SD Week 1 - Figuring Out How to Homeschool

Our first week of Social Distancing was.... tricky.  The plan in Utah was for teachers to use the first two days of the week to plan schoolwork for children to complete over the next week and a half until (maybe) school returned to normal.  We planned our little Moab trip so that we would be able to get back in time to begin homeschool right after we got home.

Well, Wednesday started with a bang... or really, a shake.  Ben and I were starting our day when we felt a 5.7-magnitude earthquake at 7:09 that lasted for several seconds.  It originated near Magna and did some damage in the Salt Lake area, closing down the airport for a while and causing the Angel Moroni atop the SLC Temple to drop his trumpet.  We felt some aftershocks that morning and I just read in a Newsweek article that there were over 700 aftershocks were recorded from the time of the mainshock (I just learned that work) on March 18th and April 3rd.

Cat follows this funnyman on Instagram.
Since the Utah earthquake, there have also been significant earthquakes in Texas and Idaho.

Cat and Jack were both awake when the earthquake happened, and they both noticed it, but Eliza and Luke were asleep.  Eliza was quite disappointed that she missed it.  But when we talked about the earthquake that morning, Luke realized that the dream he'd had that a giant was shaking the house made sense.

After all of that, we took it easy at the house for a while, then I made the kids play outside while I went to the elementary school to pick up worksheet packets for the kids.

Hot Chocolate-Making

It was dinner time before the school work was finished for the day, but we decided to have a family movie night anyway, watching Mr. Bean's Holiday, which thoroughly entertained everyone.

We got an earlier start the next day and managed to finish school work before dinner, with Eliza finishing earlier than anyone else, even when taking breaks to make jewelry out of a $1 bill, and fake braces from a staple and some of Cat's orthodontic wax.  Luke decorated his new school folder with stickers, and I enjoyed seeing the kids help eachother with their work.

Friday was the day our ward FB group encouraged families to display art in their windows or on their sidewalks with the theme of "funny faces."  Eliza wrote out a couple of jokes, Jack made a page of emoji images and a cool shark, and Luke drew a squid.  The best part?  I was able to fulfil Luke's school requirement of reading one of my all-time-favorite children's novels, Winnie the Pooh, to the kids while they drew.

Friday was also our designated St. Patrick's Day Redo, since we usually carry out a few festivities and we'd been traveling on Actual St. Patrick's Day.  Jack didn't appreciate green milk, even if it accompanied Lucky Charms.  But everyone enjoyed shamrock waffles for dinner and Eliza's scavenger hunt that led to a pot-o-gold Jell-O.

On Friday we also came up with a Family Time Bucket List and made a poster to go on the door from the kitchen to the garage.  I didn't want to call it a quarantine bucket list; I'm trying to stay positive.

After three frustrating days of homeschool, I learned a few things and resolved to make some changes for the following week.

• I always liked the idea of homeschooling but suspected I wasn't cut out for it.  I was right.
• Avoid going to the bathroom at all costs: invest in Depends or consider avoiding consumption of all liquids before 4:00pm.  Every time I took a bathroom break, my marginally focused, tenuously progressing kids got completely derailed and I returned to find them completely engrossed in all manner of silliness, from which it took approximately 53 minutes to retrieve them.
• Sleeping in and hanging out in pajamas is fun, but we'll be more successful if we get up at a regular time and get dressed (even in the most pajama-like clothes we own) every day.
• Do not expect kids to be enthusiastic about "powering through" in the baseless hope that they'll appreciate finishing earlier.  Let them take breaks.  And give myself breaks too.  (During which I could use the bathroom.  Lightbulb.)
• Much-appreciated text messages from friends and family distract me from helping kids with schoolwork.  Airplane mode or focus mode during school time really makes it easier for all of us to focus.  (Putting the phone away completely is unrealistic since we need it to check emails from teachers and access online materials, etc.)