Virtual Schooling: Surviving The Bad Days

Bad days in Virtual Schooling happen, to all of us!  They can seem to come out of nowhere and knock out off of our routine.  They can cause the tears to flow, and our positivity to disappear.  Bad Days happen in homeschooling.  How do we get through them?

We have been virtual schooling for 13 years.  Overall, it has been a great choice for our family.

That does not mean we have not had our share of bad days.

Bad days in virtual schooling happen, even to the most committed and dedicated families.  I have been known to burst into tears of anger and frustration in the middle of a school day because — I am just done!!!

Learning at home can be difficult.  No matter how organized you are, or how committed you are, we are human and things happen.

So, how do we get through a bad day or days, and then turn the corner?

1. Accept the “hard”- especially if you are new!

I remember being in new teacher training for my job as an elementary music teacher.  One of the biggest takeaways that I had was to acknowledge how hard the first year of teaching is.  The veteran teachers who coached me said, it’s ok, it will get better.  They told me the first year of teaching was always the hardest.

They were right.  The first year was so hard because everything was new.  After my first year I was better prepared to manage the expectations and the challenges.

It is no different in a homeschool or virtual school environment.  The first year everything is new and challenging!  After you get through one year, things get easier.  

Every big grade transition, from elementary, to middle school, to high school was hard.  It took a few months for us to really feel grounded with the new courses and expectations.  Accepting the “hard” made it easier for all of us to deal with a new transition.

2.  Take a break, right now.

Are you frustrated with the way the lessons are going?  Is your child extra emotional? Did you just say a few things you wished you hadn’t said?  

Believe me, after 13 years of home learning, I’ve been there!!!

Walk away.

Now.

Just do it.

There is absolutely no way you or your child will learn if you are overly emotional.  So, take a break, and walk away.

Maybe you put on an educational video and then make yourself a coffee and go sit outside.  Go to your room and take a breather.  Just walk away from the situation.

Let your emotions diffuse, allow your child to calm down, and then you can think about getting back to learning.

It is really had to teach your child.  We want them to achieve and get it right away.  And sometimes they don’t.  Maybe we planned a lesson we thought they would love, and they HATED it.  That can be so demoralizing.

So, please take a break and walk away so you can calm down.  

3.  Go Back to Basics

Having a hard day with your child?  Maybe you are especially exhausted from a rough night of sleep.  Perhaps your child is extra fidgety and doesn’t want to sit still.  What now?

Go Back to the Basics and cover only what is essential.  If the day isn’t going well, then adjust to make sure you get the essential material covered.  I previously wrote about the necessity of establishing a bare minimum school day.  

If you are having a really rough day, then cut out what you can and focus on the essential learning for the day.

Then, put away the school and do something relaxing or fun.  It will destress you and your child.  

Start over tomorrow with renewed focus and intention.

4.  Change it up

If your day isn’t going well, and your children are struggling, then don’t be afraid to change it up.  Take a walk with the kids.  Do an impromptu art lesson.  Find a new learning app for them to use. Do an art project.

Changing tactics when things get tough can sometimes help correct a bad day mid stream. 

If your child has too many unit tests scheduled on a day and he isn’t able to do one more test, then move the lessons around.  Sometimes just a little scheduling change can mean the difference between an ok day and an awful day.

In middle and high school, I found that enabling my sons to shift a unit test around a few days would make a huge difference in the quality of their days.  They know that I expect all the weekly work to be done by Friday, but that they can have some flexibility to do a unit test on a different day if it just isn’t working well for them on a particular day. 

Keep a few ideas in your back pocket that you think your child would enjoy.  When you see a day become hard, add in one of those new things.  Changing it up can add fun and novelty to the day and help you finish the day with something positive.

5.  Re-evaluate and adjust for tomorrow

Now that we have talked about some ideas on how to deal with a bad day in the moment, we are going to move to talking about the future.

After the school day is done, and the kids are off playing, it is time for you to sit down and figure out what happened.

Ask yourself some questions to try to identify why the day went poorly:

• Were you extra tired?  
• Was your child tired?
• Was anyone sick?
• Was there a schedule change?  
• Did you get up late?
• Were you unprepared?
• Did you have a disagreement with your spouse or child before school?
• Were you worried about something?
• Was the schedule too packed for the day?
• Were you trying to do too many work or home things during school hours?
• Was there too much distracting noise in the home?
• Do you have houseguests?
• Were you trying to have phone calls during school?

These are just a few questions I want you to ask yourself as you try to re-evaluate the day.  If we can identify what the challenges were in this bad day, we can make changes for tomorrow!

It is ok to have bad days in the virtual school and homeschool environment.  We all have them.  The key is to get through them with as much grace and poise as possible, and then adjust for the new day!