This plague has forced parents into a position many of them don’t want to be in: adjuncts to their children’s education.  But they are not teachers, not in the sense that trained teachers are. They’re not even teachers in the sense that homeschooling parents are.  This is a bold statement with which you may disagree.  And who is it coming from?  A person trained as an attorney, not as a teacher.

No, I don’t have any school age children now.  Yes, I have homeschooled my children.  I should say “I homeschooled my child.”  I home schooled my eldest for kindergarten and for sixth grade.  Both times, I had compelling reasons to take on the responsibility and role of home teacher.  I made the decision willingly, specifically, and with the commitment such a responsibility requires.  That’s not what’s going on with parents around the world right now.  What’s going on with them is different.

Parents don’t have to compare themselves to teachers, either by saying they don’t think teachers’ jobs are so hard (yes, they are, when you have a large group of other people’s children in your charge, acting and interacting versus having only your own children, whom you have ultimate authority over) or to think that they’re failures compared to teachers. It’s a different thing.  Many parents need direction and validation right now.  Where do they get it?

Heather Anne, the author of a blog I happened across last month, was a public school teacher for twelve years, has an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction, and has been homeschooling her own children for twelve years.  She has the creds I lack, and she wrote on this subject in a way I could not.  In fact, when I went back to find it, I learned that this post is her most popular blog post.  I’m not surprised.  And I’m happy to promote the blog of someone I don’t know, because the information and support she provides in this post are right on the mark.

I read this eagerly even though, as I said, my children are grown.  Heather Anne has something to teach adults, most of all.

Click on the title to go to Heather Anne’s blog and read her post, Homeschooling is NOT the Same as Crisis Schooling: advice during coronavirus COVID -19 shut downs by Heather Anne