An Old and New Normal Kind of School Year - Grit & Grace

This year may have cancelled many things, but try as it might, 2020 didn’t cancel the “new normal” school year. As I type this, The Gonzalez Homeschool Academy (at least I think that’s what we’re calling it this year) is starting our second week of school. Many of the usual feelings are back again this year: yay because we get to start back with the school routine again, and ugh because…school. Welcome to an old and new normal kind of school year.

An old and new kind of school year.

I’ve been homeschooling long before COVID-19 and all things social distancing and quarantining made it a requirement. I’m one of “those” moms – a homeschooling for the past 15+ years kind of mom. What started out as a homeschool “experiment” for our son’s Pre-K and Kindergarten years has turned into an indispensable part of our family life.

The more things change, the more things stay the same…sort of.

Our new normal during these unprecedented times (because we haven’t heard those words nearly enough) has brought plenty of change. There are a few things that have stayed the same, though. We were wearing masks, but we still continued our annual tradition of kicking off the school year with a field trip.

I also get to continue to juggle all. the. things trying to balance my freelance work schedule with my role as homeschool mom. What does that look like? Like many of us, it looks like a whole lot of Zoom meetings. I’m even teaching my fitness classes via Zoom. It looks like using the early morning and late afternoon/evening hours for work when I’m unable to get to things during the school day. Even though my students are older and more independent, my role as their teacher means I’ve still got to make sure things are headed in the right direction. I can’t just check out and solely focus on my writing, or on my group fitness commitments. When the school year starts, and when school is in session, I need to be in the school zone.

So weekly blog posts turn into bi-weekly, or maybe even monthly. Two fitness classes per day turn into just one. The old and new normal fuse into just plain old normal.

“Everything on earth
has its own time
    and its own season.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1 CEV

Becky is a Miami native, and has lived here all of her life. Married to her husband for over 20 years, they lead a very active lifestyle along with their three teenagers and Riley, their rescue dog. Becky loves to teach, and has had the awesome privilege of home educating her children for over twelve years. When not teaching academics, Becky loves to equip, encourage, and empower women through the teaching of her group fitness classes. Becky and her husband lead various ministries, and their family loves to serve the community through the countless opportunities provided over the past twenty years+ in their local church. She enjoys filling her "free" time with reading, writing, watching movies, and just spending time with the family. Becky has a passion for living her life with grit and grace, and encouraging others to do the same.