Homeschooling in a tiny two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment is hard. Heck, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. However, I am proud to say that we approached a lot of our challenges with grace, wisdom, horrible mom and dad puns, and prayer.
How It All Started
One day in early August 2023, Miss Lia, our old landlord at The Chase Apartments, surprised us. She brought over a starter set of school supplies — spiral notebooks, crayons, pencil boxes — with a sweet note for our kids tucked into the top of the crayon box bundle (it was a bundle of four, one for each kid).
My husband and I didn't know what to say. It turns out she had left over supplies from the back to school rally she threw in the complex several days after he and I settled into our humble abode with the little monsters... kids... the little kids.👀🤫🤭
Anyway, this was a super kind thing of her to do. What she did reminded us that sometimes the support we need shows up unexpectedly. I remembered planning an appreciation basket with my husband to show her how grateful we were for the little school items.
Unfortunately, she wasn't there anymore, and this broke our hearts. 🥺😭😢
My mom and sister also helped us out when we needed it. My sister would sometimes bring over clothes for all the kids. She and my nieces and nephews would sneak in random old toys, books, and fancy activities for their little cousins to enjoy. My mom would drop off useful (and old school) homeschooling material to help our kids stay on track with their learning.
Making the Most of What We Had
So, fun fact, if you have old phones, tablets, and laptops, you can use those items to homeschool your kid. My husband and I switched phone a lot during the pandemic. Some phones were considered "old" and "unusable" according to the new carrier. We would told those devices to the side in our sock drawer and finance new phones at an affordable price.
Of course, we can't keep doing that now.
One evening, I talked to my husband about the kids using these devices to learn. He thought about it and gave me the green light after careful consideration (hooray)!
He and I mapped out certain times the kids would use the tech and how. We eventually called this "tech time". During the weekday, our two older kids (Melody and Annette) would each get one phone for about 90 minutes to three hours. Some days, they would read fiction books or color at the table.
The younger kids (Junior and AhnLee) would take turns watching educational shows like VideoSmarts with Teachin' Teddy on YouTube. During the weekends, we would give them longer blocks of tech time with regular breaks. However, they would have to be on their best behavior to have longer tech time during the weekend.
Our living room and bedroom became a little tech hub. The kiddos would bounce between ABCMouse art projects, creative stories and music sessions on Khan Academy Kids, and fun free MathGames just to keep them thinking.
It wasn't perfect, but it was ours (and it worked).
Learning to Trust the Process
This might sound cheesy, but I thought if I told someone I was homeschooling my kids, I would get in legal trouble (truancy). I received so much pressure from my family that I didn't know if what I was doing was right for these kids, or if I was setting them up for potential failure.
Look, I'll be very honest with you...
I stressed out a lot! It made it hard for me to focus on what actually mattered. I had to work with myself each day, to remind myself to focus on getting my house in order with my husband. It took some time, but we got it down (mostly).
My husband's my biggest support system. He showed me how to tune everyone and everything out and focus on what I can control. He helped me remember my mission statement: to focus on building a sturdy foundation.
Advice to New Homeschooling Families
I can't tell you which way you should go. The best advice I can give new homeschooling families is to know your worth and focus on foundational lessons. It doesn't matter if you see your family taking the child-led learning route or not. What matters is focusing on the foundational mechanics based on your child's strengths and weaknesses.
Also, do your research on homeschooling laws in your district, country, parish...whatever you guys call that crap. Many families are at high risk of truancy if you don't know your laws and the district takes you to court for not properly notifying your child's school or the school district.
Final Thoughts
The world is changing super fast. The strategies that worked for us as kids won't work for them now. In fact, we're raising kids who will need to understand technology earlier than we ever did.
You don't need to have the perfect homeschool. All you need is the will to make things work. Stay flexible and focus on what you can control in that very moment and moving forward.
Remember, even the smallest act of kindness can light the way. Just make sure your kiddo doesn't eat the crayons in the crayon box, though.
Until next time...
