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In some states, schools start to go back in early-August. Particularly in parts of the Southeast.
Its going to blow-up and some schools will ineventuably close and revert to some attempt of remote learning.
Schools in the Upper Midwest and Northeast that don't typically start until around Labor Day will probably see the fiasco going on in the schools down south that started in-person then closed and probably pull the plug before they even get started.
Who knows then they will probably come up with some alternative plans to get kids back in on an alternating schedule or something by November or early 2021.
Its going to be one giant cluster$%#$.
Not to mention colleges....that is not going to go well either. I can't believe they honestly think they have a chance of people able to get students back living on campus in 5-6 weeks.
I'd rather die than subject myself and the kids to "remote learning" again, so on an emotional level I wish schools would open, and then we'll take our chances. Also, the research seems to show that elementary-school kids - the ones who would have the hardest time with masks and social distancing - aren't big spreaders.
Definitely very concerned for the teachers though. The thing is, if schools open part-time and the kids' parents have to work, the kids aren't going to watch themselves in the meantime. While they're not in school, they're going to be shuttled between who knows how many caregivers, increasing the entire school's network of contacts when they go back. It would make more sense to open schools the "normal" way, let the kids wash their hands, do away with big gatherings like eating in the cafeteria, and have the adults wear masks...
And that's not even going into how many kids just can't learn from home for various reasons. I have friends who barely speak English, or have kids with major attention problems, or work outside the home and don't have anyone who could help the kids through those @##!^& mountains of PowerPoint. And the lack of social interaction. And the isolation of kids in potentially abusive homes.
Anyway, mostly I'm hoping we'll have a vaccine soon. It sounds like we may have candidates in late fall, or early next year. Which feels like a lifetime, but it would be so much easier to know there's an end in sight.
Just don't miss this 'once-in-100-yrs-opportunity' to be with your kids and make a huge impact on their life and future.
Work(?) can wait, If you need income, start a family business that can teach your kids how to become self sufficient, innovative, and capable.
Do realize that "Schooling at home" is NOT "Homeschooing!! Practically the opposite
That is all very well in some situations.
I am sure there are many American families, who like one of my kids, upgraded their house last year when the virus was unknown. They are hardly in a position to be without income when they have a large mortgage. They are completely unable to start a business which would produce the same income.
Fortunately in Australia kids are back at school and there has been little transmission in most of the country. However, the city of Melbourne is going back into lockdown in six hours time as they have had a surge in community transmission. They have extended the current school vacation by a week for all but the senior students. I bet the parents are having nightmares at the prospect of schooling from home again.
But I was reading that in Kenya they have just abandoned school for the year and everyone will be expected to repeat.
It is pretty well agreed that in most countries this virus is going to cause the academic gap to increase.
Very worried but I am choosing to keep her home. She'll be entering kindergarten and you know realistically the staff won't and can't be wiping things down every minute. Just not realistic. Maybe if she was younger and I could trust her to remember to use hand sanitizer or something... but little kindergarten kids? Nah
We have one kid starting high school, and the other in high school. My simple summation of the situation: we go back to normal ONCE we all have gotten our vaccination. I do not plan to send my kids back to school. I am battling cancer as well, stage IIIC, and am clinical studies to boost my immunity so am very high risk of contracting the virus. No family backup help options, as all grandparents are dead, and the few aunts and uncles are senior citizens - and none could we leave guardianship to if we were to die. Have been struggling to write out a Will not knowing if will die of Covid19 or the Cancer, and what would be the plan, if my husband and I both die from it. He gets very ill every time he catches just a common cold.
The good news is that a vacceine is on the way, and the virus is mutating, perhaps becoming weaker. However, when I was in the hospital recently for cancer surgery, there was some chaos moving my roommate who needed to be rushed to ICU, and her being told it was FULL of Covid19 patients. The nurses had to make calls and get a special ICU place made for her so she could get intensive care away from Covid patients. So seeing the front lines is not very pretty. At least I had a nice view from my hospital bed watching the helicopter coming back and forth with new patients to the emergency room.
Not sure what our school district is going to come up with, but I keep laying out important books for kids to read, discussing grammar rules, doing Duolingo, and Memrise, and reviewing math concepts and geometry theorums with them over dinner. We have located good Youtube channels of great teachers, who have taken the time to put together videos to teach anyone. Happy to pay the $10/mo for the ad-free YouTube.
We require they do some exercise and get out daily. We have a full gym in our home that my son and I use, well equipped. Now wish we had a private pool.
So we are hoping that our school district will allow for the continued remote learning. Getting kids motivated can be tough. But people are tough, and adaptable. We will get through this, and be better prepared for anything like this in the future. Plagues are nothing new, but history is so soon forgotten.
I'm not sure what my district is planning. They don't go back until the 1st week of September. My daughter and I haven't talked about it. I'm dreading if there at home still because of her 3 year old daughter that lives with her father. Would be easier if it was just her 7 year old son.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthRabbit
Just don't miss this 'once-in-100-yrs-opportunity' to be with your kids and make a huge impact on their life and future.
Work(?) can wait, If you need income, start a family business that can teach your kids how to become self sufficient, innovative, and capable.
Do realize that "Schooling at home" is NOT "Homeschooing!! Practically the opposite
That's your opinion.
With my grandson in 1st grade, I had to teach him math that the teacher assigned. I told her I didn't understand some of it and that a zoom video would be helpful but she didn't do one for that. She did videos for fundations. I had to stand over him with that to make sure he was understanding what she said on the video we watched. I surely couldn't let him do it himself. Some assignments should have been easy had my grandson been a righty but he's a lefty, had a hard time writing freehand on the papers. It was very time consuming for him to try to type the words, so to speed it up, I typed the words in the order the teacher had them and he moved them to the sentence or picture it belonged. Let me tell you, I learned I can easily copy and paste a text box to speed it up. It also went faster if we put all the same numbers on math problems using CTRL V, then he moved onto another problem with a different number.
Gym was on me to figure out the PDF the gym teacher assigned. It was a calendar with various things, some linking to video sites or you tube, he also had to do things like push ups, go up and down stairs, another was a sock hop, a few others that I didn't do because they were too involved with me having to make something in order for them to play the game. That was twice a week. I then had to do an exit interview where I said what he did plus the gym teacher wanted the heart rate.
The art teacher did a google slide show but I had to be there with him helping him. At one point I switched him to an online program where he could do the assignment that way. He was learning about famous artists, had to make something like the artist. My daughter helped him with one where the artist used black lines and primary colors. She then went one better and made the project into a COVID mask.
Library assigned a book report. Guess who helped with that because he'd never had to do that before.
Add to it he doesn't want to do it because his 3 year old sister doesn't have to
My oldest daughter thinks that in fall the "distancing, masks, etc." will deter from his progress. And another inevitable quarantine. The BLM demonstrations/riots also worries her immensely. as it is in a big city an hour away.
So she's found another on-line schooling program, and wants to start just home schooling him, because she's worried that he'll start school in the fall at his academy and the "S**T will hit the fan again in October
I don't know what to tell her. ...
Tell her that she is right to be concerned, very concerned.
Moreover, yeah, sure, school-age children will be equipped with masks and be told to distance, and schools will come out with all kinds of fancy words in the form of "guidelines". But those "guidelines" are just that, fancy words.
As a practical matter, reality is ...
... children will not wear masks and social distance ...
... children will not wear masks and social distance ...
... CHILDREN WILL NOT WEAR MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCE ...
On top of that, a preponderance of administrators and staff will only pay lip-service to the guidelines.
Repeat, a preponderance of administrators and staff will only pay lip-service to the guidelines.
Worth repeating again, a preponderance of administrators and staff will only pay lip-service to the guidelines.
In my view, the people with power to make decisions on whether to go physically go back to school in 4-6 weeks must provide, at the very least, non-prejudicial options, including 100% online school, to families who do not want to take those insane risks. If they do not, they are irresponsible, perhaps even criminally irresponsible, under the guise of legality.
So far, my public school district and private school seem to be going in the direction of offering three options: physical attendance, some (cockamamie and unworkable) hybrid system, and 100% online.
Clearly I'm going for option three. If that option is taken away, then home school, perhaps through a private online company, though our public school district already offered that option even before the pandemic.
As things stand now, I would not even contemplate a return to actual classrooms until the fourth quarter, i.e. around March 2021.
Harvard University has already eliminated actual classroom meetings for the entire academic year.
No. School needs to resume. At this rate, we'll have 15 year old third graders.
Let's get on with it.
Take a gander at school website job openings. There seem to be plenty of openings and new ones popping up even now.
I used to sub and tutor when I lived in Texas. Those positions are usually filled with retired teachers and professionals. Do you think they will enter schools given the risk factors ?
One rural school I worked at lost 40% of their staff/teachers. The demographic was older and they retired.
Schools are losing more than just teachers. They are losing mentors to new teachers; the ones that know what works and what doesn't; the ones that can discern what is important in the curriculum and what can be dropped due to unforeseen circumstances that affect the school year.
This will cause a huge imbalance in schools. And as the start of the school year approaches the schools will get desperate for bodies and at some point any body will do to fill the slot.
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