This past Monday morning, while most of New Hampshire’s school families were coming to grips with the governor’s order to close schools and move to online learning, the online college student in our family was starting a new semester at home without missing a beat. Born into our already experienced home-schooling family, learning at home has always been part of her life, but we rarely used online classes in our home school. Even then, transitioning to an online college was an easy changeover for her.
Suddenly, this week, ready or not, the entire state finds itself learning at home. Here are some points we’ve learned and experiences we’ve enjoyed while being at home and learning online that might help our neighbors deal with this challenge of learning in a different setting.
Time is different when learning at home. With no bus or car ride to school — and no dress code — you can sleep in a lot later and still get things done (a personal favorite benefit.)
You can set up your own schedule. At the very least, your schedule will be more flexible than it normally is. Depending on the curriculum a school district uses, there may be times when everyone watches things together, but chances are that the lessons will be available to be accessed any time. In online learning, it’s the deadlines (for projects or papers or tests) that are the fixed elements. That means you can take a break whenever one is needed, change subjects, and return to the original lesson later. It also means that the onus is on you to set a schedule and to do your work on time.
Online learning is different because it is more of a relationship between you and your teacher instead of between you and your class. There are fewer background distractions when one student is listening to a lesson online than there are in a classroom. It still requires discipline, though, not to let home diversions become distractions, either.
You will probably find that you have a lot more free time. That makes sense — there is no travel time to school, no lines, and no time spent moving many people from classroom to classroom. Take advantage of this. Take time to ponder; it’s easy to go deeper into a subject when you don’t have to move on because the class is moving on.
It’s a good opportunity to self-teach. You have the freedom to go over and over something at your own pace until you master it.
This is also a good time to try new domestic skills that take a while — like cooking, baking bread, sewing, knitting or a do-it-yourself home project. All these activities take longer than the usual class period, perhaps even longer than a block period or two. Cooking and baking are great background activities that can go on simultaneously with academic learning.
Since you are home all day, you might find that you have time to do chores for neighbors or even make a little money walking neighbors’ pets. Note, also, that when a house is occupied 24/7, it gets messy easier because there is no “down” time to clean thoroughly. Stay on top of chores. Our family didn’t start schooling each day until the morning chores were done — beds made, dishes done, dogs walked and carpets vacuumed.
What about socialization? Today’s situation is a bit different, in that there are more restrictions on getting together than there usually are, but there are ways to work around that.
First, don’t spend all your time in front of a screen. Pace yourself. Try doing school work at different times of the day. We often ended up doing lessons in the evening, especially with the older children. That freed up time during the day for siblings to get to be friends and do things together. In our current situation, it might also make it easier to get together with others when possible.
Do things together as a family. Watch those Netflix documentaries you’ve always wanted to see, the interesting History Channel specials, and video tours of museums you’ve wanted to visit.
Take an outdoor, “social-distancing”-friendly field trip. Try birdwatching — this is prime time, as the birds return. One possible destination where you won’t meet many people is the local graveyard. See if you can find someone of interest to look up in your town history. One section of a graveyard in Plainfield is the final resting place of soldiers who fought in almost every war in our nation’s history.
Utilize all the media connections you have. The Valley Calendar editor of the Valley News plans to highlight both traditional and non-traditional ways to stay connected.
If you encounter problems or have questions, there are lots of options. Local schools and school districts are the best places to go for problems with the school work itself.
New Hampshire is in the unique position of having an experienced home-schooling dad as its commissioner of education. The people at the New Hampshire Department of Education have set up an online help site where parents can ask questions. From the inquiries they get, they plan to compile a list of frequently asked questions. They can be reached at education.nh.gov.
The Virginia-based Home School Legal Defense Association is joining the nonprofit education organization “yes. every kid.” to launch a new Facebook group, #LearnEverywhere. This is a community for families, parents, educators and students who are having to change their education routines due to the coronavirus.
There are a number of home-schooling families in every community. If you are having difficulty adjusting to learning at home, seek them out. They probably experienced the same thing at one time or another, or know someone who did.
Education isn’t just how much time you spend on a subject, but what you accomplish. The Home School Legal Defense Association describes it this way: “Education isn’t a place, it’s an experience that can happen anywhere.” You have lots of opportunities in the next few weeks to understand your child’s learning style, to explore subjects in ways you might not have been able to before, and to grow together as a family. Enjoy the journey!
Margaret Drye lives in Plainfield.