- A source close to the royal family has offered some insights into Kate Middleton's adjustment to homeschooling her oldest children.
- St. Thomas's Battersea, the school that both Prince George, 6, and Princess Charlotte, 4, attend has closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
- The source says Kate has never wanted to homeschool her children, but adds that St. Thomas's has a great online, remote learning program in place.
Kate Middleton (opens in new tab) is in the midst of taking on a new challenge. As it turns out, it happens to be a challenge that a lot of other parents are taking on right now: How to homeschool your kids while practicing social distancing.
The coronavirus pandemic (opens in new tab) has cause schools around the globe to shut their doors and transition to remote learning. But, even with teachers and fellow students checking in regularly via Zoom or Skype, this new paradigm means a more hands-on role for many parents when it comes to their children's education.
A source close to the royal family told Us Weekly (opens in new tab) this week that Kate was "always against" the idea of homeschooling her oldest children, Prince George (opens in new tab), 6, and Princess Charlotte (opens in new tab), 4, but that now, "she doesn't have any choice."
While Kate's aversion (opens in new tab) to homeschooling seems like it's probably rooted in her and Prince William's commitment (opens in new tab) to giving their kids the most normal upbringing possible, whatever the reason, she's being forced to adjust to homeschool life now—at least for the time being. St. Thomas's Battersea, the school that both George and Charlotte (opens in new tab) attend, is closed right now (opens in new tab) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"George and Charlotte are being taught online at Anmer Hall," the source explained. "When it comes to running quality online education, St. Thomas’s is up there with the best...Being educated from home is a shock to the system for [them]. To begin with, they were easily distracted and wanted to play together instead of sitting at a computer, but Kate’s now got them into a routine....[She] is mainly in charge of the home schooling and playtimes, but William is also very involved too."
Everything about this sounds so familiar and relatable right now.
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Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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