How We Are Managing Home Learning (or not) during the Coronavirus Quarantine

I hope that you are all safe and healthy and managing coronavirus quarantines reasonably well. My sense this week is that the outpouring of online resources to help families keep kids learning has peaked (though many wonderful teachers, authors, and illustrators are continuing to produce and share wonderful resources - I'll have a link roundup tomorrow). I'm seeing a bit of a backlash among parents, who are finding that working from home and managing requirements for kids' distance learning is a challenge, to say the least.

My daughter doesn't have schoolwork formally required yet (or so she tells me), while her district works out some device and internet access issues. Her routine starts with sleeping late and reading in bed for a couple of hours before eating what's become brunch. She then spends the daytime hours, while my husband and  I are working, doing a mix of Minecraft, LEGO building, writing, drawing, iReady (a learning app that her school was already using), and Zoom sessions with friends (including some online Monopoly).

She's been typing away at an old electric typewriter, her current preferred tool for writing, and she is dabbling in a 4th grade workbook from Scholastic that I purchased last summer. She's consumed by Chris Colfer's Land of Stories series, and I have a couple of spin-offs on order (no, I still haven't given in to having her read on a device - she likes print, and I like it for her, too).  I'm also reading a couple of different books aloud to her, one of which we are discussing with friends via Zoom book club. 

My view is that all of this is more than fine for now, as we adjust to this new reality. Yes, at some point she's going to need more formal learning. But right now, spending her mornings immersed in a land of stories feels right to me. Of course every family should be able to figure out what's right for them in this difficult time. I wish you all well with the challenge! 

© 2020 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage.