Be thankful to our children... Mum's poem reflects the challenges of home schooling
An online school poetry session during the coronavirus lockdown has inspired a local parent to express her thoughts on the situation in verse.
It came about after Yvonne Shearer's daughter Rylee Harper – a P5 pupil at Canisbay Primary School – was doing a poem task via Google Classroom. Yvonne's well-crafted words touch upon the challenges of home learning at such a difficult time, and how the children are longing to be back in school with their classmates.
The poem captured the imagination of the school staff.
Head teacher Rhona Moodie said: "Yvonne shared it with the teachers in Canisbay and we all thought it was really great and summed up the current situation."
A picture tells a story
That only our eyes can see
We can choose what to make of it
But won't necessarily all agree
A quick snap of an achievement
Can feel like we’ve found gold
But the end picture shown to everyone
Leaves the beginning of the story untold
When something made us beam with pride
And we chose to show you all
Don’t forget that what you didn’t see
Almost drove us up the wall
The tears, the tantrums and hissy fits
Have become a daily event
When working through the school tasks
That teachers have kindly sent
Not many kids are happy
Having a school inside their home
They long to be back in their class
Not having to learn alone
So while the crying may not end too soon
And some days aren’t so good
We’ll struggle through the worst of it
And pray tomorrow brings a better mood
If there comes a time where you’ve found joy
And something you want to share
Please show us all, we’d love to see
And show you that we care
We won't need to know the beginning
Of the story you’re trying to tell
We’ll see the end, the picture
And we’ll see it’s turned out well
It’s easy to hide all the stress
And feel you’ve failed the test
But rest assured we’re all the same
You, me and all the rest
So if we see a picture
We’ll try not to compare
We’ll not know what led up to it
That made them want to share
It's certainly a very strange time for all
Like no-one has felt before
We’re staying in, seeing nobody
Barely stepping out over the door
One day this will all be over
And our kids will begin to smile
They’ll get back to school,
to their teachers and friends
Who they’ve missed for such a long while
When this happens be thankful
For big things and for small
But mostly to our children
For the way they have dealt with it all.
