Due to the recent Coronavirus outbreak, many of our regular schedules are affected by the sheltering- in- place. As workplaces and schools are closed, adults and students have no other choice but to work from home. Although sheltering-in-place brings many struggles, it also has had an unexpected benefit for me.
Before the pandemic, I left the education of my children to the schools. Now I am taking charge of my children’s education. Although I wouldn’t want this to be a long-term solution, being in charge means I need to look at their assignments, be sure they are learning the new material, monitor their time, so they do their homework, and view the grades they receive. I am now learning about them and their academic strengths and weaknesses. I have four children, and they differ in what subjects they have mastered and in what subjects they need more help. For instance, my daughter struggles with her math homework. This shelter-in-place has benefited me because I can spend more time with my daughter as I share my knowledge of math and tutor her and encourage my other children to ask for help.
I have to ensure my kids get a good education regardless of being restricted to the house. Therefore, I am also instituting better study habits for my children. For instance, before the pandemic, my son would watch TV when he came home from school. He would leave homework until late at night. With the pandemic, I now insist he organizes his time and gets all his work done during the day, so we have evenings together. My son created a schedule for his school assignments so that he can complete his homework on time. This shelter-in-place has helped him learn how to schedule his time and lets me bond more with him and with my other children.
Finally, I am encouraging more reading for my children. Last year, my children rarely picked up a book to read outside of their regular schoolwork. Now they have more time on their hands, and they are not involved in sports or extracurricular activities. For instance, one night, I went into my daughter’s room, expecting that she would be on her phone, but she was reading. Doing more reading during the shelter-in-place has helped her and my other children, and it has also benefited me because I have time to read as well. My name is Vida, a mom of four, and it has been three years that I am taking ESL classes at Santa Rosa Junior College. This semester I am going to graduate from ESL.
