1st 1/2 week of school

We survived our first week back at school - Virtual learning that is. I was pretty confident we could do it since we were fine for the Spring and the district had promised this year was going to look much different and be much more structured and rigorous than the end of last school year. Well, that remains to be seen!

For high school and junior high, the kids are in "synchronous" learning and have to be logged into their chromebooks non-stop for eight hours a day. There is a 30 min lunch break and 5-minute breaks between classes, but how exhausting!

3rd grade is "asynchronous", which I guess is good, seeing how my other boys are stuck staring at a screen non stop. But that is also exhausting for parents who are the ones the kids comes to with every question. Not even lunches are at the same time - so there are kids coming down to eat at three different time periods during the day. How can working parents function, and how can anyone with a 3rd grader or below be productive? Add to this an internet failure and I'm not sure how the kids are supposed to learn what they need!

And THAT is the main problem! I am thankful to be in a position where I CAN be available and we have a separate room for each child to log into their zooms. So many families are not in this position! But still, what kind of experience is it for the kids who want to see their friends and are starved for human interaction? Again, thankful here that the kids have their brothers and we are not alone at home. (though I do occasionally miss a quiet house)

Our neighboring district, DISD has already said they will postpone in person school until October 7th. While our health and safety is very important, I fear the gap between rich and poor, privileged and not will be widened the longer we stay in this situation. Private religious schools are able to be back face to face, and I can say that it is tempting. How will public school districts be able to survive when families choose to withdraw their kids from public education to home school entirely or go to private schools? We have to be creative and work together for solutions!

There is no easy or perfect solution. In every situation groups of people will complain. But this is the FIRST time in many years of school that my kids have complained about going back only four days in and saying they don't like school. We need to make it fun, educational and interactive!

Back to School in a Pandemic

     Here we are on the 1st Day of School - one like never before. It's 7AM, and instead of stressing over lunch preparation and waking kids to dress and get ready to get out the door I'm drinking my coffee in silence and typing this post.😃 I can't say I'm upset about that part, but I would prefer the quiet DURING the day and I'm sad they don't get to start back seeing their friends in person. However, dropping off and picking up at three separate schools (High School, Junior High & Elementary) is going to be a pain, so I'm OK with easing into the school year and out of the calm of Summer. 

    There are definitely emotions though! Especially grief of Summer being over and wondering if we did "enough" and had enough fun and relaxing. The heat isn't going anywhere, and the kids aren't going anywhere, and it was hard to go anywhere anyway. Still, its the idea that we no longer have the freedom to do so, since they'll be needing to be on their Zoom classes and checking in throughout the day. Not that there's anywhere to go anyway! 

    Yesterday my focus was the kids and making sure they had a good last day of Summer and wanting to do something FUN - with them and with friends. They want to spend time with their friends over doing something as a family and it was a little tricky to organize, but luckily each of them did. Collin (who was surprisingly OK with a family activity) went to Top Golf with friends, while Carson had his four good friends here to swim (& then video games and basketball), and Marin had over Rowan. It was great to host the boys' friends here, and especially that Carson and his friends could be together, before they all go over to Junior High

Summer drawing to a close

As we approach the end of Summer (or extended Spring Break if you want to call it that), heading back to school looks MUCH different than ever before! The only real school shopping I'm doing is purchasing masks - who would have thought? I'm praying for our teachers, administrators, kids and parents adjusting to what will be a very different experience.

Selecting "in person" vs Virtual school was a hard decision. My kids are desperately wanting to go back to school and be around live people, to get out of the house and see their friends! But I wonder how the "new normal" in school will compare to their expectations... Carson has been excited to go to Parkhill Junior High for years, and I don't want to rob him of that opportunity. Collin is half way through high school and starting his Junior Year, which is a very important one! It's one thing to transition to online learning after the kids were with their teachers for 3/4 of the school year, but to START this way, that's a different story! How can you get to know your teacher, and your teacher know you over a Zoom call? I'm less concerned with Elementary, since it's one main teacher, but for the older kids who have 7 teachers, and their teachers so many students - that's much more a concern for me!

There are risks of being in in-person school and I know that. We have chosen our kids mental and social/emotional development over being able to spend time with their grandparents, which is hard. I am not particularly fearful of US getting sick, as I know SO many people who have contracted the virus and recovered. But I am very scared of my parents being exposed! Seeing a friend's struggle with her father being ill and in the ICU and ventilator for nearly a month has been completely heart breaking! The fact that someone with COVID19 dies ALONE with health care providers the only one they see in the last days of their life is so sad, and nothing anyone should have to endure! 

I know there will be outbreaks as kids return to school. I hope and pray there is not one in our campus, but I realize that when an outbreak happens we will likely be shut down and quarantined again. I know there's a possibility we may not even start in person as planned on September 8th. The first three weeks of school will be virtual for everyone in our district. I think that is very smart with the case counts what they are now (insert link)! It's interesting to see some school districts, even close to us having already gone back to school in person and crazy to imagine my house ever being quiet again!

This is HARD for everyone, and there's no easy choices. I ask everyone to show grace to our school Administrators and teachers who have many hard decisions to make, and are operating with many unknowns and changes also. It would be so great if we could keep politics aside, and focus on what's best for community health (physical, as well as social, emotional and financial health). I know it's a balance and people see life through different lenses, but I ask for RESPECT for each family's choice, even if it is different than yours!