A Magical Chaos: Childhood, Cyber-schooling And Everything In-between

Albeit being much later than I had anticipated I'm finally able to write this post about Cyber/Homeschooling. This is of course a first impression post based on my personal experiences thus far.To be honest, when I enrolled my children in cyber school I wasn't completely sure what it consisted of. After a month, we are getting into somewhat of a routine with chaos and madness still triumphant more often than not.

Cyber school has two options: Virtual Classrooms and Blended Classrooms. A Virtual classroom is the closest form of traditional, brick and mortar school. A teacher teaches online and there is class participation where the students can raise their hands (by clicking on the raise hand button and when the teacher calls the said student's name, the talk button is turned on and the student can speak into the microphone to respond. While doing group assignments all the students can talk at the same time and can participate in active discussions. The students can see the teacher but they can't see other pupils and the teacher can't see them. The school my children are attending uses Lincoln curriculum which most Public schools do.

A Blended Classroom is quiet different and is more of a review class whilst the student home-schools. It's more of an online support or help for the parents and students than an actual classroom. Blended classes are also optional meaning the student is not required to attend but it's beneficial if they do. A teacher holds a classroom once a week for 2 to 3 hours and reviews the basics which ought to be covered during the week. The pupils can speak and answer questions so it's nice as far as participation goes. For Kindergarten students Blended classes are the only option available as the student home-schools. Because Blended is closer to Homeschooling the curriculum used for these classes is called Calvert which comes with teaching manuals to aid the parent who is the main teacher.

Zayn is enrolled in a Virtual Classroom. His classes are back to back from 8.00 a.m to 12.00 p.m. Being in 6th grade, he does get quiet a bit of homework most of which he does on the computer and has to scanned then e-mailed to his teachers.

Sayf was initially assigned a virtual classroom but being a 3rd grader he was not able to focus if I wasn't sitting next to him so we switched him to a blended classroom. I'm not too fond of it mostly because it's a ton of work for me.

Zoya being a Kindergartner was only able to attend a Blended Classroom and just like Sayf I have to teach her which with a 1-year-old can be a challenge at times.
When we enrolled the children in Cyber school it was out of necessity. Our neighborhood Middle school is failing and I didn't want Zayn going there. For Sayf and Zoya it was transportation which forced me to choose cyber school over the really nice Elementary school. We made the decision at the last moment and didn't know what to expect or how Cyber schools worked.

A day at school sometimes looks like this

In all frankness and honesty, we expected to receive three laptops and call it a day. The amount of stuff that comes with Cyber schooling is a lot! I mean A LOT! Each child received a laptop which must be returned if we ever decide to pull them out of Cyber school. The rest of the stuff consists of printer/scanner, a lot of books, art supplies, papers( all sorts of paper for art, writing, drawing, science, gluing, pasting, math and who knows what else!), science experiment supplies(scale, butterfly garden, seeds and soil for potting a plant, a fossil kit,index cards), math learning material(Base ten blocks, geometry blocks, rulers, dice, counting blocks, scientific calculator division/multiplication cards, clock), and even a writing board and dry erase markers. Zoya's kit even included paints, yarn, beginner pencils, molding clay and a CD full of nursery rhymes! If that wasn't enough we got bombarded with P.E equipment for each child including books on how to use the equipment, balls galore(basketball, football, soccer ball, T-ball, playground ball,bowling ball, beach ball), T-ball kit, jump ropes, bowling set, stretch bands, bucket stilts, pompoms, bean bags, baseball bases, hop scotch mat, badminton kit, a ring toss, pedometer and few other things I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Being novices Jibin and I were very unprepared and having signed up at the very last moment didn't give us much prep time before school started. That along with living in a 675 sq ft. apartment was a lethal combination(at least it felt like it would kill me) and certainly threw us off our game and took us an entire month to get organized. We had to declutter, rearrange, organize the children's bedroom from top to bottom and make space for what seemed like the never ending boxes. As for the children, it was Christmas in September. Last but not least, I had to change Sophia's routine so I could teach while she napped.

This is the first week when we finished the lessons on time and had a place for everything rather than searching like maniacs for each book and pencil. I'm grateful for all the equipment and the lesson plans we've received. I never thought we'd Cyber or Home-school our children yet here we are. I like the fact that there is a curriculum to follow but I do wonder if Homeschooling without a curriculum or unschooling is something I want to dabble in next.

There are days when I'm exhausted but then there are days or moments when there's complete harmony and I'm grateful for the extra time I get to spend with my children. If you asked me two weeks ago I'd have told you flat out that I'm never homeschooling/cyber-schooling again.

The fault of being human is that we change our minds and hearts and no decision is ever final. Today was a great day in my world and I'm contemplating another year of Homeschooling. I'm not sure if Cyber School is the route but there is a certain beauty in teaching and learning along with my children. We share wonderful amounts of time together; the extra walks, the unplanned afternoon teas, and the many things I witness in those school hours which I wasn't even aware I was missing.

Above all, my fear of them not learning anything is subsiding because in reality they are always learning...Always. Children are far more aware and curious of their environment and don't take anything for granted. I'm also learning to slow down, to enjoy what's been given to me and be thankful for this moment. After all, this moment is all that's been promised. And in this moment, I want to enjoy seeing my children be children and appreciate the time I have with them. In this moment, I want to not worry if they'll learn everything the curriculum or school says they should. Childhood is the most beautiful yet fleeting part of life. It's innocence fades much sooner than we anticipate and I want to enjoy and soak in that innocence and magic for as long as I can.