See Eddie's reading meeting at 12:15? I wrote it here and on the fridge calendar.
Then told him to log on at 12:30.
Several weeks ago, LCS decided to have all students move to remote learning the week after Thanksgiving. It was a wise, thoughtful decision that offered a long window after the holiday for everyone to be home monitoring symptoms.
At the Wernet house, however, it was not a very smooth week.
On one level, it was sort of my dream come true. I always go back to school after Thanksgiving wishing I could be at home, surrounded by Christmas decorations with cookie-scented candles burning and Christmas music playing. So there was that--we built lots of fires in the fireplace and got to enjoy the fruits of our decorating labor. And I really do like the hands-on experience of helping the younger kids navigate their schoolwork and see all the things they're learning. DJ is working on an opinion paper, and his topic is, "kids need more math in school." He convinced me! :) And Mary, thank goodness, is far more self-sufficient than she was in the spring. She was very good about entertaining herself for long stretches while I helped the boys, taught lessons, and attended meetings. She made endless crafts out of popsicle sticks and took out nearly every toy in the house. I also loved that our house was filled with music. Nellie and Annie are in band, Nellie is also in choir, Eddie loves to play piano, and DJ is learning ukulele for music class. It was practicing, practicing all the time, and it was quite pleasant! I can't believe I'm saying this after last Christmas's zillions of holiday concerts, but I will really miss hearing them perform this year.
But you guys. It was barely-controlled chaos. Unlike the spring, Annie, and Nellie's schedules were far more demanding, so I couldn't count on their help. And the routines were different and we didn't quite have the norms in place for homeschooling. And THERE WERE SO MANY ZOOM MEETINGS. It seemed like every possible space was occupied at every moment. I was relegated to a camp table set up in the playroom to teach my classes. I think that between the kids and I, we had 59 meetings. That is not an exaggeration like the concerts, it's the actual number I get when I add them up. On Friday at 10am, five of us were in meetings at the same time. I laughed out loud when a student commented, "It's kind of fun to have this experience where everyone's at home. We get to see how teachers are managing everything at the same time." This was after Mary Cate couldn't figure out how to unmute herself and I had to interrupt class to get Eddie to help her. I'm glad my students were enjoying it, at least! I know I have friends who have been doing this every day, all year. I honestly do not know how you do it.
We ended the school week with Annie making dinner for us as a health class assignment. Which was good, because by then I was useless as a human being, let alone a functioning parent. But, we managed. As of 8:00 tonight, all the assignments were completed and backpacks were repacked. The laundry is folded and put away, lunches are packed, lessons are planned, emails are piled up in the inbox ready for responses...sometime. We are ready to go back to school and will appreciate with renewed rigor each day that we can learn in person!
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