together, I'm going to treasure this experience forever. It's been such a different experience than I ever thought I would have. And I hope that my children remember it really fondly. And ultimately, it's just about balance. And the balance is always shifting, and we've always got to adjust to that. And it's it's okay to change your mind.

 

23:14

Only you know what's best for your family, your specific family. And when you take into account, your children's ages and their personality, and you, when your personality and your partner if you live with one, and all of those things put together, create a bigger picture and only you know what that bigger picture is and how you want that to move forward into your future.


Thanks so much for chatting with me today lovely! And I hope some of that helps you to weigh up your options. You know, we don't always have to live according to the status quo and what everyone else seems to be doing. Explore your options and find what works for you and your family. Because you do have options, you have options!

And if you're trying to juggle a lot, alongside making art, it can really help to have a designated space set up so that you can get down to some creative business without wasting any setup time. So I just want to remind you that I do have a free workbook. Honestly, it's more like a mini lesson really. And I talked about it in episode 5 of the podcast. It's so good. And I've already heard that it's helped a lot of busy creative mamas. So I've created for you. It's free, just to help you make space for your arty passions and you can find that at KeitaThomas.com/shownotes/5. And feel free to DM me @artbykeita when you've gone through it for a bit of accountability, I just love seeing all your creative spaces and until next time, have a free, loving, creative week!

Keita Thomas

Artist, Mentor, Graphic Designer, Website Designer, Digital Marketing & Social Media Management.

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