A Teenager's Timeline to Home Schooling, Courtesy of COVID-19
Every week (sometimes every day), driving to school, before the virus:
"I hate this place! I hate everything about it! I hate everyone here! Can I stay home? Mom! Let me stay home! I can do home-schooling!"
The week before "shelter in place":
"I can't believe my school is still open! They are so irresponsible! They need to close! We're all going to get sick! This isn't safe!"
The day of the temporary school closure announcement:
"YAAS!"
First day of home school:
"Zzzzzzz"
Sleeping. All day. All night. Almost 24 hours of sleeping. No, she's not sick, she's a teenager. They sleep a lot because they're actually vampires. She's very tired. Poor thing. Shhhhh.
Day 2 of home school:
Longer periods of wakefulness. An acknowledgement that constant sleeping and Disney+ is not the new normal. She makes a schedule on my whiteboard. She sets up a home-schooling spot in the dining room.
Day 3:
"I'm so bored! This sucks! How long are we going to do this? I don't see how we can all live in the same house together 24 hours a day! I miss my friends! I've got to get out of here!"
Also on Day 3, as if he was psychic, we get a message from the principal: Yes, homeschooling is hard. Yes parents, you will have to be very hands on. Yes, we have written a guide for you -- only eight simple steps! You must do these steps every day if you want your kid to graduate on time. No, we don't know if we will go back to school in April - or even this year. Gavin Newsom says probably not.
Day 4:
Out of bed by 10am and working at the dining room table by noon. Her teachers are getting organized and so am I. I'm teaching her how to use Trello. I've already built a board for her, with a list for every subject - now she has to make cards for every assignment.
I'm going to institute morning standups, too. Yes I am. I don't know any other way. I didn't choose homeschooling when they were little and it would have been easier (at least the math part). There is simply no way for me to actually teach her now. She's taking Trigonometry, for crying out loud. And something called "The Theory of Knowledge."
Trello is our friend. Well, Trello is my friend. I think.
May the force be with us.
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