Month: July 2020

Homeschooling During Covid-19: The Challenge

Many parents are having to start homeschooling during Covid-19. Teaching kids from home is never easy. However, adding divorce and joint custody on top of that makes education that much more complicated.

Homeschooling During Covid-19: How to Navigate this Change

Joint Custody 

With the school year drawing closer, there is an uncertainty about whether schools will reopen next year. This opens up the possibility for another school year of homeschooling during Covid-19. This may become an issue for co-parents with joint custody. What guidelines should be followed when determining timeshare now that schools have been closed? Court orders address usual school breaks and holidays. However, this becomes less clear when schools are closed for months at a time. 

There may be a difference in the way each parent handles homeschooling. These differences may create issues between exes. It may also impact how the child is learning. Try and establish some form of structure between the schooling setup between the different households. 

Work from Home

On top of that, many parents are having to work from home, in addition to doing homeschooling during Covid-19. Parents who do have to work from home may find it difficult to juggle working and having their kids home all of the time. Plus, parents have to find more time to help kids with their schoolwork. This may cause tensions around the household. If one of the co-parents does not work and the other one does, this will directly affect one of the parents ability to do the homeschooling. 

Develop a Plan

Most parents are not used to having to assume this level of teaching responsibilities. Only a few months ago, no one could have predicted they would be homeschooling during Covid-19. Plus, quarantine throws in a whole other dimension. It is so important that parents give themselves grace during this period. This time period certainly does not come with an instruction manual. This may be a big life change and will take time to get it figured out. 

Everyone’s schedule is different, so every homeschooling plan will be different. It’s important to see what works best for that particular family. It’s okay if there is an adjustment period, but getting a routine in place will make the homeschooling process go smoother.

Practical Divorce Issues: Subtle Changes

It’s always good to do some proper prep work when you know you want to get a divorce. Still, you have to also keep in mind some practical divorce issues. These issues may not be related to the divorce process directly, but could come up as a result of it…

Practical Divorce Issues: What To Plan For

Team jobs

Team jobs can be the site of a lot of practical divorce issues. Usually, when a married person needs help, they’ll reach out to their spouse first. Many times, it’s for simple things that just require an extra set of hands, like moving some furniture.

However, you’ll now be down that other person. You might not think that’s an issue, but for example maybe you plan to move. What do you do if the movers accidentally placed heavy boxes or furniture in the wrong rooms? When you realize you can’t move these things alone, it’s time to reach out to friends and family for assistance.

Yard work

Other practical divorce issues can come up regarding yard work. Most couple tend to have one person take care of the yard work. Others may split up the duties, to help speed things up and evenly share the workload. With a divorce, you may end up finding yourself having to take care of the lawn yourself.

Of course, not taking care of the lawn makes it pretty unappealing and could even result in fines. Therefore, determine if you want to try and take care of everything on your own. If that doesn’t sound appealing, hiring lawn care professionals is also good if you have the money for them.

Administrative matters

 Some practical divorce issues can be cause by administrative matters. Each household will have someone who mainly handles these sorts of tasks. This tends to include things like paying bills, preparing taxes, and balancing the household budgets. They may also take care of things like school activities if you have kids.

With a divorce, you’ll now suddenly find yourself in charge of a lot of these responsibilities. It can be pretty overwhelming to have all of this thrown into your lap at once. As a result, it’s a good idea to reach out to your ex and ask them for some advice. If you left things on good terms, then they should be willing to give you a hand.

Reasons to Adopt: Expanding Your Family

The reasons to adopt will differ among families, but they ultimately come down to wanting to add a child to their family. There are many reasons a that a couple or individual may choose to adopt. Adoption can be a lengthy, yet rewarding process. 

Reasons to Adopt: Why You May Consider Adoption

Infertility

Some people are unable to have their own biological children. Infertility is a common one of the reasons to adopt. Some people try to have a child naturally, but are unable to conceive. Sometimes, they try fertility treatments, which could fail as well. They may consider adoption as a way to have a child, even though they are unable to have their own biological child. 

Single Parents

In other cases, single parents may want a child but not have a partner to have a child with. This is another one of the reasons to adopt. Adoption does not require you to have a spouse or partner. This way, a single parent can have a child without having to go through fertility treatments.

Same-Sex Parents

In the same way, same-sex couples are unable to have a biologic child that would have the genes of both parents. They may have to go through fertility treatments in order to have a child as well. This brings up another one of the reasons to adopt, as this could open another option for having a child.

Medical Concerns

Sometimes, medical issues prevent a couple from being able to have a child of their own. Other times, the fear of passing on a genetic disease or gene could be one of the reasons to adopt. In both of these situations, adoption may be the best option for medical concerns that parents may have.

Give a Child a Loving Home

Another one of the reasons to adopt is to provide a child with a stable, loving home. There are children domestically and around the world who live in an environment that may not be safe, loving or supportive. 

On the other hand, sometimes parents are in situations where they are just not able to provide or care for a child. Some people decide to adopt because they want to give these children a supportive home and love them as their own. 

These are just some of the many reasons to adopt. There are children in the United States, abroad and in the foster system who are up for adoption. Whatever your reasons are for starting the journey towards adoption, make sure you weigh all options and do plenty of research. Adoption is a wonderful thing, but not something to take lightly.