The -BIG- bad news: yesterday, Illinois cancelled school for the rest of the year. It seems soooooo surreal. I've mentioned before that Harper is very much of a homebody [and has therefore been THRIVING during this shelter-in situation!], but she told me yesterday that she misses her teachers and her friends and would "def'nitely be sad" if she couldn't go back to preschool at all this year. Gut. Punch. Right now, I'm really not sure how we will break the news to her! One of her teachers shared this post on Facebook the other day, and I could barely finish reading it because my eyes were filled with tears!
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"I just dropped off homework, next to an empty parking lot & quiet sidewalks. I set the girls’ folders next to folders with their friends’ names— friends they haven’t seen in weeks. I finally let some tears fall over the loss of this. For them. For their teachers. For this school I love so much.
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I used to be a teacher & here is the thing: August through December you & the students are getting to know each other. You’re building rapport & setting boundaries & sticking to your guns so that order can be established. You are spending that time making sure everyone feels safe and heard, because only then will they start to learn anything. January & February you’re just trying to get everyone back on track after break, you’re scrambling around snow days and preparing for state testing.
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But March through May? It’s the golden time to be a teacher. And a student. You’ve become a weird little family; you know one another’s quirks- you know when Josh needs to go to the bathroom everyday and you know when Sarah just needs to stretch her legs a bit. You laugh before the punchline because you already know one another’s jokes. There are trips and fun projects that have been saved all year because finally— FINALLY— these students are really YOURS. It’s the sweet spot. And this year, all around the world, teachers and students are missing out on this long awaited payoff. Everyone is still doing the best they can for their students, but they don’t get the daily life that has become so comfortable for them at this point in the year.
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I haven’t taught for 7 years, and I STILL miss March through May with students. It was a magic you can’t understand if you’re not an educator. Every fresh August I would miss my previous students and wonder who the imposters were sitting in their seats... but then I would remind myself to hold on, to invest in the new ones, to put in the time... because March was coming.
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So when you hear teachers say they miss their students, they really, really do. In their very guts. And they are grieving losing a March-May with this group that they will never get back. Sure, they will get it again, but not with this group. Our kids will be fine. Sure, they'll be a little behind on a few things and lots of review will be necessary, but they will be fine. I'm not sad about them missing out on some math problems. I'm just sad everyone is missing the magic. So if you've thanked your child's teacher for the work they're doing to still educate your child, that's good. Do that. But also? Thank them for loving them so much that losing March-May with them hurts."
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I'm obviously not an educator, but gosh, reading this really made me feel so sad for the teachers and students alike! AND THEN, we open the mailbox to this:
Gahhhh! From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for loving Harper so well. We are so sorry you're losing the March through May together!!!
Meanwhile, we're over here hacking through distance learning like:
Meanwhile, we're over here hacking through distance learning like:
On Tuesday, we learned the story of creation and made a creation wheel highlighting the events of each day. I was reading the story aloud [and while we're faithful Catholics, I'm also very science-minded and I must admit that all of these creation stories have always been very far-fetched for me!], but all the while Harper didn't even flinch once or question God's ability to create light/sea/sky/land/sun/moon/stars/yadda yadda yadddddda all in the matter of a week... [But really, day 6? How did that happen?] Ohhhh, to have the faith of a child. Now THAT is something beautiful.
Amidst picking up, sweeping, deep cleaning, tidying, and picking up AGAIN, we also finished up our unit on plants and worked on some beginning sounds [which Harper finished with minimal help; this is huge progress from even just a month ago!]. We also had to un-zip the Sprout House bag taped to Harper's bedroom window, because the plant is sprouting furiously!
...So much so that Scarlett would only let Harper rock her to sleep at quiet time. Wowza! I love it that they'll always have each other!
We cut up an orange and mixed up some fresh sugar water for the butterflies on Friday morning. Harper loves to feed them, and Scarlett loves to keep her distance [she is scared they will fly up her nose...]. :)
Friday was a BIG DAY for Scarlett; we flipped her carseat to forward-facing AND converted her crib into a toddler bed. She is soooo excited about both happenings! ALSO, she went through 1/4 box of Pull-Ups before braving underwear overnight, and she has been sleeping in her "un'ees" for a week now and waking up dry every morning. GO, SCARLETT!!! We are so proud of you, big girl!
When Brian finished working on Friday afternoon, all 4 of us went for a little drive to check out landscaping rock. Word on the street is that we will be starting landscaping labor this weekend.....#joy.
We wrapped up the evening with pedicures and dusting! Friday nights these days.......they're thrillers, I tell ya'!
xoxox
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