While many parents are being forced into homeschooling for the very first time because of COVID-19, we've been doing it successfully with our child since 2017.
Our son Silas was attending a school, which we were happy with. That changed. When every day Silas came home from school, he would crawl under a piece of furniture and weep for half an hour.
Despite our best efforts in communication with his teachers and the administration for over a year, we couldn't seem to improve the situation. We made the decision to enroll him to start at a new school the following fall and brought him home to finish the lessons of the spring semester.
After a little time went by, we realized that our 8-year-old son blossomed into a peaceful and joyful person. As much as we wanted to try the new school in the fall, he wanted to keep homeschooling. We agreed, as we decided it would be foolish to change something that was working so well.
After going to bed at 9 p. m. on weeknights, Silas woke up at about 7a. m. without an alarm, because he was thrilled to hop on the computer and get his schoolwork done. Why? So that he could have free time on electronics. He was allowed screen time after finishing all his schoolwork and housework. He got quite a bit of time most days to play video games. At 5 p. m., he must be off his device, and we brought it into our bedroom to minimize temptation. He was really good about observing the rules, and I thought he was happier for having limits.
