Kids and parents adjusting to schooling from home

IDAHO FALLS — Schooling while under a stay-home order is a new reality for Idaho families – a reality that takes some adjusting for many.

The Idaho State Board of Education decided Monday to extend the closure of public schools through the rest of the school year, but local districts still have the option to reopen their schools. At the same time, many families began schooling from home.

That schooling is being done in a variety of different ways from video conferencing to receiving homework packets in the mail. And, not only are kids having to adjust, but so are their parents.

“Last Wednesday we drove to the kids’ school and they each were given a Chromebook,” Leslie Landon, a mother of three said. “So they each got to check out a Chromebook from the school, which I thought was pretty brave of the school.”

Landon has twin 12-year-old girls and a 14-year-old son who all attended school in Shelley until the district closed the schools. Up until Monday, Landon said their at-homeschooling experience had been fairly relaxed.

“(Schoolwork) was just sort of trickling in last week. So it was kind of like an extended spring break,” she said.

Their routine consisted of occasionally checking for new assignments throughout the day. Many of those assignments, she said, were either assigned for the following week or had due dates far into the future.

“You know, the kids kind of procrastinate,” Landon said.

All three of her kids are straight-A students and she decided to make their schoolwork their responsibility to get done.

“Today, the kids seemed to be a lot more stressed out because they have a lot more assignments,” she said.

Landon, however, is confident her family can adjust to the new schooling method.

“I guess it’s like a learning curve for everyone,” she said.

Shantelle Oliphant, a mother of six from Rexburg, has kids ranging in age from five to 16. She said she has tried homeschooling her children in the past but wasn’t able to keep it up due to her and her husband’s work schedules. But this change in schooling has her excited.

“It was kind of hard to balance work and their school. I thought I was just working around the clock. But now, with the way it’s set up and the teachers taking a huge amount of that responsibility for motivation and accountability, it’s really freed me up to just be that facilitator on the side cheering them on,” Oliphant said.

Both she and her husband are teachers by trade. He teaches at Brigham Young University-Idaho and she is a professor for Western Governor’s University, an online university. Both of them now work from home.

“We just kind of tag-team it. So while I’m working for a few hours, then he’s not working and when he has his labs in the afternoon, then I’m not working. So the kids do have flexibility on what subject they’re going to tackle at what time of the day,” Oliphant said.

She said she has instilled in her kids the understanding that their schooling at home is their “new normal,” despite the possibility of schools reopening before the end of the school year.

“I think it’s important for kids to understand that this is a new normal and it’s not just a temporary fix, even though the district words it as ‘This is temporary, this is a soft closure …’ I just don’t think that’s a healthy view of it for kids,” Oliphant said.

While schooling at home may be a new normal for many kids, traditional homeschoolers want people to understand that this is not the same as homeschooling.

“What most homeschoolers do looks a lot different than what most public school families have been thrown into right now,” Alix Watson Barney, a homeschooling mom of three from Rexburg said.

Kylee Bryan, of Rexburg, said parents are the teachers when they homeschool. Parents with children attending public school from home are helping the teachers.

Gwen Cutler from Shelley said typical homeschooling generally involves more social interaction than what people are able to do now.

“We have different activities, co-ops and social gatherings that we are used to going to and taking our kids to. Being cooped up has been really hard for us and our children too,” Cutler said.

Barney said she feels for the parents who don’t homeschool that have been thrust into schooling from home.

“I also feel a ton of sympathy for the teachers who are trying to completely revamp their school programs to fit a major change in lifestyle. I think the entire thing would be completely overwhelming for everyone involved,” Barney said.

Landon said it has been a shock for her kids but believes they are up for the challenge.

“I think I’m going to be better about checking in and I think they’re going to just have to figure it out,” Landon said.

Oliphant said a surprising side effect of the kids having to stay home is that they have begun to bond more.

“I thought they would fight a little bit more or argue with each other or want too much screen time, but it’s almost like the COVID-19 stress has created this atmosphere where they’re really nurturing each other,” Oliphant said.