#014 Homeschooling in a Pandemic with Darlin Dee

After her daughter received her FASD diagnosis, she began to learn as much as she could in order to help her daughter navigate life. It was after she met and spoke with adults with FASD that she founded Team LOVE to support her daughter, which has evolved to become her passion project connecting families raising children with Fetal Alcohol.

With the recent events and closures of schools, many parents and caregivers are expected to step up to teach their children at home. This is creating a lot of anxiety in not only parents, but children. 

The buzzword “homeschooling” is being used across social media.  Parents are creating and sharing schedules thinking this is what homeschooling is. But in fact, this is not what homeschooling is.

What caregivers are doing is better referred to as Isolation Learning or Quarantine Classes or School at Home. We wanted to find out and help parents understand what homeschooling really is and how to integrate learning at home during a pandemic. So we went to someone who knows.

Darlene helps us understand:

• What homeschooling is: the pros and cons.
• Where she finds her resources.
• Why it’s important to not get into “it has to get done mode.”
• How to create connection in our temporary normal.
• The importance of nurturing mental health and finding joy in learning.

In addition Darlene lets us know what Team LOVE is doing to help brighten the days of people in isolation and tells us about their Social Distance Selfies.

I love her spirit and how she’s adapting her homeschooling to the new “normal," continuing to find creative ways to meet her daughter’s needs. She is definitely the real deal and gets it.

She lets us know despite her upbeat personality and outlook, days are not all perfect. Her advice to manage right now: “This time brings blessings. Be intentional in what you do. Find your family’s rhythm. Be flexible. Build your schedule with your child in mind. Be gentle with yourself and your kids.”