Homeschooling in Uncertain Times

Mamas, life is unpredicatable. It always was but many of us have been blessed to not have to face that fact on a daily basis. All of us have had our lives upended by this pandemic, We are overwhelmed with information, many are not sleeping well, experiencing unsettledness and anxiety, and our everyday routines have been disrupted and most activities have come to a sudden stop.
The reality is that every child is now at home. Public schools, private schools, charters and homeschoolers.
As a homeschool coach my phone is ringing off the hook with phone calls and texts from parents who never planned on educating their children at home. They are stay at home parents, entrepreneurs and employees that are now juggling these new responsibilities and with no notice. 

I have so much compassion for them because for different reasons , I was also once a sudden and unexpected homeschooler. I know what it feels like to forge into unchartered territory and have no idea what the heck I am doing. To fall into the black hole of the internet trying to understand it all.

My heart also breaks for their children who are scared, lonely, confused AND still being forced to do compulsory school at home.
For some of them the routine of online classes and worksheets turned in to teachers via email will bring them security and for them I am glad. However, other children will suffer emotionally and mentally now that their safe place (home) to escape from school is gone. There will be fighting and tears. Moms and dads will be frustrated and at their limits and this could continue for months.
I cannot imagine how my kids would have responded to that as school was never a happy place for them before we pulled them out. It would have been a disaster. SO I am speaking from personal AND professional experience when I voice these concerns.

So mamas, the truth, the elephant in the room , is that there is a huge difference between what we strive to do as self directed learners and this mass schooling at home that is going on in most of the world at this moment.

I have been doing my best to help those who are suddenly unexpectedly homeschooling because of the pandemic because we all want the same thing. We want our kids to feel safe and secure and we want to allow them to feel some sense of their normal lives even in the midst of chaos. We know we are in this together.

So to those of you who are new to my site welcome. Our focus here is on self directed education and unschooling. We talk about conscious parenting and living our lives with purpose. I hope you will take advantage of this time to really think about what education means, to learn about alternative ways of igniting curiosity and to be brave in doing what is BEST for your children EVEN if that means going against what is being required of you from your school. Eventually most of you will return your kids to school and your lives will go back to normal but perhaps you will go back with a new outlook and more insight into your kids and what lights that fire in their belly. That is my greatest hope.

Others of you had already been considering homeschooling and will keep your kids home even after this passes. We welcome you into our tribe . Here on this blog and on my facebook group ( A Spacious Life Homeschool Tribe)  is our safe space to share our concerns and fears but also to continue to look for to beauty and the blessings. We believe in giving our children as much freedom to learn as we possibly can stand and that they are autonomous human beings with a right to learn what they want to learn and how they want to learn it.
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Here we will continue to work to simplify our lives, focus on what matters most and love our families well.