Hellobee Boards

I don't have the option to homeschool so nothing really changes for us. We'll roll with whatever is happening with public schools. I'm hoping that if schools can't come back that the school systems have developed a learning plan by that point that will keep kids on track.

We love our local public school, and we were so excited for my daughter to start there this past fall. We've been so impressed with them, and this time apart just shows how much we love and miss them even more. She'll be going back to school as soon as is safely possible. Two parents working full-time from home and trying to keep up with online learning is overwhelming and stressful. This isn't how it's meant to be. She's left to her own devices for the most part throughout the day so we can work, and I feel guilty that she's not getting the level of attention she wants or deserves. I can't believe we have to wait until August for school.

Well, I work in a public school and both of my kiddos go to a different public school, and our plan is to continue with however things play out in September.

Since we live in a hot spot, I'm not 100% convinced we will be physically back in school in September, but I think it's likely--not because it might be the safest idea, but because school staff are basically treated like supermarket workers. Our health just doesn't matter to society at large. I've had working parent friends say to me that they can't wait to put their kids back in school--even if they will continue working from home for their own health/safety.

I'm happy with the work/support my kiddos have gotten from our local school district, so if anything, it makes me love our public schools more.

My son will be in JrK in the fall in a private school. My wife has joked that if they’re still doing zoom classes we will just pull him out and save the tuition. I mean I think* she’s joking .... he hates online learning and he’s not getting anything from it so let’s just cross our fingers that they can go back at the end of August.

@Anagram: That makes zero sense to me. If I am not comfortable commuting, why would I be comfortable sending my kids to the Petri dish that is a public school? Then I would just be living with a disease vector!

@Anagram: I think parents feel that way because it's virtually impossible to work from home while also trying to watch small kids. Childcare is a full-time job for a reason. If it was considered safe to hire a babysitter/tutor, I'd have one at my house right now. Just now, my daughter is supposed to be on a Zoom call with her class, but she's goofing off / wandering around / not paying attention. But I have back-to-back conference calls all day, so I can't sit next to her and make sure she's engaged. Yesterday, I was leading a conference call, and she knocked over a jar in our bedroom and got glass everywhere - while I'm presenting. My husband is working from home too, but he's in the same boat I am. And it isn't working for me right now mentally or emotionally. There's also the issue that she's just not interested in learning online, so it's hard for me to get her engaged or motivated, whereas she loves school in person. I know we're doing what's safest right now, but I can't wait until it's safe to be around people again. I'm not going to send my child anywhere that would compromise her health, but I am really looking forward to school being open again, for several reasons.

ETA: Also, I do very much appreciate my daughter's teachers. I realize how beneficial they've been for her development. And I'd absolutely not want to compromise their health or safety either. But I miss having them!!

@krispi: I get it. Teachers with children are in the exact same position. I have to lead zoom class meetings while my 2 kids are supposed to be doing their work/have their zoom meetings. My husband is not available at all, from 8:30am-6pm because his job has picked up and gotten even more crazy/stressful than usual.

I also live in a 2 bedroom apartment with 2 kids, and my husband has set up his office in our bedroom. So when I teach on Zoom, I either have to do it from right next to my kids (and chaotic/stressful does not even begin to describe what that is like), or I have to do it from my kids' bedroom, which is not super professional. There's no desk in there, I have to sit on the floor.

But as stressful as all that is, I have 2 autoimmune disesases, and I have thankful I am not forced to be in a petri dish, exposed to 500 students plus their family's germs right now. My coworkers--some of which have heart conditions, are recovering from cancer, have high blood pressure--are in the same boat.

All working parents have the same struggle. I still don't think teacher's lives are worth less than other working professionals.

I really don't see this crisis as likely to cause a sudden uptick in the number of home schooling families generally. Maybe a few families who were on the fence will move over. I’m not in a state/district that provides any support or funding (very few places provide any support or funding), but I guess the places that do could see slightly more interest if closures go into the next school year.

I don't think most families who have suddenly had their schedules upended are getting a realistic idea of home schooling at all, except maybe a little taste of what it’s like to be with your children all day. And even that part isn’t particularly accurate. We *never* (never, ever!) spent all day every day at home and mostly within the confines of our own small yard before this. We went to park days, participated in special events, did field trips, saw our friends in person, went to the library (I so miss it!), visited museums, etc. Our lives are totally different now, as it is for the families who were previously sending their children to school, it’s just different in different ways. One of our neighbors was all, “Everything’s the same for you!” and I was thinking, “No, it’s really not.”

Also, in four years of home schooling my child has never once had an online class and none of our friends use them either, so that aspect of distance learning feels very much *not* like home school to me.

As a K-12 teacher married to another K-12 teacher, the possibility of significant closures next year terrifies me. I actively avoid dwelling on it but it crosses my mind every day.

My students are already so far behind and piling on almost a year total of closure would be drastic. My school district isn't grading anything (which I agree with) but we'd have to rethink that for next year 1st quarter if we're closed.

I also am afraid that states are going to slash public education funds yet again (we literally just got a FRACTION of the 2009 cuts restored here in AZ); and/or there will be a big drop in enrollment which will also mean a huge cut. If we were fully online, I think a lot of the positions, including even teachers, would be cut to save costs.

My friend is a teacher in our district and he said they have already put a team together to come up with a plan for the fall if schools can't open. Doesn't mean that is what they expect to happen but they think it could happen.

DD will be starting kindergarten in the fall at the public elementary in our town. I can't even imagine what that would look like if they start the year online. Honestly trying not to think about it too much - things are still changing so much day to day it's hard to know what will be happening 4+ months from now.

@jhd: so NJ has a very odd school district/ town system where every 2 miles is a new town and separate school district and they are all their own little fiefdoms. They all have separate police forces, school districts, fire departments, etc. That’s why property taxes are so high.

It also contributes to the de facto segregation. The town where I work, for example, has 0 apartment complex. Only single family homes in a far Suburb. As a result, we have 0% low income students.

Our school announced we were closing March 13, but we saw the writing on the wall the week before, so we’d been preparing all week to put the next 6 weeks of lessons online. Our students already take their laptops home every night, but that week, we did a survey for Internet (everyone had access) and we let students get new chargers or trade out laptops if they were having any tech issues. My principal actually called a half day for students Friday, May 12, before our governor even closed schools, and we had to stay till 3 and post our lessons, plus we had to pack up all of our class curriculum and supplies to last us the test of the school year. Most of my stuff is online, but I was given a new course this semester for gifted students that I’ve never taught before and that curriculum is all in paper format in weekly binders, so I had to pack up 8 gigantic binders of lessons and handouts, that now I get to scan at home daily to put online for the kids. Our state required districts to submit a “digital learning plan” for state approval which we did, and got approved. Parents have to log in online and count their students as attending/not attending school each day and if they are not attending, the school secretary follows up and calls home just like when we are physically in school. Even our paid electives (like after school clubs of the teacher/sponsor is paid) is supposed to do some kind of digital meetings/learning since those sponsors are getting their stipend. So our student government had zoom meetings, etc.

So we were super prepared.

Now, the school district where I live is not 1:1, and I’m not sure everyone has internet because our student population is much more diverse, but I think the district and the city worked together to supply all the other students with a device and access to the internet for free. For the lower grades, they email out lesson plans or post to Class Dojo, but the work is not study completed online, it’s completed on paper (which I think is age appropriate). We are asked to take a picture of completed work and send it to my kiddos’ teachers and also view their videos online, and the view counts as our attendance.

If the virus situation drags out, I'm seriously considering homeschooling. Right now the kid is getting 10 times more screen time and ten times less useful learning than usual. I don't know if any elementary school kids learn well from online worksheets with no personal interaction... I doubt it. I'd rather teach him myself, if only I could figure out how to put in enough hours at work at the same time.

@muffinsmuffins: as a fellow kindergarten mom I agree. My kindergartener is not really learning anything and I’m worried about her backsliding but also feeling at a loss for what to do because both of her parents work full time still. It’s really hard and I don’t think her teacher has it easy because she’s at home with FIVE GIRLS trying to take care of their shit and her job and yah it’s a mess for everyone

Our private school is delivering a full days worth of instruction via live zoom classes. 8:30-3 everyday with breaks. It’s actually pretty remarkable and we are thankful for it but...

It’s just too much for 1st grade. And trying to work while also managing her breaks and printing her worksheets is a nightmare. We are so looking forward to going back to physical school in August. However, if for some reason physical school doesn’t happen and the next school year begins with zoom? In that scenario I will quit my job and homeschool. One big homeschool advantage (I was homeschooled through elementary school) is that you tear through your work and have most of the day to play. Taking 6.5 hours to get through school from home is a little crazy in my opinion.

In the fall we’ll have a Kinder, a 2nd grader, and a newborn so I am really rooting for physical school! My big concern at this point is whether we’ll know what’s going to happen before tuition is due end of May...

Dd is in pre-k at a private elementary school. Her teacher is pregnant, due next week, so I’m sure she’s glad she’s at home. They don’t have zoom classes, but her teacher has recorded a couple of videos to watch. But a lot is YouTube videos, along with worksheets sent hom when they started, and doing problems on ixl.

To be honest, she’s not really doing much of anything but running around the house with her little brother. It’s just too much with both me and Dh working from the house full time.

I’m really scared of what’s going to happen in the fall. Dh teaches college classes and similar to @periwinklebee: they’re already expecting to have online classes in the fall.

I’m still planing to send my son to public kinder in the fall, however I’m starting to doubt if they will even have traditional school by then. We’re in OH so not exactly a hotspot, but our daycare director had stated “expect group childcare to look a little different when we re-open”. What the heck could that possibly mean?

I just can’t fathom going a whole summer not being able to have play dates or go to the playground or the pool. I was feeling very down yesterday and I think it’s grief for the loss of normalcy. My son is healthy and happy, I still have my job, but dammit I wanted a better life for him than this.

I’m terrified that he won’t get the kindergarten experience that I want him to have. I hate waiting and having no answers.

As a planner I am having a really hard time making peace with the enormous uncertainty of the situation, and I feel like so many people I know are struggling with this too. Like - we just want to know how it's going to end (even if it's really bad). But obviously life never works like that, even if normal times provide the fortunate amongst us with a false sense of control... I haven't had this much trouble relinquishing a desire to control things/know how they are going to turn out since TTC with our first child.

No changes, but I feel like if they don’t go back in the fall I’m going to lose it. Yes I know teachers are also working from home, but they expect
Us to check in at certain times when I am also on the clock with work. (Meaning I don’t have control over the times we can check in! We have stayed up late doing homework because there just wasn’t time between little kids and a hectic job.) I have at least as much work as I had a month ago except now I don’t have access to all the office resources at work. I have to turn in production reports every single day at the close of business detailing what I did with my day. Its not something that can be done at the table while entertaining kids. My coworkers are working on weekends and late nights because the system is slow. I have to be available on demand during my day. And I’m supposed to be doing school with my kids. It just seems crazy to think this is going to go beyond the end of this year. I know I’m not able to give anywhere near the level of attention this needs. My husband has taken some stuff from me before we works overnights right now, but we are both so so tired. This is NOT a time where anyone in our family has all this down time I keep hearing about.

@Anagram: Ugh, that is such a garbage response, I'm sorry you had to hear that. I'm in the DC area, which isn't really a hotspot (though who knows, it can easily become one), and for me I absolutely wouldn't send my daughter to school if I didn't feel comfortable commuting an hour on a train every day. I'm not even sure what would make me feel comfortable being around people again.

@2littlepumpkins: Have you emailed your child’s teacher to let him/her know it’s too much? I would reach out and let them know it’s too much right now, and then I’d ask if there are one or two things you could prioritize, and I’d leave it at that. My oldest is in kindergarten and her teacher has been phenomenal about balance, but if she weren’t I wouldn’t feel bad about simply saying my kid is only working on reading with me and phonics practice every day, for example.

I’m a middle school teacher, so my students are older, but we’re still struggling to find that balance with them as well. They tend to be more independent, but some of them are also tasked with watching and/or teaching younger siblings every day, so their own schoolwork is put aside. That’s understandable.

I will say that as a teacher, I am scheduling zooms three days a week with my kids, but that’s mostly so they have a set time they know they can see me face to face, ask questions, etc. They are not penalized if they’re unable to attend.