It’s time to get creative as COVID-19 homeschool parents
/By Matt Halvorson
It’s been 10 days since my kids were last in school here in Seattle, and as the COVID-19 pandemic continues its systematic shutdown of, well, the entire system, it’s time for us parents to get creative.
If we look past the ever-present anxiety and vague sense of imprisonment that have settled over our communities like a dense fog, this presents an interesting opportunity to explore what it might be like to educate our kids ourselves, based on our own values, as opposed to dropping them off every day to be schooled.
My oldest son, Julian, loves baseball. And, conveniently, so do I. Julian also loves talking about baseball — and not just baseball, but all sports. I have thought for years now that he would make a good sports talk show host, or a good play-by-play announcer, something along those lines. And as he was talking and talking with me last year and breaking down championship possibilities for his next Little League season, it occurred to me that we could record him and his buddies talking about their league — Rainier District Little League in Seattle — the same way the pundits talk about big-time pro sports.
Whereas lots of my crackpot-dad schemes get met with disinterest at best, this was an idea that Julian brought up repeatedly over the winter. Are we really going to do that RDLL podcast, he’d ask?
So, in February, with very little planning, Julian and his buddies got together and recorded their first episode. I set up the microphones, helped CJ as he learned to use Garageband, and mainly just let them do their thing. I think the whole thing ended up being about five minutes long, and even as they were just getting a feel for what they were doing, there were some moments of subtle hilarity.
In their second episode, recorded at the very end of last month, Julian and his friends held a mock draft for their own league — the same night that the real coaches were drafting their real teams. In this one, we started to see the promise of what this could be: real kids, real friends, getting together and creating something funny and unique.
Then, suddenly, we all got distracted by something called Coronavirus, and now we’re regrouping as homeschoolers. It’s projects like these that we will be pouring lots of time and energy into in our house, and it’s these same little flashes of inspiration that illustrate for me the potential joy and freedom that comes with a self-directed, self-guided education — where we see our kids doing a deep, creative dive into the things that naturally interest them.
And you know what? Julian is so excited that something he created is on Spotify (and it’s also on Apple Podcasts, and on the Interwebs at riseupmusic.org/rdll, but he doesn’t really care as much about that). When we take the schooling out of school, these sorts of projects don’t have to be theoretical. He can take it all the way, fully applying his skills and energy to the real world and reaping the real-world pride that comes with creating, publishing and sharing something truly original.
Maybe things will go back to the way they used to be in a few months, with all of us eagerly resuming our driving and consuming and working and commuting and traveling-to-conferences, and maybe we’ll slip eagerly back into our old-world work of convincing ourselves that other things are more important than making time to do big, weird projects with our kids.
I have hope, though, now that the hamster wheel has stopped for a moment, that we won’t all just jump right back on as soon as we’re allowed. That we might recognize that the pandemics in this time are twin: COVID-19, yes. But also being exposed is the sickness of a system that leaves all of us on the constant brink of vulnerability if we aren’t there already. And so twin battles lie ahead of us.
For now, though, let’s savor this time with family, as bizarre and mandatory as it all may be, and create something joyful with the people around us.
What idea flickers that you’d just love yourself for following through on 20 years from now? What project could you help your kids get off the ground? What dream or what new world can you explore more deeply with your child or someone close to you — or alone, in this purgatory period of social distancing.
A few days ago, I offered a few writing prompts for kids as an idea for all of us unexpected homeschool parents. Here’s today’s prompt:
What if life as you’ve known it is never the same again? What do you imagine that new future looks like? In what ways will it be different? What do you like about it? What will you fight to change or prevent?
I’d love to share your kids’ thoughts with the world. Email me at matt@riseupforstudents.org.
Matt Halvorson is a musician, writer, activist and father living in Seattle with his partner, Lindsay, and their four kids. He is the founder of Rise Up for Students, a blog advocating for equity in education in Seattle and beyond, and of the Rise Up Music Project, a collectively owned record label and socially conscious music platform. Matt’s most recent album, “Sermons,” is available everywhere except Amazon.
