by Mary Leppert
Dear Readers:
I had an encounter in my building with a lady who was about 85 years old or more. I met her for the first time in the mail room. She stopped me and said “Hello, my name is Rachelle.” I said “Hi, my name is Mary.” We talked for a few minutes and found out some things we had in common. I went away having enjoyed the 10 minutes or so of personal interaction and looking forward to more. My encounter was real. Real, like board game versus online game; real, like reading out loud versus audio book; real, like people in the real office versus working virtually; real, like real teaching parent to child, versus digital babysitting and screen time.
I don’t want to be misunderstood – I appreciate the value of online curriculum and programs; they provide some very excellent aids to homeschooling families. But, just as in my other examples, above, there is no replacement for human-to-human interaction – especially when it is parent to child. Your time spent educating your child has the bonus that surpasses mere instruction: It provides an intangible but real nurturing.
We have been robbed of our former personal connection by Covid-19 and the lockdowns of the pandemic. It has become commonplace for us to not have interpersonal contact, but to rely on Zoom, texting and e-mails to communicate with each other. It was bad enough before Covid-19, that many people were immersed in digital games via phone or computer, providing a wall to block human contact to some extent; but now! Now we are isolated as never before.
When my son was 13 or 14 years old, we took an online photography course. The first day – only day — we got up at 7:00 a.m. to catch the morning light. I remember driving on the freeway to our chosen photo shoot destination and getting some excellent pictures of deer near the ocean. He and I still reminisce about that day, maybe because it was the only day, but it is fixed in our memories as an outstanding experience we shared.
I urge you, homeschool parents, to be real as much as possible. Don’t let homeschooling mean that you see your child even less than when they were in school. Take the time to be present with them, because the time goes by faster than you can imagine! Happy Homeschooling, luv, Mary
