Our Experience with Remote Learning during Covid-19…

Ya’ll.  Just two more weeks.  Mamas hang in there.  Just two more weeks of remote learning before summer.  We can do this.  Help me to the finish line.  I don’t know about you but we have run out of steam (and tequila-ha ha). 

Don’t get me wrong; in the beginning I was kind of excited to have the opportunity to educate my children at home(I mean I am crafty and have a love of learning, so this should be fun, right?).  The idea of having more time as a family and to witness those light-bulb learning moments firsthand seemed all butterflies and rainbows.  We actually started a week early because I was so excited.  At first I planned themed assignments around their interests.  For example, the first week we explored a beach/ocean theme where we read books, took virtual field trips, made play dough shell fossil imprints, studied the ocean eco-system and did under the sea yoga sequences. We even had ocean themed stickers for the rewards chart.  We were owning this e-school thing.

Then week 2 came along and we received our actual e-learning assignments from their teachers.  It seemed like a lot but we eagerly took the challenge.  I mean if we had to be quarantined, at least this gave them a project and purpose daily.  My son and daughter got in on the planning, borrowing ideas from their own teachers, they requested we make a compliment jar and prize box.  I obliged (whatever it takes to get them motivated). 

When week 3 assignments came in, we all had the sobering realization that this was a little more serious than we bargained for.  As we worked with the teachers to fine-tune this new learning arrangement, we also began to lose some of our excitement.  By Week 4, the kids and I were no longer loving it.  Thankfully, Easter weekend came and saved us from some of the e-learning monotony-hallelujah.

Today, we are officially on week 7 and we are so over all of it.  We have virtual field tripped(to so many cool places), journal-ed, flat teacher adventured. We have hugged Georgia(more than she desires) and had a guest tiger and cheetah visit our living room. We have read books, puzzled, painted, and taken Lego challenges. We have walked, biked, swam, shot hoops and jumped on the trampoline a zillion times. We have enjoyed Go-Noodle and Cosmic Yoga. We planted seeds, had cooking classes and experienced cleaning chores. AND, we have I-Ready-ed, IXL-ed, Go Math-ed, Brain Pop-ed, and Zoom chatted until we can no more.   We are all just DONE. 

I never knew this e-learning would become a full-time job.  Now I know this is uncharted waters and that we are all just trying to make the best of a situation that none of us chose.  And while I appreciate this pause to soak up extra family time, I also have to say that it has been a difficult balance.  I find it hard to be the best I can be at wife, mom, career, teacher and self.  I don’t juggle as well as I would like.  In an effort to step away and reflect, I have concluded:

1.         I am thankful to have had the time and resources to put my work on the back-burner and devote myself to this time of e-learning with the kids.  Witnessing first hand just how their little minds are working and thriving is so rewarding.  (On the flip, I need to return to my work that actually provides an income for our family.)

2.         I am  torn over my stance on screen time.  I understand it is the way of the world(and the way of education at the moment) but at the same time studies on the damage of too much screen-time is very disturbing.  Also, if I’m honest, I need to save screen time(I-Pad apps and Nintendo games) for the times when mama needs a break.

3.         I realize even more just how much I appreciate their wonderful teachers who chose to be educators and do it so well.  (Though it will never equal your worth, you will be getting a special gift from me this year.)

4.         My kids and I need a break from each other.  Not for long.  Just a break and refresh. (a two week stay with their grandparents would be nice-hint hint)

For now, I will keep on juggling the balls of motherhood like the rest of you while I hope and wait for schools to open back up again.  The kids and I look forward to wrapping up these last two weeks of e-learning and not looking at a school-prescribed screen for at least two months!  We are ready to bust out of here!  We need adventure, the sea, the sun, road trips, hotels, restaurant meals and conversations “in-person” with friends and family. 

I am both excited and fearful to get back out there after quarantining for 7 weeks but we are ready to at least try.  How are you doing?  If these last weeks of remote learning have your sanity hanging on by a thread, see the list of ideas below. (Maybe you can find one or two that you have not tried yet.) Or maybe you have a new revelation after experiencing remote learning?  Please share; I would love to know.  For now, hang in there ladies!  You have got this.

Some resources that we have enjoyed during quarantine remote learning(most of these are free and target elementary age kids but many are enjoyable to all ages):

1. Go-Noodle (great to diminish excess energy when you can’t go outside)

2. Cosmic Yoga (I even enjoyed doing these)

3. Storyline Online (celebrities read favorite children’s books) and Story Time from Space (astronauts reading books:)

4. Virtual Field Trips (Here is a link to an awesome list by We Are Teachers. We have also had great luck on You Tube.)

5. Cooking classes (delish.com is offering free digital cooking classes for kids every week day)

6. Take a lunch break and Doodle with Mo Willems (we also love these step by step drawing books by Usborne)

7. Lego fun (make a Lego self-portrait, do a Lego challenge or practice symmetry with Legos)

8. Arts and Crafts projects (there are far too many to list; see my Pinterest board for ideas)

9. Car wash at home (Melissa & Doug has a cute kit)

10. Cleaning chores (i.e. dust, load dishwasher, sweep, vacuum, make bed, put clothes away)

11. Go on a Scavenger hunt- my two love these! (here is an indoor one; here’s a nature one and here is a cute neighborhood version)

12. Write letters to loved ones (here’s a cute keepsake flamingo card we did)

13. Jigsaw puzzles and board games (Crocodile Creek and Peaceable Kingdom make some of our favorites)

14. Plant a small garden (veggies, flowers or even a butterfly garden)

15. Camp in your yard (or just make s’mores and go back inside)

16. Have a scooter ride through the neighborhood. (we have gotten our money’s worth out of this one)

17. Plan an at-home end-of-school celebration (we are always looking for an excuse to have cake)

18. Check out the links below for the kid products that keep us busy around here.

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Orchids and Silver Linings…

I have always had an attraction to orchids.  The beautiful bouquet of exotic blooms on such a dainty stem with these quirky roots that have a mind of their own; they get me every time.

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Flowers have always refreshed my soul, so it is no surprise that orchids captivated me.  In Alabama, I always bought them to enjoy inside the home.  I loved displaying them in the perfect container to show off their magical beauty to guests.  They also inspired me as I would walk past going about my daily tasks. I loved that their blooms lasted much longer than cut flowers.  The only problem was that after their first glorious show, I could never get them to re-bloom again.  Impatient and frustrated with the inability to get the plants to re-bloom, I would regretfully toss them.  It was not until recently that I have a whole new appreciation for orchids.

Since moving to Florida almost two years ago, I kept hearing how this was the perfect orchid growing climate.  With the temperate weather and humidity here, supposedly the orchids would naturally grow in the wild.  With this new motivation, I began moving my spent orchids outside after blooming.  I would put them in various spots in hopes of giving them a new life; some under the lanai and some under a tree where there was dappled sunlight and rain.  It was just an experiment really.  I never tended to them(other than an occasional splash of water when I remembered).  No fertilizer.  Nothing really.  I practically forgot about them.

Until one morning recently, when I walked outside to find the most unexpected surprise.  There she was in all her splendor.  My neglected orchid, that had been dormant for a year or more, had practically transformed overnight.  Out of nowhere, there was this pioneer bloom and all these tiny buds to follow suit.   I was stopped in my tracks. 

A re-birth. Beautiful positivity.  At no better time than I could have planned or predicted, she miraculously came through.  A silver lining of hope.   

• For more orchid inspiration: Check out the The Tiny Orchid Co. on Instagram(who wants to take a road trip???). And if you are ever in Sarasota, definitely visit Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. It is magical.