Lived Experience Forum

[StarZamu]

Hey guys, I'm new to this forum. It was highly recommended to me by my therapist though:)

Is anyone here faced with home schooling due to lockdown? If so, how are you coping?

I've been experiencing severe depression, it's a battle getting out of bed each day, let alone educating my 6 year old, yet her education is important. I don't want her to fall behind and if I put her back in school not only will I feel like a failure,  I also put her safety at risk.

I'm struggling to find a way to get motivated. Thoughts? Suggestions?

[NatureLover]

Hi and welcome, @StarZamu ! It's good you've joined, where people can understand what you're going through. 

I'm sorry you have bad depression - I can empathise. It's the worst of all of them, I reckon. 

I don't have kids myself, but can tag some people... @Snowie   @Lee82   @frog , and  @Zoe7 who is a teacher. 

A handy forum tip is to type @ and then click on a name in  the drop-down box - that way the person you're replying to will get a notification and won't miss your reply. 

I hope you find the forums an encouraging and supportive place. 🙂

[AussieRecharger]

Hey @StarZamu 

Can you talk me through what happens in the morning?  Do you have a routine for every morning?

What else to you is important about your mornings?  Do you have any morning goals like eating a healthy breakfast, watching an episode of tv with your child or have a joke planned to tell them over breakfast together?

I guess you can probably see where I am going with this.. the best morning motivation is the little things, like having a plan to eat breakfast with your child and making them laugh, or educating them on some weird fact about food or animals.  

At our household, we sit and watch python hunters on youtube while we eat breakfast and talk about how invasive species are so bad for the environment.

What are you passionate about to pass onto your child?

[Snowie]

Good morning @StarZamu 

I know exactly how you feel.

I have two children that are home schooling at the moment due to lockdown. Their school is closed down at the moment so the only option is home schooling for us.

Mine are a bit older then your daughter, so can manage to do their home schooling mostly by themselves, yet I still have to get them up in the morning and organised for the day.

It is hard to get motivated, and I suffer with depression too. I find that I set small steps for myself which are more managable. I focus on just one thing at a time. If I look too far into the day then I just feel overwhelmed and get upset at myself. Also, don't be too hard on yourself hon. You are doing the very best you can under such difficult circumstances. All you can do is try.

I hope you find this forum encouraging and find the support you are looking for. 

Take care of you and remember we are here for you 💗💗💗

[StarZamu]

Hey Snowie, thanks so much. That's really great advice. When I get overwhelmed and DO remember to take it slow/ make small steps that always works. So thanks for reminding me of a very important technique. 

I started a course on depression last night that suggests writing the advantages and disadvantages of getting motivated which I thought could be really helpful!

Anyway, thanks again and I hope you're  not suffering too much.

---

@Snowie wrote:

Good morning @StarZamu 

I know exactly how you feel.

I have two children that are home schooling at the moment due to lockdown. Their school is closed down at the moment so the only option is home schooling for us.

Mine are a bit older then your daughter, so can manage to do their home schooling mostly by themselves, yet I still have to get them up in the morning and organised for the day.

It is hard to get motivated, and I suffer with depression too. I find that I set small steps for myself which are more managable. I focus on just one thing at a time. If I look too far into the day then I just feel overwhelmed and get upset at myself. Also, don't be too hard on yourself hon. You are doing the very best you can under such difficult circumstances. All you can do is try.

I hope you find this forum encouraging and find the support you are looking for. 

Take care of you and remember we are here for you 💗💗💗

---

[Zoe7]

@StarZamu What we as teachers remind our parents is that these are really difficult times and what is most important is their kids mental health ...the academic learning is secondary. No-one should feel pressured to be both parent and teacher so just do what you can with your child. It is a critical time for so many but all kids are in the same boat when it comes to home learning. Remind yourself that despite these conditions you are doing the best you can and that really matters. Your child will benefit most from you being their for so I would suggest making a plan with her each day on what you are going to do - it could be some reading together, cooking or climbing a tree... the activity itself is not as important as being together and doing things together is.