Online classes struggle

 The struggle of online classes is real.

My daughter likes moving around since she practically grew up in the province where in she was allowed to run around, climb anywhere (with guidance of course), and exhaust herself to her limit.

She learns through play. And since the online classes are limited to video conferencing and given worksheets, my daughter is not interested. Don’t get me wrong, my daughter likes the idea of school, she just does not like the idea of school being at home.

She likes doodling, coloring and painting, but not tracing or writing (letters and numbers).

She knows her colors, but refuses to do worksheets, she likes using them on arts and crafts.

She knows her numbers, but on paper, she likes it when she plays hide and seek.

She likes building stuff from different toys and making stories with these toys, but is scared and shy of video calls.

She is caring, tender and helpful, but bashful and sensitive. I am fine with that.

My daughter’s sleeping habits have changed since the pandemic. At the end of the day, she still has so much stored energy that it takes time to tire her out, thus she sleeps later that her usual bedtime schedule.

The struggle of online class is added to my pile of worries and anxiety, but what can I do, this is the new normal.

I try my best to teach her, and I know she can do these things. I guess the home environment is really getting to her. I can’t blame her for that. Maybe play is her only way of compensating for not being able to go out for five months now.

This is totally different from the open area that she was used to when she was in the province. Even when we moved here in the city, we still found time to go out and walk around, explore our surroundings. Now with this new normal, she is practically a prisoner in her own house.

I am currently contemplating on asking help from my previous professors in my former school/work place who specialize in child education, because really, my daughter deserves more than I can offer her right now.

Ps. I just thought of something as I was ending this post. Asking for help from professionals for your kids’ education should be normalize and not looked down by others. There is a notion that if you ask help from professionals, that child is incapable of learning (or in Filipino culture “bobo”). When in truth, the form of learning may simply be different from how the child processes information, and that is okay.

Different learning styles, specially in early childhood education, should be normalized and understood by everyone.