Do you need to stress about school? About whether or not your child is missing classes, missing an education, due to lockdown or staggered school attendance?
Quick answer: No, absolutely not.
I have homeschooled my kids for a long time, and if there is one thing I know for sure, it is that conventional schooling as we have come to know it, is a total waste of time.
Let me ask you this: what do YOU remember about school?
Algebra? Rules of chemistry? How old Hitler was when he died?
Or perhaps you remember your friends and your antics during break, the letters you sent inconspicuously during class, glancing self-conciously at the sexiest guy in class, giggling about the teacher’s hair, the parties you sneaked off to, the exams you flunked or excelled in (not the contents, just that you failed or passed)…
There are basically 2 things you were taught in school that you use every day: language and basic maths.
You learned to read and write and you can do basic maths. The rest of the things you know, you most probably have learnt after school, and you refined your knowledge in the job you’re in.
But exactly how much did those 12 years of getting up before sunrise, cramming for your geometry test, sitting with homework until the wee hours of the morning, help you in your grown-up life? Did it actually assist when you needed to buy a house? Did it help you when you completed your tax return? Or could you use any of it to increase your credit score?
There are far more important things for your child to learn, than chemistry.
I raise my kids with two goals in mind: 1: to get them to heaven, 2: to get them to be competent, contributing, independent members of society
School teaches neither.
So if you are one of those mommies who is currently cramming some sort of schoolwork down your little one’s throat, because you fear for their future (what’s going to become of them if they don’t complete grade 3 in school???), please hear this:
Teaching them to do the dishes, to clean their rooms, how to use a broom properly, to bake a cake, make dinner, cook pasta, treat fire with respect, change an electrical plug, change a spark plug in the car, to change a tire, clean and cover a cut, brush their teeth and their hair, make their beds and – if you believe in God – to pray, will be of much more worth to them than all those books you are forcing them to complete.
Our children need to learn about life. They need to explore themselves – to know what they like and don’t like. How are they going to pick a career if they didn’t have the opportunity to explore themselves? And they don’t explore themselves doing math, let me assure you. (Unless of course, your child is so inclined! Then, please, throw him with math stuff!) But give them the chance to find themselves.
Do you know what you like? What would you have liked to become when you grew up? Are you doing that?
Let them play. Outside, inside, with blocks, with *gnashing my teeth* tablets and computers, with sand and water, and paint and glitter, and flour and clay and dolls and cars – preferably nothing with batteries. With no interference from you. Don’t always play with them. Leave them be – let them be bored, and find ways to entertain themselves.
School is fine. By all means, when they do open again, and you want to, send them back. But while your kids are at home, please stop stressing about their schooling.
They are much rather going to remember when they went shopping with you, or baked those cupcakes with you, or when they swam in the mud pool and came into the house to show off their camouflage skills… They will also remember the bed-time stories you read to them (which is the best way to teach them language and reading skills, by the way) snuggling up close, sharing precious moments with you before they drift off to dreamland.
If you think school as we know it is so important, think about this: the leaning tower of Piza was built in 1173. It’s still standing. And they most certainly did not do school like us.
Here are some articles about the skills considered necessary to be an adult:
Independent Lifestyles.org https://independentlifestyles.org/programs-and-services/independent-living-skills/
Quicken Loans.com https://www.quickenloans.com/blog/10-basic-life-skills-must-master-moving
Optimum Performance Institure.com https://www.optimumperformanceinstitute.com/failure-to-launch-syndrome/checklist-of-living-skills/
And just for fun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa