Well, let's make the best of it, I thought when I heard about the school's closure and eagerly plunged into the new challenge. But already in the first few days I realized that the implementation in reality was a bit more bumpy than I would have liked. With a whining baby in our arms, a two-year-old on our leg, between household chores, English tasks, full diapers and arguments, we sank into chaos together.
But as I had learned so many times, everything had to work out first. From the second week onwards, we kept to a strict daily schedule that started at 8 a.m. with breakfast. From 9 o'clock our three school children had to study, all at the dining room table so that I didn't have to run from room to room to answer questions or to help. Every 45 minutes there was a break in which they could play or eat. We built in an exercise lesson when everyone got too fidgety and after lunch there was homework.
Every morning there was a raffle for daily tasks, which we even recorded on video at the beginning, because at noon it was easy to get bored. And so, for example, a cake could be baked, the raised bed renewed or something special built out of Lego. In the evening, when Papa came home, the whole thing was presented.
Our boys were very busy at first, but at some point we ran out of ideas and the daily tasks became weekly tasks, which unfortunately disappeared completely at some point. However, we were able to master the first time quite well with our process. Of course there were always days when things didn't go well at all and my husband was greeted with a pile of math problems and a very bad mood on my part.
But we also noticed that the general deceleration was good for us all. And since we have enough children who could play with each other, contact restrictions weren't really a problem for us.
After a few weeks it became increasingly difficult to motivate the boys to do their homework. Our first grader in particular found it very difficult. He simply lacked the feedback from his class teacher, because our praise was of course not the same. In addition, the weekly plans became more and more confusing and confusing. We were pretty happy when school slowly started again.
Despite all the difficulties and ups and downs, it was an exciting time from which we learned a lot and can take it away. Our family ties were strengthened and we found out that we could keep our nerves for quite a long time.
But a new lockdown really doesn't have to be anymore, dear Corona fairy ...
Simone und Martin Gutzweiler
