The weekends are noticeably slower. The happy little people have got the hang of looking after themselves on a Saturday and Sunday morning, so Husband and I are left to sleep, or at least doze after the initial moment of being woken to some dispute or shouting drifting up the stairs. Whilst it is lovely sleeping longer and not having that first cup of tea till 9:30am as opposed to 7am the timings of the day are all out and I notice the missing hours. On Saturdays and Sundays, I do feel plagued with the what I ‘should’ be doing whilst there is another adult on hand. I feel like I should be catching up on housework, washing, ironing, food shopping planning, but truthfully I don’t want to do any of these things. This conflict produces a bit of a fatigue in the soul, which is tricky to shake off. Especially as the Husband and the happy little people do Saturdays in their pants very easily. They don’t have any conflict other than where their next snack is coming from or what to play on the iPad next.

         I am not being productive in the house, so I decide to go for a long walk and to incorporate a visit to my sister-in-law to drop off a birthday gift for our youngest nephew. Happy to try out my new wireless headphones I arm myself with a podcast and the gifts and head off. I wanted to wear a dress today because the weather is sunny, but I need to wear my worn out running shoes for comfort on a lengthy walk. I am aware I am an interesting sight and possibly resemble a female version of Forest Gump, but I never have really cared what other people think. When I reach my sister-in-law’s, I stop for a doorstep social distancing chat to check in on how they are managing. We have an interesting and helpful conversation regarding home schooling. My sister-in-law also has three happy little people, but one eleven years, one ten years and one almost three years, so different pro’s and con’s. I took on board her way of working 9am to 1pm with a school-like break in the middle. She writes the tasks down and tells them the timings of the day. Uses the school home learning computer sites and incorporates some handwriting and spelling tasks. Then lunch at one pm and they’re left to do as they please till tea-time, which frees her up to do the boring stuff. I have had no real structure and have been winging it to be honest, our days have been a bit stop start and I haven’t communicated a plan to the happy little people in advance. Perhaps I need to re-think, as my method seems a bit chaotic in comparison to my sister-in-law’s. And perhaps both the happy little people and I would benefit from a bit of structure. I spend the walk home pondering. One of the podcasts I listen to whilst walking is Sir Ken Robinson speaking about education, do schools kill creativity? (2006 Ted Talk). I have listened before, but it feels timely and relevant to re-listen now. I spent about ten years of my working life in education, in particular the arts, and spent years championing creative education, the benefits and the fact we all learn differently. This period of time with the happy little people, and their home education with me, has all been driven by creativity. Not necessarily consciously planned but instinctively, as it’s the only approach I know. The happy little people have created artwork. Written short scripts, performed and then filmed them. Created and posted artwork to family and friends. Watched caterpillars evolve into butterflies. Planted seeds to watch grow. Read to grandparents and friends via FaceTime. Collected treasure from the woods into an egg box, each item a colour from the rainbow. Baked biscuits, decorated biscuits and eaten biscuits. I find Ken Robinson’s words comforting and reassuring, and he makes me feel less of a failure on the home schooling and actually boosts my self confidence. I find myself smiling whilst listening and am invited to remember how passionate about education I used to be. The anxiety of the sense of not doing a good enough job starts to disintegrate a little and the idea of structuring the day from 9am to 1pm feels achievable. However long this period of home education is, my happy little people are going to be okay and most importantly they are happy either at home or at school because I have raised them to be curious.

         When I get home I find the girls throwing grapes up into the air and catching them in their mouths. I blame the Peter Rabbit film.

https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity?language=en