2020 has brought us many new things. Not least a whole new lexicon: pandemic, lockdown, self isolating, social distancing, family bubbles, furloughing, flattening the curve, blursday, covideo parties, zoom bombing, mask shaming and (my favourite) covidiot!
More importantly, it has brought to many the opportunity to find their ‘inner teacher’ as families around the world take to home schooling their children.
In our family, for the last few months, I have been helping to online homeschool my niece, Freya, aged 10. Fortunately I didn’t have to help with the maths (!) as Freya did that every morning with her mother, along with reading. I taught ‘special projects’ every afternoon. This covered a broad and eclectic range of subjects from Greek myths, sustainable energy, Haikus and Tankas, world oceans… through to political portraits. Freya’s school set the subjects (in line with UK year 5 national curriculum) and provided material for us to use. I supplemented that with material I dug out from the dusty depths of my memory, as well as online.
If only the World Wide Web had been around forty plus years ago when I was 10! There is so much great information and many teaching tools available online. I particularly liked BBC Bitesize, DK Find Out! and National Geographic For Kids. Class preparation took me an hour or so each day, planning a mix of reading text, watching videos and interactive games and quizzes that Freya and I could do together online over a video call.
Here’s what Freya has to say about the whole thing:
“This year has been weird and complicated, working at home, social distancing, things being closed but I made the most of it… The best things have been, having more family meals and my teacher being my auntie, Susan. Every day we had about an hour call on Whatsapp and covered lots of different projects and learnt lots of different things. It was so fun talking to her because I haven’t seen her in a while! My favourite topic was probably learning about the different parts of flowers because I love flowers but didn’t know much about them, but now I know lots!”
Like Freya, I loved learning about flowers, especially as I could run around the garden with the phone taking pictures of different stamens, pistils, sepals and petals for us to study.
I confess I found the poetry a bit more challenging, but overall it was a fabulous experience and I learnt loads: some things long forgotten since my school days, and so re-learnt, and some things entirely new and fascinating. Perhaps finding more of my ‘inner learner’ than my ‘inner teacher’.
Above all, I just loved spending time with my niece, albeit online, and will cherish our shared learning together. Very special indeed. Thank you Freya!
Our formal classes have finished now for the summer holidays. Fortunately for Freya, she will be back at school from September, in the safe hands of proper teachers. Teachers who really know what they are doing and for whom I now have a whole new respect!
Susan and Freya, 19 July 2020
