Hurray for Homeschoolers!

I'm a former homeschool mom (my son is in his 20s) and I wanted to reach out to support all the families that suddenly find themselves homeschooling. You can do it!

Have faith in yourselves, love your children, and teach them self-care and working together in tough times, as I'm sure you already are trying to do.

I didn't have a teaching degree, so if you don't either, don't worry. You'll get through this. You already teach your children so much, every day, just by being who you are.

So take care of yourself, because your wellbeing serves everyone, and teaches your children to care for themselves and respect you.

Be gentle with yourself and with them, then be forgiving when you forget to be gentle. It will happen. You are teaching your kids how to grieve, how to cope without having answers, how to adapt even if not always gracefully, how to be kind with ourselves and others in challenging times.

I am so proud of you. You're doing your best, and that's different for everyone, and may change day by day or minute by minute. It's okay.

You're not alone, we're all in this together. Just don't forget to allow time for recess, naps, gym, music and art, no matter what ages are in your family, and that means adults too.

Mindfulness has been proven to be effective, including in schools, for reducing anxiety and behavior problems in kids of all ages, so your homework is to breathe, pause, and be in the moment. A tough assignment, I know, but with practice it gets easier. If you can even find something to be grateful for, you get extra credit. A fun game is the Gratitude Alphabet, where you find something you're grateful for that begins with each letter.

You can find more on the Gratitude Alphabet in another Essential Arts blog post "10 Simple Things that Really Help."And you can reach out to me if you need a cheerleader, because you're doing a tough job, and you're doing a good job. Thank you!

This post originally appeared on the Vershire listserv on March 20, 2020