Coronavirus/CoVid-19/Pandemic/Health/Parenting
How Homeschooling Taught Me More About My Parenting Skills
During the lockdown in The Netherlands, I had to homeschool my three daughters. Well, the oldest had to do online lessons as her normal schedule when she is in class. Mainly, I had to educate my youngest two daughters with homeschooling. And when my oldest had questions, I will help her wherever I can and what I know.
Challenging time
Homeschooling your children is a challenging time. For me, it was a very challenging time. I always got question spinning in my head: When does one child need my laptop to work on? When do they have questions?
I had to count all possibilities what might happen when they asked me any questions. There was no time for me to write, and yet, I made that happen too. How? I don’t know. Just doing and preparing in the evening for the next day, I guess so…
Yeah, it was a challenging time as I was a little bit stressed when they asked a question to understand their assignments. Always at moments, you are too busy working. You’re kind of awakened much more. You’re alert when that might happen.
Being bored
Also, when my children were shouting too much at once, both at the same time, they didn’t know what to do next or they just want some attention from me. Mostly it happened when they finished every school assignment.
Ahum, mainly they still had a lot of things to do, as they got tons of worksheets for doing at home, and mostly they worked until it was finished. At least, they wanted to, but they also needed to go outside and take fresh air.
Often, they wanted to work very hard too, to finish what they need to do for their school assignments. As my youngest told me a few weeks ago: “I want to become very smart.” In this sense, she found books in my library to read about diverse (educational) subjects. When she wanted to know something more about these subjects, I gladly answered, when I knew the answer. Or I said I will look into it when I finished my work and we looked into it together. Finding both more information.
You see your child in a different
Parenting in the Coronavirus time was different, but it was, and it still is, lovely work to do. You see your children in a different way. How do they act when they have to do schoolwork? How am I as a schoolteacher while I’m a parent at the same time? It was fun discovering them in another way as I thought they were.
I have seen that I’m patient, but at the same time, I was impatient when they needed to get back to work on their schoolwork. They needed to know that I am the teacher at the very same moment I am their mother. I also realized that I can’t be both. They need to have a different teacher than their mother.
They were distracted by each other very often. When they distracted each other, I separated them and put them behind different tables with their back towards each other. Then, it went much better to concentrate on their school assignments.
What homeschooling taught me
Homeschooling taught me to look differently to my children. It was nice to see my youngest daughter likes spelling and grammar by writing together. But she really doesn’t like basic maths. She loves reading which has been improved in the last two months.
Homeschooling taught me to be more patients with my children. It also taught me how different my children are when they need to do schoolwork. It also taught me that I am not capable to teach and be a mother at the same time. Homeschooling taught me that I love teaching very much and that I got more respect for all the teachers.
To be honest, I’m happy when they are getting back to school Today. Even if it partial. Also, my daughters want to their friends again.
Always check the (latest) facts with your country.
The numbers and stories are from yesterday or earlier this day. I haven’t seen new numbers so far, when there will be new numbers, rules and interesting situations here in The Netherlands, I will inform you.
Read more Coronavirus stories:
- Coronavirus In The Netherlands — Update 10 May 2020
- Coronavirus In The Netherlands — Update 8 and 9 May 2020
- Coronavirus In The Netherlands — Update 7 May 2020
- The Consequences of Closing Schools
- Coronavirus In The Netherlands — Update 6 May 2020
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- The Coronavirus in The Netherlands
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Agnes Laurens is a writer. She writes for the local newspaper. Agnes lives in Bunnik, The Netherlands, with her husband and three daughters. Writing is — aside from playing the violin — one of her passions since childhood. She is on Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to my mailing list and subscribe to my Thoughts.
