BY CHERYL SCHUTTE, ACS PARENT

Okay, I’ll be honest…when the kids came home from school knowing that spring break might be a lot longer than we expected, I was pretty excited. Mostly because I love lazy mornings and wearing my pj’s a little longer than I should.

Stuck And Yet…

But it didn’t take long for my wheels to start turning and begin thinking of all the things I could do to start this new kind of learning. Then it hit me. The last thing these kids need right now is to put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard. We have earned this break and even though we are “stuck” at home, we will make the most of it!

Then the learning began without even realizing it.

Our little walks around the dike by our house was physical education, the baking all my girls did was home economics and math, the “Mud Club” that my 3 littles started was science, the countless hours of painting and colouring was art, devotions and Bible reading became…you guessed it…Bible!

Learning is all around us! I didn’t print off one sheet or bust out spelling tests or make a schedule of any sort, yet they learned, played, rested, and chatted on Messenger Kids with their friends. It was a beautiful two-week BREAK!

A Little Grace And Our Best

Often, I think of the teachers and what it takes to make a class run smoothly. I couldn’t do it! As an educational assistant, I help and I’m good at that, but to prepare, plan, mark, grade, and teach a room full of diverse students all with different needs and capabilities? WOW! My hat’s off to all of you! Thank you!

We’re all in this together. The moms and dads helping kids navigate this new normal, the teachers who are preparing for learning at home. Let’s all extend a little grace. This is more of a reminder for me… I know I’ll lose my patience with my kids; I know I won’t know the answers to some of the grade 4 questions, this might be hard, but let’s get through this! Let us support one another and help each other and know that we are ALL trying our best!

“Sometimes the best thing you can do is not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess. Just breathe and have faith that everything will work out for the best.”—Robert Tew