For My Family, Virtual School is Virtually Amazing

Unpopular opinion here…I really enjoy virtual school/homeschooling my kids. 

I enjoy being able to spend more time with them. 

I enjoy being able to see what they’re capable of. 

I enjoy being the one to praise them when they accomplish something I know was difficult. 

I enjoy not having to sit in carpool lane traffic with a screaming baby whose nap time was interrupted. 

I realize that I have a luxury afforded to me that many families do not. My husband is the breadwinner in our family, and I stay home full time with our children. When the pandemic hit and schools closed, nothing really changed for us except the breakfast rush and carpool and school events ended and the full-time mom care began.

Don’t get me wrong, when I first learned my children would be with me full time again, I was frustrated and stressed. I had JUST gotten accustomed to having kid-free time a few times a week where I could actually sit in silence and procrastinate folding laundry or not share my lunch. I had so many more questions than answers about how this was all going to work. 

What was I going to teach them?

How was I going to teach them?

How would I teach them together since they don’t learn the same way?

How long would this last? 

It’s been almost 10 months since this all began and despite my initial fears and stresses, I think it’s actually been an incredible experience. When my kids go to school, I don’t get a big picture of what they’re learning, what they like to do, or how they learn best. I don’t get to cheer them on as they work through a problem. I don’t get to watch the progress they make unfold right in front of me. 

When my kids actually GO to school, we don’t have a lot of the flexibility that being home has afforded us. Even though most of the activities we enjoyed when they were home full time are places we don’t go to right now, we can still spend all day outside when it’s nice or have a lazy day when we’re all exhausted and need a day off.

Another perk of virtual school/homeschooling my kids is that we can make our own rules. School outside? Yep. Spending more time on science experiments or coloring than on math? Yep. Taking a brain break when we learn something hard? Absolutely. One on one attention when a problem arises they can’t solve? Definitely. 

Virtual schooling has not been easy and it requires a lot of time many of us don’t have. Whether you love virtual school or hate it vehemently and hope it ends sooner rather than later, enjoy this extra time with your kiddos. Every day they get a little bigger and need us a little less. They’re also getting smarter and soon they’ll have homework that goes beyond our capabilities. 

I know my kids will eventually have to transition back to classroom life, but we’re going to worry about crossing that bridge when it’s time. 

Do you love or hate virtual school? 

 

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Jess Graefe
I'm a wife, foster mama, dog lover, amateur chef, instagram fanatic, starbucks addict, nurse turned photographer. I grew up in the Northern Virginia area and moved to Oklahoma to attend Oklahoma Christian University in 2008. I married my ruggedly-handsome high school sweetheart in 2014, started my own photography business in 2015, and opened our home for foster kiddos in 2016. I enjoy baking, loving on my fur babies, Thunder games, traveling, and date nights with my husband! I am so excited to share the ups and downs, highs and lows, heartbreaks and victories of foster parenting with you all. While we don’t yet have any permanent kiddos of our own, we are so blessed to be able to provide a home for children that need one and to talk about that process here.

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