eLearning

iPads. I love them, and I hate them. Before the pandemic, we owned three iPads that were generally out of battery and shoved in corners until the next car trip. I have somehow maintained a device-free home, with the exception of 15 minute daily computer time per child. It is what works for my brain and our house, and I realize other families do it differently, so no judgment is really every passed (except if I have to be honest, I'll never understand handing kids iPads in the car for 30 minute or less errands).

The day the kids came home with their school iPads for a 3-week eLearning stint, my heart sank a bit because immediately they begged me to play games and search for songs. I felt overwhelmed by the idea of adding more devices, I was already sad about Emilie leaving, and I just couldn't pull myself together, so I just let them have their iPads whenever they asked. I watched them overuse them with no purpose at all, and my brain hit panic mode. I knew that I had to figure things out quickly.

It's been three weeks now, and the funny thing is that those first few days of quarantine were not indicative of what our life actually looks like. Phew. I pulled myself together, wrote up a schedule with designated iPad time, found a place to store the iPads when not in use, and started regulating our new normal. The kids only have "recess" iPad time, meaning they get to play games or search for videos for 30 minutes a day. It happens right after lunch, just like a normal recess, and they always have the option, except on Sundays. iPads are not allowed on Sundays. (It has been increasingly harder to keep Sundays feeling different than the other days.) And the thing is, the kids, knowing they have the 30-minute block after lunch, don't always use it. They often choose to draw or do legos, but the option is always there.

In the end, I am grateful for the iPads because they allow the kids the opportunity to do school work at the same time and finish at the same time. Thankfully, the teachers chose to use the same platform for learning, so I'm not switching platforms with each kid. (I've heard of that happening with some of my friends, and I would just cry.) eLearning is not homeschool. I roll my eyes at all the memes about parents becoming homeschool teachers. We are not homeschool teachers. eLearning is so different than the curriculum I create for my kids during the summer, mostly because I don't have any control over the subject matter or assignments. I am just the enforcer, which actually sucks a lot. No teacher wants to only be looked at as an enforcer. Teachers are also creators and mentors. I talked to someone yesterday who said that quarantine shows society how little we actually need teachers. I am disgusted by that thought. eLearning has actually reminded me (not that I really needed the reminder) how much we NEED teachers. How much my kids NEED teachers other than me! I am grateful for the teachers who were suddenly plunged into a world of technology and forced to create lesson plans to foster learning from a distance. Are the lessons ones that I would actually teach my kids? Probably not. I tend to stay closer to reading/writing, art and science. I need these the teachers' plans, as frustrating as they may be from time to time, to teach my kids about decimals, circumference, zoology, and social studies. So eLearning...it's not for the faint of heart. I don't sit down (well, I never actually sit down) from 8-3 because all day long I hear, "Mom, I need you! Mom, I don't get this! Mom, what does this say? Mom, what does this mean? Mom, I don't want you to tell me what to do! Mom, you're wrong! Mom, that's not how my teacher taught me to do that! Mom, didn't you go to school?" And so on and so on.

My patience wears thin. Sometimes it runs out. I recently instituted a 30-minute "no touching or talking to mom" time, which has only worked twice. Timmy, you know. He kinda doesn't understand that he can't come poke me in the face or stomach if I'm lying on my bed under my weighted blanket. But it's not so bad most of the time. We're making it, the kids are still learning, and I am actually learning too.