Well, it happened. We all thought that schooling couldn’t get more complicated than last year, but thanks to the Covid 19 pandemic, schooling has gotten strange. Between online school, self-monitored assignments with office hours, and in-school classes this year has become a tangled ball of yarn instead of what used to be a “standard” school schedule.

Prior to the pandemic, our children would be greeted at their schools with an opening bell and homeroom. Then a bell would ring and off to first period. At the end of that class, a bell would ring, everyone would pack up their books and supplies, the halls would fill will talk, laughter, and movement, and the children would be off to their next class.

Buckle your seatbelt; we are in for another bumpy ride. But you already figured that out as we continue to be inundated with the school emails that let us know that plans aren’t finalized… yet. Rather than imagining all that might go wrong, we can better spend our time creating what we can control right now.

My children always loved back to school shopping. The shopping carts (they each had their own) were filled with lots of colorful supplies that they anticipated needing for the schoolyear. While we might not choose to physically fill the carts this year, we can virtually prepare for the needed supplies and get our children excited about their new, colorful organization tools.

It’s July 1st and we are still in our houses. Our semi-quarantined lives have brought the gift of more time; time to connect, time to plan, and time to reflect. My reflection has solidified my ever-increasing respect for the tenacity of our children.

Another school year in the books, and this year was one for the records. Many of us can remember feeling completely overwhelmed in March and counting the days until our children were on Spring Break, and then…

While we are compulsively checking the news and trying to balance work and homeschooling within spaces that are getting tighter as the weeks blur into each other, we aren’t necessarily noticing that our children are gaining learned independence.

A few years ago, a friend called me in a panic. Her child had been diagnosed with ADHD in the sixth grade, went to a small private school that had accommodated him, but the school did not create a formal accommodation plan.

Planning isn’t just buying a planner and putting most, or even all your assignments in it. Academic planning must consider the assignments (the what,) the place you work best (the where,) and the available time that you have to complete the work (the when.)

The launch to college is frightening for the student and their parents. The swirl of needing to be perfect permeates all logical awareness of the student’s abilities and talents. Even those of us who are trained and work with students who have emerging executive functions that will continue to strengthen during college can become overwhelmed with the uncertainty and media attention that seems to indicate that good enough is not necessarily good enough.