Hey there!

How have you been? Hope you are staying as safe as possible?

Since this whole Covid issue began,I was mostly worried about the kids and finances.

Finances because clothing was the last thing on a lot of people’s minds,everyone was just trying to survive as much as possible and only spend on what was ‘essential’. Mike’s source of income was also really affected so I was kind of sceptical about the whole thing.

Kids because school is a huge part of children’s lives and my kids really love school so I just wondered how it will all play out.
Second term was not even over for the kids,they were still a week away from writing second term examinations when school had to close hurriedly during to the Covid-19 situation.

When the kids’ school introduced the online classes,it was a relief. At first we were not paying but had to buy a whole lot of data.

I really didn’t mind the data as I felt it was a small price to pay. Later,the school asked that we pay 3,000 per child and families with more than one child could pay 2,500 per child. The classes were two days a week,Maths and English,Mondays and Wednesdays.
I think the mistake the school made was saying it was a voluntary payment to support the school. Well,turns out some parents did not pay.We paid because we thought it was reasonable as the teachers would also need to buy data and all of that.

One month into the class,we got a survey monkey feedback form and shortly after a memo from the school saying the classes were now 10,000 Nigerian Naira per child monthly😱 They made it seem like this was punishment for some parents not paying the initial 3,000.

The school has WhatsApp groups for each class where messages are passed to parents and the school can interact with parents too.
Most of the parents who spoke about the memo complained about the amount and complained that the school should reduce it. Only one parent,in one of my kids’ class seemed to be supporting the school.

Till date,the school did not address or respond to the complaints. They seemed to think whatever parents thought did not count and we should either take it or leave it.Like,we were not worth responding to😒.
They went ahead to post account number and state date of the online school resumption.

I do not know how many parents paid or how many pupils are attending the online classes,frankly,I don’t really care. I rarely make my decisions based on what other people are doing anyway.😊

Well,we did our plus calculations,it would mean we would be paying 20,000 for classes monthly in addition to the 10,000 we were already spending on data. So 30,000 monthly.

Mike and I discussed it and decided we would rather take over teaching our kids ourselves and save towards school resumption(whenever that is) We spoke to the kids and made them understand why we would not be paying for online classes and why we decided to teach them instead.
Surprisingly,the kids were quite agreeable and even excited about being homeschooled.

Homeschooling has been something I have thought about passively on and off but I never really thought was feasible for us. Well,” necessity is the mother of invention” 😁It has been two weeks now and really I am quite surprised at myself. The kids have been nothing but wonderful.

So,we start our school day at about 10am,We put off the TV till about 3pm when we round up our classes.Nicole actually prepared the time table. Mike takes them Maths and Quantitative. I take them every other subject because I work from home and I spend more time with the kids.

Is it easy? I don’t know if it is but it is definitely not as difficult as I thought it would be. I actually do enjoy teaching them. I however do not think I have the capacity to teach a classroom of kids with a mix of temperaments and learning capacity o😁 I don’t think I am doing badly at all with the kids.

We have almost everything required to teach them at home. Just about 2 to 3 of their textbooks were not brought home from school and I am amazed at the number of online resources available if you are looking to find them.

The major thing I have had to do is adjust my own work time plus I don’t get as much time as I usually have to myself but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make for them and it is not forever.😊School will resume some day,we may not know when but it will.Till then,we homeschool.

I have always been actively involved with my children’s school work and activities. We are doing good so far and for parents that have the time ,temperament and patience for it,homeschooling your kids is not as bad or as difficult as you think it may be. 😁

P.S
Is home schooling something you would consider if you had no other choice?

By now,I hope anyone that has doubts about the existence of Covid-19 has finally found reason to believe it exists? Please stay safe. Protect yourself and your loved ones because at the end of the day,you are all you have got.🙂

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