Hi folks it is now week two of home schooling my kids…
I have two girls one who is in her last year of elementary school and one who just started. My wife and I both work and partially we must be present at work so each day either myself or her get double blown home schooling. It is not pretty.
I really enjoy going to my office workplace now. One year ago, before home schooling, I was so happy if I had one day in home office. Now I enjoy the days here I can leave my house behind and go to work.
So the situation we face is that we still have not fully digital classes, but stupid worksheets that my kids are supposed to work on. The younger one has learned a lot before she came to school form her sister, so she is basically finished with all of her work by mid of the week and the older one struggles to finish her stuff.
The first phase of the week is that both of my kids complain about the work they have to do. The younger one is bored and wants to do the homework of the older one, which she is obviously not capable of doing. The older one has worksheets here she is too lazy after week two to read. Her drive is gone. So I constantly move between my office in the house to check and answer mails quickly, then I go to my younger one and motivate her to do another page of calculations that she can do while sleeping. The older one has not done a thing and asks me what she must do. Sometimes the questions that she gets are so unspecific that even I have to think what the teacher wants to form the child. After having both occupied with work I go back to the office and try to focus on work. Latest by 10 am I start getting questions on whether they could not possibly get the allowance to play some games on the tablet. Which they obviously are not allowed to do. So now the vicious circle of non motivation, boredom and annoyance starts. At latest 12 o clock I have arguments with my kids and I prepare a meal.
The meal I prepare is obviously not what they want, and the fight is perfect. In the afternoon my wife comes home and finally I can work. Now my working day really starts and obviously it ends late in the evening because I have not worked the whole morning.
In the second part of the week, I have to search for something that occupies my younger daughter and the older one is even less motivated and complains that her sister has so much less work to do than she has. Rational arguments will not help.
I understand the measures against Covid, but this is not the life I wanted to have. Give me my old life back or much more time so I can do the schooling properly. I have the feeling I do nothing properly anymore. My work suffers and my children start thinking I am a volcano which continuously erupts by 12 o’clock. When all this is over, I will have a big garden party celebrating the end of the home schooling phase.
I do not hoestly want to complain too much as some people really suffer from Covid. But for the rest of the nation this home schooling and working at the same time… it really hits us on the head.