After four weeks of school closures, the Idaho School Board voted to keep schools closed for the remainder of the school year. This was difficult, but expected news.
The first two weeks without school felt like an odd vacation. We relaxed, slept in, played outside, read a lot of news, baked, watched movies, played board games, cooked together and talked about the future.
By the start of the third week, our family (mostly me and my husband), recognized the need for some structure and education. Each one of my kids’ schools (elementary, middle and high school) has been regularly sending me emails about remote learning plans, but they are not scheduled to begin until week five.
We couldn’t wait another two weeks for the school to send out assignments, so we crafted a family schedule:
9-11 a.m.: wake up (this ‘early’ wake up time is a real struggle for my teenagers), eat breakfast, complete morning chores and get ready for the day.
11-1 p.m.: school work *without phones: Work on unfinished school assignments, write and color a Covid Time Capsule packet (perfect for my 2nd grader), reading (This is especially difficult because the libraries are all closed. Fortunately, we happen to have The Princess Bride, Animal Farm, poems by Shel Silverstein and Harry Potter on our bookshelf) and writing projects (book reports, poems, and journal prompts- not very popular).
1-2 p.m.: lunchtime and clean up.
2-4 p.m.: family projects: yard work, house cleaning, coloring the girls hair pink and purple, badminton/basketball/croquet tournaments, planting flowers/garden, long walks, sewing face masks, etc.
4-6 p.m.: alone time (everyone’s favorite time).
6-7 p.m.: dinner. We have been trying lots of new recipes and I’ve been teaching my kids how to cook and bake foods like; no-knead bread, chicken pillows, cajun shrimp and corn, Texas sheet cake and Swiss steak (a family recipe, let me know if you want it).
7-8 p.m.: family educational show/movie (including episodes of Explained, documentaries like RBG and WWII in color, Planet Earth, How it’s Made and historical movies like Hidden Figures).
10-midnight: bedtime (I know we should all go to bed earlier, but this leaves plenty of time for snuggles, late night talks, snacks, Xbox gaming and stress free bed times).
Some days everything flows perfectly and other days no one seems to be happy.
One thing is for sure, I really miss my kids’ teachers!
What does your new daily schedule look like? What is your family doing for education?
