I took the above picture one of the days the kids were home and I was working from home as well. It is a time they call “mommy school time.” You see I tinker, well consider seriously consider homeschooling my kids every so often. Actually scrap that I consider offering my kids a home based education ALL THE TIME. The days I am home with them, having breakfast, letting them play then gathering together for “mommy school” fill up my cup with so much joy. This is in stark comparison to the days when we are wolfing down breakfast, shuffling on snow suits in the dead of Canadian winters to get to “traditional school” before the first bell rings.
I am a believer in a crockpot childhood. A slow childhood. One that is not rushed. Where we stop and gaze at the clouds and organize them into patterns. I feel a home based education offers kids this and so much more. It allows them to pursue interests they love. It allows them the freedom to play and have long moments of uninterrupted time to create, think etc. As opposed to staggered classes being interrupted my bathroom breaks and half hour recesses on tarmacked playgrounds.
Enter screens in schools. If the traditional school model is already making me wary now you have to contend with the fact that a lot of learning is happening using lots of technology – which do not get me wrong is beneficial I just thing it has its place. Not mention why is half of Silicon Valley sending their kids to low tech schools? Screens in schools is such a contentious topic. Screens in general are just hard to talk about. But now to be having screen time battles both at home and at school – I mean we as parents do not stand a chance. Teachers are leaving the profession in droves and one of the reasons they cite is the constant battle with kids to “put away phones.”
I say all that to say, parents are at such an unfair disadvantage. But there is hope, there is always hope. There is a great organization called FairPlay and one of their Work Groups is the Screens in Schools. They are working hard folks, to retain screens in schools as a tool. They have drafted letters that teachers can present to their Superintendents. Lots of great resources. You can acess (and join the Work Group) here.
In the meantime, I will continue to have “mommy school” for as long as I can. But like I always say in workshops, trust your gut. Parents have a super power I call “the knowing.” Lets not wait for all the science to come back because we already know when a system is failing us and our kids.