Today is the first day that my kids have really struggled to get assignments completed, and they have really pushed back against me when I've tried to encourage them. There have been multiple complaints about how much work they're having to do. They are grumpy, and I'm really frustrated with their lack of motivation.
And I realized why they are hitting the wall today, finally: their teachers have sorted out how to do at least some of their instruction online, so they are starting to post all of their regular daily work instead of just a handful of review assignments. The kids couldn't understand why they had so much to do, and I had to explain that this is different than just having homework to do, or having assignments that they missed because we went on vacation. This is school. At home.
I never wanted to be a home school parent. Kids do not by nature take instruction well from their parents. And for most of us parents, it's been a while since we've had to do the types of assignments our kids are doing. I'm lucky, since my kids are in lower grades, because I still know how to do the work they need. But I'm sure there are parents out there who feel a little like Mr. Incredible in The Incredibles 2, trying to help Dash with his math.
I chuckled a bit last week at parents who were posting elaborate schedules for their kids to follow each day, and at other parents who were making jokes about their kids going feral. But now, this week, I'm starting to look at both ends of that spectrum and trying to find a happy medium between them. I don't know that I have the endurance and intestinal fortitude to force my kids to follow a rigid schedule, because I don't have the time to ride herd on them all day long and still get my own school work done. But I also refuse to just let them spend the day on their tablets or video games. So I need to figure out how to strike a balance between the two, both for the benefit of my kids' education and the maintenance of my own sanity.
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