While Homeschooling My Sons, I Learned More Than I Taught

We are not even halfway done with this calendar year, yet 2020 will certainly be remembered in history as a watershed. Even if nothing else eventful happens in the remaining six months, it will stand right next to other life-changing years like 1914, 1929, 1968 and 2001. The only thing we are certain of at this moment is that the world has indelibly changed. For how long and to what extent, and for better or for worse, we do not yet know. For the rest of our lives, however, we will talk about what we did, saw and experienced during this tumultuous year.

My last work contract expired at the end of February, right as we were all starting to learn that COVID-19 was going to be a serious global pandemic. As March began to unfold, each day brought an increase in the number of people infected, and the body count began to mount. Hospitals began to fill up as other societal dominoes began to fall. Bars and restaurants closed. Organized sports at all levels postponed or canceled their games. Workers were harshly and abruptly classified into two camps – essential and non-essential. The non-essentials were told to stay home, and if possible, work from there. The essentials were told to report to work. Those who couldn’t work from home AND were considered non-essential were either furloughed or fired. And students, from pre-kindergarten to graduate schools, were told not to show up for class. With the unrelenting and determined grip of a starving boa constrictor, the grim, horrifying realization that the world was changing dramatically, and fast, began to squeeze around everyone.

While I continued job prospecting, I found that I could carve out several hours of the day to focus on home schooling my sons, seven-year-old Max, who was in first grade, and Alex, a five-year old in pre-kindergarten. Starting in mid-March and going all the way through the first week of June, every week, from Monday to Friday, from 10AM to 3PM, our dining room table transformed into “Dappy Dappy School” (the nickname my boys have for me).

From the beginning, I set out to establish some form of normalcy and cadence. I wrote a daily schedule and posted it on the wall, and for the most part, we stuck to it. Each day started off with a “Question of the Day,” and at the end of the school day, we would find out the answer. It didn’t matter what the question was, but they each had to come up with one every morning. On several occasions I brought in my retired parents or brother to research and give the answer. I would text them what the questions were, and at the close of the school day, we would Facetime to get the answers. Questions ranged from why do people poop (to which my dad gave a great five-minute explanation on how the digestive system works) to what’s the difference between a sea and an ocean? We had a lot of fun with this exercise, and it was a great way for them to nurture their curiosity and engage with our quarantined family members.

Some days were great. Others were a slog. Most, however, were a little of both. While I will definitely not pretend my sons got a full serving of education, I do feel that we accomplished quite a bit. I saw Max go from adding and subtracting simple problems to memorizing most of the multiplication chart up to 12 and solving basic algebra equations. At first, Alex could only identify and articulate a few letters of the alphabet – by the final week, he could read, write and speak the entire alphabet and was beginning to put together simple words. We learned about the cultures and people of Japan and Ecuador. We learned why Pluto was not considered a planet anymore and how to create static electricity and how it affects its surrounding environment.

So, what are some of the things I learned outside of the schoolwork we did? I learned a lot about my sons and how the learning process works. I learned about patience and perseverance. I learned how to better adapt and be more flexible. And I learned how important teachers and our schools are! My fingers are fervently crossed that we are going to be able to send our children back to school in the Fall.

Summer break is now here, and like everyone else, we will try to have as normal a summer as possible. I am back to the grind of finding a full-time job (if you know of any opportunities please let me know!), but I will always look back at this time and the experience of home schooling my sons with a combination of pride and disbelief. It was one of the greatest things I have ever done… that I hope to never have to do again!