This article was written by Veronique Nagle, a nonprofit HR professional who homeschooled her second grader and preschooler during the 2020–2021 school year using the pilot homeschool option from The Positivity Project (P2). Coming from a family of teachers, she found the year gave her a new appreciation for the patience and creativity teaching takes.
This 2020-2021 school year has certainly been one that we never dreamed of facing. Parents, teachers, and staff have had to make difficult choices between less than ideal options. Given the challenges our house had with virtual learning at the end of the previous school year, and our demanding, yet flexible, full-time jobs, we opted for a year of homeschooling.
In planning out the curriculum for our second grader and preschooler, we wanted a balance of things they could do on their own, with things that grounded them both in getting into the mindset of school, and still feeling connected to the schoolwork that my second grader had previously done. I remembered my second grader coming home and telling me about The Positivity Project (P2) and what he had learned, and thought it would be a great and familiar way to kick off school each day. After reaching out I was excited to learn about P2’s pilot homeschooling option!
In the morning we start with independent work to give me a few hours of work, then we begin our school session with P2. My second grader reads the definitions and lessons, while my preschooler gets a turn to point out all of her sight words. They look forward to the books and videos that are embedded in each lesson and sometimes ask to watch them over again. It’s great to have a week-long focus that reinforces the definitions and has visuals to help them remember. It’s been really rewarding to see them making connections outside of the lessons — like noticing that Ruby Bridges had a lot of perseverance and bravery going back into school each day.
While this has been an unanticipated and very challenging school year, I feel fortunate to have had the privilege of being with my kids more and becoming more aware of how they learn and make connections. P2 has been a great tool to spark curiosity and interesting conversations.
