Day 44: COVID-19 LEARNING
This is week seven of online learning; well, only week six, since my boys had time off for spring break, but we are in week seven of quarantine. My boys’ high school has been online since day one; they left school on Friday and began distance learning on Monday.

Distance Learning. Online Learning. Remote Learning. Homeschooling. There are lots of names for this. But I recently read an article that called it what it is: COVID-19 LEARNING. This is education in a form we’ve never before experienced.

I’ve done my own version of homeschooling. When my boys were five and seven years old, we lived in London for three months. They learned how to read maps (both walking and for the Tube), we read British History (sometimes in the form of the Magic Treehouse series), we went to every museum in London, we rode the train through the countryside to visit castles and Stratford-Upon-Avon. To this day, my then-five-year-old, now 16-year-old, can tell you what happened to each of Henry VIII’s wives (he will also tell you the Hampton Court ghost tour gave him nightmares). Those three months were homeschooling at its best: making learning relevant and hands-on…not a packet of 5-grade-math that requires parent supervision.

(And please, please, PLEASE know I am the greatest supporter of our teachers! They are rockstars. And sometimes sending out packets is all they can do. But it is not homeschooling at its best. And heaven knows, those three months were enough for me…a former teacher. As much as I loved it, I was ready to send them back to school!)

My husband and I are also the recipients of on-line graduate degrees. They were more “hybrid” than 100% online, but both of us found the programs challenging, engaging, and relevant. I was exposed to educational challenges from around the world; my husband traveled to Singapore and Brazil to learn about global markets first-hand. When done well, online learning can be dynamic, meaningful, and expansive.

We are functioning in a world of COVID-19 Learning. Some institutions are doing it better than others (some teachers at the same school do it better than others). Some schools have more resources, or students who are better resourced. This makes a huge difference and can create an un-level playing field. But there are still ways to make COVID-19 Learning work.

My boys are so happy when they are in a virtual, or COVID- 19 Learning class. Teenage boys. Happy in class. They miss their teachers and friends, and hearing them engage and laugh makes a mom’s heart smile.
I have participated in COVID-19 Learning as a guest teacher, or guest presenter, across the country. Is it better than having me speak in person? No. But would I have been able to travel to many of these schools? Probably not.

As with every challenge (and this is a big one), we do the best we can, and get creative as much as possible. But mostly, we need to show ourselves (and others) a little grace. Patience. Peace. But mostly, grace to know we are all in this together; we are all doing the best we can.
And (to my sister) if that 5 grade math packet doesn’t get done, my nephew is going to be just fine. Better than fine.

Grace.