It has been well over a month since we began online/homeschooling our son, Jasper. It has been a REALLY intense experience juggling his school, working at home and everything else. At first it felt like having a newborn again and it was an accomplishment just to get to take a shower that day. If I wasn't there to constantly monitor him he would get stuck on something and just sit there stuck.
Luckily I have THE best husband in the universe. We make a great team and together we came up with a plan that is working. We take turns being there to help when Jasper gets stuck. We each have subjects that we are better at helping with. Mine are math, science and language arts. I've dusted off the nether regions of my brain to re-learn things like balancing chemical and algebraic equations and remember parts of speech like misplaced participle phrases, infinitives and independent and subordinate clauses. Yikes!
In the last week or so something has definitely shifted and it's starting to not be so intense anymore. I seriously was starting to wonder if it would ever get easier and kept reminding myself that I can handle anything for just a few months. Jasper is finally being more self motivated. We don't need to babysit him as much to make sure he stays on track. I am so impressed with the work he is doing. When we first started he always did the bare minimum. His answers to questions would always be super short. Now he elaborates and is more thorough. He has always struggled with writing and now can write an essay in a reasonable amount of time. I don't know if we will choose to do this again next year but learning to be self motivated and thorough is invaluable.
One other positive thing that has come out of this experience is I've somehow managed to be really focused with and completely appreciate my work time. I am full of new ideas and good things are in the works. I've been trying to work smarter, not harder. I think that is my new motto. That and ....when you want something, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. But that is another story.....
