Faith Matters | Using at-home school to teach the real lessons of the coronavirus crisis

I love my kids. I’m the “unbiased” mother of the three most amazing human beings planet.

My children are smart, kind, funny, and creative. I am almost 16 years into being a triage medic, an ace detective, a cautious chauffeur and semi-decent short-order cook. Long before the aforementioned amazing human beings were even a twinkle in my eye, I decided that I wanted to be a teacher – a high school German teacher, to be specific.

Well, clearly that didn’t happen or I wouldn’t be writing this article today.

It turns out that God did not call me into teaching, at least not in a formal educational setting. But on March 23, I instantly became not only my child’s teacher, but also their principal, school nurse, and cafeteria manager. I am terrible at all four!

I’ll confess that I went into the whole endeavor with a touch of arrogance. I have a doctorate, after all. How hard could teaching economics to a second-grader be?

Apparently not much easier than teaching Honors Chemistry to a 10th grader! And it’s taken me a few weeks to realize that, while both of those things are extremely important, they are not actually things that I’m really worried about teaching my kids right now.

I feel confident that that when this is all said and done, any child of school age who lived through this time will have a deeply personal understanding of the concept of “supply and demand. Thank you, toilet paper.

What I am far more concerned about is teaching my three most amazing human beings that they are holy and beloved by God, and as such, to teach them the importance of compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. This comes to us right out of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians, chapter 3, verse 12.

But lately, I think it might be easier to teach Advanced Placement World History to my 5th grader. Did I mention that I love my kids? Did I mention that they are the three most amazing human beings on the planet? Did I mention that none of us were created to be in the same house, all day, every day, for weeks, possibly months on end?

Even in the best of circumstances and under the very best parenting conditions, let’s be honest here and admit that during these uncharted days patience does wear thin, kindness gives way to bickering, humility and meekness become matters of protecting territory and pride. And while all of this can be frustrating, it is a most excellent crucible (somebody show my daughter’s chemistry teacher what words we’re using) for learning.

I’m not sure that my 2nd grader is going to remember how to classify rocks or how to spell “tiara.” But I hope that she’ll remember that when she was so frustrated about “stupid online school” and missing her friends, that her mom didn’t yell, or threaten, or get upset. Instead, her mom sat with her and let her vent it all out.

And when my 5th grader, who has lost these last precious months of elementary school, starts (hopefully) middle school in the fall, confuses the digestive system with the circulatory system, I hope that he’ll remember how our family came up with a system and routine that was stable so we could try to reduce stress and promote kindness.

And when my 10th grader who, like most teenagers, is an expert at social distancing, does come out of her room to share her deep thoughts about how this whole event is all about her and her friends, I hope that she will remember that mom and dad were humble enough to let her have a voice in the conversation and did our best to share the larger story that calls all of us to have compassionate hearts towards those far beyond the walls of our own home.

So, to all of you brand-new teachers out there — we’re going to get through this, but it’s going to be by the grace of God. Maybe that grace is the best thing we can teach our kids during these intense and precious days.

Faith Matters is written by members of the Bradenton clerical community. Hope Italiano Lee is lead pastor at Kirkwood Church in Bradenton. You can reach her at hope@kpcbradenton.org