As I write this, I am celebrating the launch of 2 of 3 out of our nest, temporarily, because the colleges are closing down from Thanksgiving through the New Year. I am just grateful that they at least get a couple of months on campus this year… with social distancing, masks, and lots of hand cleaning.
For our one who is still home doing virtual school, we are being innovative to find ways to safely get her out of the house this semester… before it gets cold. I have considered just taking a long road trip and making sure we have a back-up battery and plenty of charging cords with us so she can get her schoolwork done from the road. I have also thought about getting her involved in horseback riding or tennis, which are easy to do with social distancing. I have no idea which, if any, of these options will actually stick, but I know I cannot make her just stay in the house all of the time, so, we’ll get it figured out.
2020 has caused a lot of anxiety for all of us. We have to face the challenges of uncertainty and of unexpected changes, and it is quite an adjustment for us.
How about you and yours? Where are your young scholars learning this year… at home, on campus, on the road, or something else? What extracurriculars are you doing safely?
Previous articles provided resource suggestions to help parents in this super tough year. Make sure you check out the parent resources articles and let me know which one of them has been helpful.
Anxiety can be dangerous for you and for your kids, especially being together more due to COVID-19.
Also, I want to encourage you to learn to identify and deal with anxiety, for yourself and for your children. I wrote articles previously about how it can cause a lot of problems if it’s not dealt with in a healthy way as quickly as possible. Especially due to the altered nature of the 2020 school year due to COVID, dealing with anxiety now is critical.
I recently had a conversation with a wise Mom & Grandmom. She stated that having regular family meetings is important. And she said it’s even more important to give everyone an opportunity to share their feelings, without judgement and with empathetic responses. This is something we were already doing regularly, to discuss chores mostly, but now we also incorporate the feelings sharing. It has been very helpful.
I pray that you and yours are adjusting well and staying safe as you live through this pandemic era.
ARCHIVE FROM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL YEARS – Family Pose Before Nature Walk / Hike @ Sweetwater Creek #ButterflyHomeschool Field Trip
Thank you so much to everyone who has been contributing questions and suggesting resources. My goal is to help parents by sharing information about resources for parents as they navigate back to school 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic era.
“If you are reading this and know of other helpful resources, or if you just have a specific resource need, go to my last blog postand use the form to send me a message with your question or suggestion.
…I am not endorsing these resources. I am not an affiliate of these resources. I am simply connecting parents with resources that may be helpful, but they need to still vet each resource prior to use…”
~ Donna Marie Johnson, Mom of Butterfly Homeschool
I know Dr. Tiffany from an online group we are both members of which supports Moms with self-care, entrepreneurship, parenting, and more. Generally speaking, the other moms I have met in that group are stellar people. They are women of integrity who are also wise and talented.
ARCHIVED RESOURCES
Because I have been homeschooling in the state of Georgia for many years (just graduated our older two scholars), I have a wealth of information available on this blog’s archives to support you with getting started.
One of the first things to note is that homeschooling is actually a legal term in many states, including in Georgia, and is governed by specific laws. I notated some of this information on my resource list page to help guide you as you seek to register as a legal/licensed homeschool.
Second, note that if you are educating your children at home via a program where someone else is teaching them remotely, that is still valid home-based education, but it is not the legal homeschool that is mentioned above. All of my children were in legal homeschool during their younger years. As they got older, we chose to register them for virtual education via a public charter school that did 99% of the teaching in an online portal. During the virtual school, I am legally called a “learning coach” instead of teacher or educator and do not have to register with the state or local authorities. Once registered, the virtual school is actually responsible for your young scholars just the same as a brick-and-mortar school is responsible.
Butterfly Homeschool ™ Rebooted 
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