Showing Grace to Unintentional Homeschoolers

I’m finding it hard to know how to begin this sort of a post. I typically review homeschool curriculum, share about thankful living or give my best frugal tips here on the blog. I can’t seem to find the words to start this kind of an article…so I’ll just dive in and share my heart a bit. If you’d like to see me talk about this on YouTube, I do plan to make a video about this as well.

Recently, we’ve seen millions of school children sent home to “do school” during the Coronavirus Pandemic. As I write this, it looks like this will be a 3-4 week arrangement, but no one really knows for sure. What I do know, is that there are families across our country who find themselves suddenly thrown into a whole new world of responsibility. Sadly, while I have seen some very gracious and helpful offers from homeschooling families, I have seen more snarky memes and jokes. I would like to encourage you to consider what you put in group newsfeeds where these blind-sided, unintentional homeschool families come with genuine needs.

Perhaps you haven’t seen the content I’m describing here. I hope so. I hope it is not as widespread as it seems to me. I can’t seem to go a day in the last week without seeing 5 or more posts that have the “haha now we’re all homeschoolers” or “how do you like us now” tone. While I can briefly chuckle at the irony the situation brings in light of past remarks, days and days on end of this content is just not gracious. Considering the situation that brought this about (worldwide pandemic), the jokes should stop. Please. I very rarely call anyone out on this sort of thing, but it is bombarding nearly all of my homeschool social media groups and pages.

So here’s why I decided to say something. It appears elitist and is insensitive to the real dilemma many families now face…and it just not helpful. Making light of a mom’s concern over this new schedule because “you’ve been doing it for years and it’s not hard” is not helpful. Telling others that “now you’ll see how much we work all day” is also not helpful, considering one or both parents may be required to work at home simultaneously. Think about how long you thought and prayed about the decision to homeschool. And then think of the time you spent reading reviews and watching curriculum flip-through videos before you actually purchased any homeschooling resources. I know for me, I spent well over a year before I began and haven’t stopped. It is an on-going process for me. We are very intentional in our decision to homeschool. For families who’ve recently been thrust into this new role, it was not their choice and they have had mere days to wrap their mind around it. Imagine how it must feel to join a “homeschool” group and come to find all these mocking memes about your predicament?

So, please stop. I hope this come across as a fellow homeschool mom who is seeking unity and a welcoming spirit in our online connections. Some of these families may decide to join the homeschool journey permanently. Other will not. But either way, let’s look to be gracious, helpful friends who are truly seeking the good in and for others.