I haven’t really written a huge amount about the realities of intentional home education during the pandemic. It’s a difficult path to tread, I feel.
I don’t want to moan as there are people in far worse situations than us. We haven’t had the financial worries that some have faced, nor having to make decisions about when to allow children to return to school (where that option is available) but it’s been hard. Our Home Education since February and March has been a very different experience.
Home Education in Normal Times
In normal times, our home education was busy and full of meetups with friends. It was a very regular occurrence to host events for up to 15 children at our home, attend history classes with friends at another home, or fortnightly science groups.
We had PE and football groups as well as Spanish, swimming and all manner of ad-hoc meetups.
But that all changed, and it actually changed a few weeks before the schools closed. In reality we haven’t had normal home education since February.
When the schools closed I had friends asking for advice, people said ‘it’s OK for you, you know what you’re doing’ and I was approached by companies to write for them to help people get to grips with home education. All of a sudden everyone was a home educator.
Except they’re not.
Why Home Education is different from Pandemic Schooling
Whilst I do not want to diminish the challenge that has been schooling during the pandemic, it has not been home education. Intentional home educators don’t have schools setting work for the children to do, nor do they have a school waiting to pick up the pieces of post-pandemic life as and when they go back. Home Educators are responsible for every single element of the education of their children. We don’t get given access to a range of learning programs that a school has paid for. We don’t get told what’s age-appropriate learning and we don’t have things signposted for us.
What parents of schooled children have been doing is to supervise distance learning. It is not home education. The school are still in charge of the direction of education and are still under obligation to provide input. When all is over, children will return to schools and schools will pick up the pieces of missed learning and the such.
Home Educators don’t get that (nor do we ask for it) but overnight we suddenly had all our usual meetups and shared learning go. And I don’t see a time soon when we will be able to recommence those events. And, when we do, I think some will not restart as people have adjusted to a different way of life, as well as just re-evaluating what they want to do day to day (I know at least one group we won’t return to post covid).
I’m not suggesting it hasn’t been a struggle, it has. Managing just to keep children on an even keel during the pandemic has been challenging enough but throw in working from home and supervising school work, it’s hard.
Intentional Home Education Has Been Intense
Intentional home education during this time has been intense. We usually have at least one activity we can go to each day, and that helps to split the day up for the children, offering natural gaps in the day to do something different and to see different people. But that’s no longer the case.
I’ve had to have a whole range of activities ready to go, day in day out for the children. Damian has still been working and, whilst he isn’t physically leaving the house, he isn’t present during the day as he is upstairs working (and it’s been a very busy time for him too).
Home Education is not, despite what some might think, a solitary pursuit. Our days are usually spent with friends. We are usually in kitchens talking, comparing issues and sharing things whilst the children play. We are usually walking around parks, waiting at classes or talking to other children about their projects. The input my children get from other parents is invaluable. But we lost that.
Don’t Assume It’s OK
I’ve heard so many times that ‘it’s OK for you, you’re used to Home Educating’. It’s as if people think our children aren’t experiencing a change. They are. They really really are. It also makes me feel like my experience isn’t valid; it’s diminished and I can’t possibly have cause to complain as it’s the path we chose.
Yes, we did choose to home educate. But the decision was made to do so in a backdrop of a wide range of amazing groups, local networks and friends who support us through this journey (and to who I hope I offer support).
We have people who have ignored our decision to home educate, who have never once mentioned it. There’s now no asking if we are OK, how are the children getting on, acknowledging that parenting three young children, running a home and holding down a full-time job during the biggest social, economic and emotional upheaval that many can remember is difficult.
I know my own personal situation is one of enormous privilege and I’ve been insulated in many ways from some of the social and economic shocks that the pandemic has brought. But it hasn’t been easy and without issue.
Next time you speak to a long term home educator, don’t assume they’re finding this a breeze. The chances are they’re feeling pretty burnt out too.
