Many of the parents to whom the epidemic of coronavirus has been forced to become teachers overnight after schools close, they are frustrated to discover that teaching minors is not an easy task.
"I don't know how to teach. I was not born to teach. Being a teacher is a virtue. Now I admire them more, "says Marian Reyna, a mother of two under the age of five and seven.
She has had a harder time teaching from home because she has not stopped working.
“It's horrible to sit down and do chores with them in the few hours that you have left. At the same time I feel sorry for my children because we are talking about their education, but one is not ready or prepared to teach them. As smart as you are, one says, how do I teach you this ”.
Marian works in the mortgage loan field, and although she can work part time from home, with the coronavirus, the work has increased. Her husband, who is a restaurant manager, has also had more hours of work than normal due to the increase in take-out food orders. So neither of us has enough time to teach the children.
“If you are a dad, who does not work and is rested, you will have the time to teach. To me it is very complicated, and less with little schedule and without knowing teaching techniques"
Frustrated parents and children
Hilda Delgado, mother of six-year-old Santiago and new-year-old Valentina, says that the most difficult thing about being a teacher is arming yourself with patience.
"It is one thing to be a father and a mother; and another, knowing how to teach and having patience. This experience has made me feel more respect for teachers, "he says.
One of her biggest challenges has been getting her children to participate because sometimes they ignore her. “My daughter Valentina tells me,‘ that is not the way the teacher does it. It has to be done like this. No, you don't do it well. ’ They are frustrated and I am too. My son put on his uniform yesterday because he already wants to go to school. "
Hilda has been fortunate to be able to work from home during quarantine. It has been organized in such a way that every day he spends three hours teaching his children. "Between my job and being a teacher, I end up busy 12-13 hours a day."
And he adds that he feels that by teaching his children he is learning a new teaching system. "What I learned and what they teach now is totally different."
Is not easy
Janeth Hernández, a mother of two girls, eight-year-old Janzelle and six-year-old Jeanette, considers that the greatest challenge of teaching children at home has been trying to balance it with her work schedule, even when she works from home . "Trying to do both things is not easy," he says.
She also has a 19-year-old son, André, who is in his second year at the University of California, Riverside. "Due to this global pandemic and health crisis ,. André is taking all his classes online until June. ”
Janeth believes that parents who do not speak English find it more difficult to teach their children at home.
"If it is difficult for me to speak English. Parents who do not speak this language feel lost. There are some who do not have computers or do not know how to surf the Internet, "he says.
That is the case of Patricia Vásquez, a 52-year-old grandmother who, in January, took care of her nine-year-old granddaughter who is in the third grade of elementary school.
“It is difficult for me to help my granddaughter because I cannot speak English, and we do not have Internet at home. Fortunately, they loaned her a computer at school, and my hope is that the assistant principal will guide me on how to support my granddaughter so she won't be more late because school started just in January. ”
Video game addiction
Rocío Higuera is a mother of two teenagers, Juan Muñiz Jr, 17, who is in her last year of high school, and Oliver, 14, who is in tenth grade.
“They spend three hours studying. I try not to get stressed because with the closing of schools, the work for parents has doubled. Aside from being a cook and a dishwasher, now I have to be a teacher, "she says.
Although he recognizes that since his children are already in high school they are more independent. “I am just waiting for them to do their homework. I am reminding them and asking if they have already done their activities and what they left them, "he says.
However, there is something that worries Rocío a lot. "The boys are addicted to video games. At five o'clock in the afternoon, my children meet online with a team of classmates and play until the early hours of the morning. At first, we left them, but we didn't like it anymore. We have to establish a limit to their hours spent on video games and other activities", He says.
Tips for parents
Rosa Higuera, a retired teacher from Mexico and who has had to become the teacher of her seven-year-old grandson Ariel, during the coronavirus quarantine, gave the following tips to parents who are teaching their children from home.
- Establish a fixed schedule every day to do homework.
- Use a space in the house where there are no interruptions.
- Prepare ahead of time, read and review the activities you are going to do.
- The child should not be very tired. If the child could not, do not demand more of him than he can do.
- Be very patient, and consider that minors are also experiencing a difficult time.
As after-school activities, she suggests involving children in household chores to make them feel like they're part of the family, inviting them to play, take a walk, watch photos, enjoy a movie or show at home.
“What we had to live through is hard, but we cannot bend. We must not forget that parents are the example for our children and children in the family, "says teacher Higuera.
