"It's time to say 'Hello', 'G'day', kei te pēhea koe?"
Term 2 begins across New Zealand today and a lot of parents and caregivers are feeling the pressure of making this shit work! Our Prime Minister said it perfectly when she acknowledged that this was a difficult situation for the entire globe; something that no one in our lifetime has ever experienced. Parents aren't expected to get it all perfect, we just need to find our way through it, together.
When it comes to schooling, our expectations for our kids are pretty straight-forward and we make it known to them, 'Try your best at everything and do it without a shitty attitude'.
When John and I were at school, we had a lot of experience with kids who thought they were better than everyone else, including their teachers, so we put a lot of effort into ensuring our children don't take horrible attitudes to school. We're also well aware that the pressure to 'do well' placed on children by their parents, can also be harmful. I'm always reminding our kiddos before their school reports come out, "The only thing that could disappoint us is if your teacher says you're not kind at school". -- Yes, we're THOSE parents. That said, it's no surprise to anyone that we had every intention of approaching term two with the idea that we would treat it as if it were an extended holiday period, with access to educational material and activities from their teachers, should they be interested.
Our main goal was that we didn't want our kids (or us) to feel overwhelmed during a time when the entire world is overwhelmed and scared. We needed to know that, above everything else, our children aren't going to bed with an unnecessary amount of fear and anxiety.
So you'll understand our shock when our kids began asking when they could start doing school work again.
Our life has stayed, somewhat, the same as what it was pre-lockdown. We've done that on purpose because our children, like most, thrive in a structured environment that feels familiar to them -- school holidays are never fun for any of us when we start throwing around later bedtimes and random meal times. This is how 'Back to School' is looking for us during the Covid-19 lockdown..
1. BLOCK SCHEDULE SYSTEM -- How we plan our day
I got this idea from Jordan Page over on 'Fun, Cheap or Free' a couple of years ago, and have been scheduling our days with the use of this system ever since.
Basically, our day is divided into blocks of time. For our current situation, we've divided it into 2-hourly blocks starting from 7am and ending at 7pm, which is displayed on a big whiteboard in our kitchen. However, we only have the daily schedule on our whiteboard; I schedule the week in my digital planner on the iPad and then pull the iPad out each night to figure out what the following day will look like. If it were only me, the iPad would be fine. But we need a visual for John and the kids as well.
Our 'Morning Block' or '7am - 9am' is all the things that need to be done before the kids start the 'learning' part of their day: breakfast, make their beds, get dressed, brush their teeth, do a quick tidy up of their things if it's needed; that kind of stuff.
We also include a small list of things which John and I need to have done before 9am: breakfast dishes, laundry away, etc.
Our next block is 9am - 11am.
At this point, the kids should be all ready to get started, so they will gather on the couch to watch the morning video from their teacher and find out what kind of activities their teachers have planned for them. After 10 minutes, we know what each child has the opportunity to work through for the day and we split the kids up; one on the iPad, one on the computer. We once had iPads for each of the kids.. we decided it wasn't the greatest.. so we're a 'one iPad' family now.
90 minutes of solid work and it's time for morning tea.
11am - 1pm, we're back into school work.
Now, when I say 'school work', it's not solely pen-to-paper kind of work. It's educational games, making a video about something special or exploring the garden and taking some photos of what they find. They have different apps for maths and reading which feel like fun games, so it's not like we're on their case all morning to stay focused.
Another 90 minutes and it's time for lunch. At this point, the kids are done for the day.
Having previously homeschooled, we're familiar with how the kids learn, where they struggle and need a little extra guidance, and where they're confident, and can be left to complete an activity on their own.
We're also aware that, what may take 6 hours at school, isn't going to take as long at home.
Unlike in a classroom environment, we're not needing to stop a class of 25+ kids and explain what we're doing next. Everything is one on one, so we're moving through material much faster than they would in class. So I'm not at all concerned to be cutting the educational portion of their day short.
The next two blocks, 1pm - 3pm and 3pm - 5pm are 'Free Time' for the kids, which is 'Work Time' for me.
This is where the kids might go play out on the playground, ride their bikes, play the PlayStation, or pull out the arts and craft drawer. If the weather is miserable, John might watch a movie with them.
This is how we have ended every day since the lockdown began and how we usually spend each day after picking them up from school.
For me, at the moment, I'm using this time to write blog posts, update my bridal guide, work on some of the systems we use for client management.. all the things I would usually be staying up late to do.
Pre-lockdown, I would also use this time to edit, contact couples and vendors, order albums, etc. but, obviously, I don't currently have any sessions to work on!
At 2:30pm, we have afternoon tea, and then at 4:30pm, as controversial as this may be, we have dinner!
Growing up, my dad always said, "Why wait until a certain time to have tea when you can just have it when you're hungry?" So we aim to have dinner early so that it keeps the evening nice and calm and no one is rushing or getting frustrated (ie. ME!).
The next block, 5pm - 7pm, is focused on the kids' bedtime routine, which includes supper.
Supper makes sense to us. We have dinner at 4:30pm, which would be enough for me until breakfast, but we're not incredibly strict with our kiddos when it comes to eating dinner (that's another story for another blog post) so I like to offer them a light meal, and usually a mug of warm milk, before they go to bed. Since we started doing this, the kids are sleeping much better, waking up less moody, and dinner isn't as stressful because we know that the kids are being offered food right through the day, so they're not going to bed hungry.
The kids are in bed by 7:30pm, every night. This is regardless of whether it's school holidays or the weekend.. they just don't do too well with a 'laxed' bedtime routine. For every 'block' John and I also have tasks we need to get done within that block.
Currently, it's a lot of cleaning frequently touched surfaces and wiping down the iPad, computer, and controllers. But this might also include grocery shopping, housework, or yard work.
2. Educational Apps & TV Channels
Like Australia, New Zealand are also launching TV Education Channels, both in English and te reo Māori.
Personally, I'm so incredibly excited because I'm going to have Suzy Cato back on my screen!
Most 90's kids who grew up in New Zealand will know the 'You & Me' host and, now that us 90's kids are all grown up, we get to experience a little piece of nostalgia as Suzy takes the screen again. Let me take you back to circa 1996..
So, of course, I know my children are in good hands with one of the best Australians New Zealand has ever claimed!
Along with the New Zealand government launching some great new resources, our educators are doing some extraordinary work for children and their whānau.
At school, our children use SeeSaw in class. It's a great way for parents to stay informed and up-to-date, as well as see what our kiddos have been up to that day.
With the new 'Distance Learning' approach to education, our kiddos are receiving their work via an app called 'SeeSaw' which is seriously awesome!
They each have their own login details for the app, where they can sign in and see the list of work they have for the day, along with a video from their teachers to talk through the activities and offer encouragement.
As the kids complete their work, they submit it to their teachers where it can be 'marked' which is more so, 'checked to see if a student needs additional guidance or help in that area' than it is actually 'graded'.
Our school, like many others, are encouraging families to take a relaxed approach to education at the moment, with the understanding that this is an incredibly stressful time and we're not expected to do it all.
SeeSaw has also been amazing for keeping the lines of communication open for teachers and families.
I use it to spam the kids' teachers with messages of how awesome they are and how much we appreciate them, but it's mostly to keep everyone on the same page with what the kids are learning.
The kids are also using 'Sumdog' which is a maths app, and 'Epic!', a reading app. Both of these they've used as fun games to play on the iPad but their teachers will also set it as an activity for them to complete as part of their work for the day.
3. Speaking more Te reo Māori
John and I take a night class at Toi Ohomai in Te Reo Māori.
I did the course last year but had to stop after my first stroke. When I recovered and found my 'new normal', I decided to go back and John wanted to join me. With the lockdown, we're now doing classes via Zoom, which has been incredibly entertaining.
I'm at a slight advantage because I'm Māori and did some schooling here in New Zealand before we moved to Australia in the late 90's.
John, on the other hand, is Australian through and through, and didn't have the pleasure of learning the 'Colour Song' or basic Māori phrases many New Zealanders grew up with.
To help John learn, I started using more phrases at home and referring to objects in te reo Māori, rather than in English.
Our kiddos are little sponges, with Carter, our 3-year-old, picking it all up so quickly that he responds to everything with 'Āe' now ('Yes'); "Āe, I want some..", "Āe, I'm tired."..
The common phrases or words in our house are currently:
Kua mutu. -- Finished
*Used both, as a question, 'Kua mutu?'.. 'Finished?'.. and as an answer, 'Āe, kua mutu' ..'Yes, finished.'
Kaua! -- Don't!
E puta ki waho. -- Get outside.
Kei hea te/ngā (the) taku/aku (my) tō/ō (your) __________? -- Where is the/my/your __________?
Maranga mai. -- Get up.
Haere mai ki te kai. -- Come eat.
And of course, two phrase we've been using a lot around the world,
Kia haumaru te noho. -- Stay Safe.
Horoia ō ringaringa. -- Wash your hands.
We use so much more than just the above words and phrases. I try my best to use it so much that it becomes second nature to yell, "Kaua!", or greet the kids in the morning with "Ata mārie e te tau" (Good morning, my darling).
There is also some te reo Māori incorporated into the kids' learning at school, so we really like being able to ensure they have a thorough understanding of the language and how certain words are used.
4. 'Winging it'
The final part of what this period looks like for us.. 'winging it'.
Sometimes I don't know what I'll make for lunch, "Don't worry, I'll wing it."
Don't know how to use one of the apps, 'wing it'. Not really sure how to 'adult' during this period of life.. 'WING IT!'
It's a really uncertain time for so many families at the moment and the best advice I could offer;
'If it starts to become overwhelming, let a few things slide while you get back on track.'
I often hear people suggest putting housework on the back burner when life gets overwhelming. For me, when my house is a mess, life feels more overwhelming, so when I feel like it's getting a bit much, I look at what I can control in that moment, like a few dishes, and let anything else, like our meal plan for the following week, just slide away.
Wherever you are in the world, however you're approaching this very unique time, I hope you're well and successfully 'winging it'.
Erin Michele Thomson ∙ Tauranga Photographer ∙ info@erinmichele.co.nz
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