Homeschooling — The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Right now, my son is poring over his French exercises, preparing for a big test on Tuesday. Whether he will still be going to school on Tuesday or whether we'll be back to full-time distance learning is still up in the air. We're preparing for both.
Homeschooling has been an unexpected challenge during the pandemic. But it has also been a privilege. Normally, homeschooling is not a legally available education option in Germany. I get to try something that would otherwise not have been possible without a move abroad.
I can't really say that homeschooling has been all negative, but I can't say it has been all positive either. It's been a real game-changer in some areas and a huge energy drain in others.
The Good:
My son struggles with ADD and being in a normal school environment takes up a lot of his processing capacity. He has noticed that he can focus better at home and that he has an easier time engaging with the material. He is also visibly more relaxed and balanced.
Sean is a teenager. He likes to be up later and sleep longer than would be possible during normal school. He is really enjoying that he does not have to be up so early and all in all has more learning time that happens while he is actually "awake".
Homeschooling has given him the opportunity to catch up on some material and work more at his own pace. Sean is slow with some things so, during class, he rarely finishes the material. Being able to take a bit more time with things has definitely improved his learning.
An unexpected upside was the increase in written assignments. Sean's writing has improved a lot both in terms of quality and speed just by doing it so much.
At home, Sean has access to more than one way of learning. If he does not understand something the way it is presented in the book or on the teacher's material, he can look for other sources. He likes reading different versions of an explanation and also has a few favourite "explain stuff to me" Youtubers.
I notice much earlier when Sean is struggling with a topic and can intervene to clear up blocks much faster. Whenever he is stuck, it is usually because something is unclear. Getting rid of these small things early prevents countless hours of him just staring at the ceiling.
Having a digital way to talk to teachers has helped Sean reach out more often and ask more questions. He likes e-mailing his teachers with questions and as far as I can see, this has also "bled" into his in-person communication. He talks to his teachers more often now.
Some teachers really stepped up their game during the digital classroom time and Sean learned much more than he might otherwise have.
The Bad:
Schools are woefully under organised and under digitalised and improvement is really, really slow. Even until the very end of the digital schooling time, not even half of the teachers were reliably giving zoom classes according to the schedule or using the digital platforms provided.
Technical infrastructure was a mess and still is a mess. We’re juggling two meeting platforms, one e-learning platform, three chat programs, and e-mail.
There is no clear direction for teachers, students, and parents. Everyone does whatever they think is best. The last time I checked, teachers were not even talking among themselves to establish standards within the school. Everyone is waiting for directions from "somewhere up the ladder" that never came.
There was no guidance regarding how to organise themselves for students at all. I had to teach Sean everything from "how do you scan something on your phone and get it into your Google Drive" to "How do you even start to have some semblance of a schedule". There as no direction whatsoever from the school.
The Ugly:
At least half of Sean's teachers never made it onto the digital learning platform or only sent sporadic assignments. There was no feedback on the assignments and no further commentary. Basically, it was just a bunch of homework that was dumped on the kids.
Even though everyone was trying to adjust to a completely new situation, the expectations regarding performance stayed the same. Many teachers were not teaching anymore but still expected the same results and graded to the same standards.
Filling in for teachers who were not teaching and also having a normal day job with normal hours was a lot to handle for me. It made for some very rough weeks and it would not have been sustainable long-term. This was the first time in my life that I ever flirted with burnout.
There was a general lack of empathy and communication on the school's part. Information only came retroactively, none of it was practical, all of it sounded very naggy. I and many other students and their parents would have appreciated some more encouraging words instead of threats and reminders ("Please be reminded that digital classes are mandatory!!!")
What I found hardest:
The hardest part about homeschooling for me isn't the material, the teaching, or the organising. It's the emotional toll it takes. I got very wrapped up in Sean's success or lack thereof and found it very hard to set healthy boundaries towards teachers. It took me several weeks before I had the courage to just write Sean's class teacher and give her an overview about what was and was not possible to do at home. She took it well and even though things did not improve, I felt better "not doing everything".
What I loved most:
I loved getting a first-row seat for Sean's progress. He has come a long, long way from the completely disorganised, disengaged student he was at the beginning of the last homeschooling period. He shows up to do something by himself every day now. Sure, he still needs a lot of help, especially with organizing and administrative stuff, but he has learned a ton of skills that will benefit him a lot at university or any other path he chooses. He has a much better understanding of what he needs in order to be able to make progress and he is much more proactive about implementing that. For example, the mobile phone never gets to sit at the work table anymore.
