There isn’t a person which the Pandemic hasn’t touched, some more so than others, and each with our own way of responding. The quickly adaptable forerunners are adjusting to the sights and sounds of masks, curbside pickup, online video conferencing, and adequate social distancing. Some of us can comprehend the strategies of all of the preventions and abide by the suggestions but carry a disdain for it deep down on the inside. And then there are those that refuse all of the precautions and teeter between being invincible or not caring. I’m sure we all fall in between these camps somewhere.
No matter where we land, us homeschool parents have arrived (or will arrive) at the end of our school year. Since a majority of our learning happens at home our coursework continues yet so many of our addition parts of homeschooling have ended abruptly. We moved what we could online and canceled the remaining. Our end of the year climax was or will be but a bump in the road. How do we mark time in a way that honors the effort it took to arrive at the milestones? (Note: Drowning your sorrows in a box of generic vanilla/chocolate oreo cookie knock-offs doesn’t work…or so a friend told me.)
As we finish up the workbooks, take final exams, write the final drafts of essays and read the last chapters in our textbooks, I struggle to brainstorm ways to mark this milestone as complete and important. How does one build closure into a day which feels no different than the day before and the day after? We could bake the cakes, order balloons, perhaps give a small gift or offer a short speech. We can snap an “after picture” to hang to the right of the “before”. There are ways to mark time, certainly, but I have to work a little harder this year to find them. Living in a historic moment will be remembered very differently for each person and families will tell stories of how they overcame the boredom and frustration of quarantine life.
In what ways are you planning to celebrate the end of your school year? How can we as homeschool families acknowledge the milestone of another passing year, one more stepping-stone passed on this education journey with our children? How have you been victorious in not allowing COVID-19 to zap the excitement from your family?