Guys, your parent friends are not ok right now.
School boards across the country are making decisions about what to do about school this year. It's terrifying, honestly. There are so many phrases being thrown around and it can be really confusing knowing what the differences are and what your options are. I've also seen some parents terrified because they think that they are required to do whatever the school board decides. Let me make this abundantly clear: In the United States of America YOU decide what to do about your child's education. If you don't like what the school board has decided you can opt out. No penalties, no fuss. This if course depends on your family and job situation. Regardless, take back your power and realize that you make the decisions. What ARE the decisions though? I am by no means an expert, but I have done 4 kinds of schooling with my kids: Private school, Public School, Distance Learning and Homeschooling. So though I am not an expert, I have experience in all of these options. Lets break them down. Private School: School you pay for. Sometimes it can be religious. The actual instruction situation is similar to public school though if it's religious it will have religious instruction as well. Public School: School you don't have to pay for. Based on where you live. Distance Learning: Your child is enrolled in public or private school. They take attendance and the teachers organize and implement all curriculum. Frequently teachers teach via zoom or other video apps. Our school used google classroom and google slides with prerecorded video for instruction. May or may not involve worksheets or hand written work. This is assuming the school can get worksheets to you. Ours couldn't. Pro: The curriculum and teaching is handled by the teachers. Seamless transition back to "in building" school whenever that happens. Con: Kids of all ages have a very hard time sitting in video classes. The younger ones just don't learn very well that way, or sit still. The older kids could end up being on video instruction for 5+ hours and then still have homework in each class. The teaching style geared towards a classroom environment, not a home environment. Engagement is different. Hybrid Schedule: This goes by a lot of different names but is essentially some days in the school building and some days doing distance learning. Home schooling: Home school laws very state by state. If this is something you are considering I encourage you to investigate that situation. Basically you remove your child from their current school, usually by a letter explaining the intent to home school. You are now in control of your child's education. There are a lot of curriculum options. There is online based learning which uses cartoons and animations to teach. These usually have worksheets you can download and print. The website tracks your kid's tests and work so at the end of the year you have a printout of the whole year if your into that sort of thing. Then there is workbook based home school. This is what people usually envision when they think of home schooling: A parent sitting at the kitchen table with kiddo doing work. You can also do a hybrid of any of these things. When I home schooled previously we did online school, plus some workbooks. Pro: You are in control of your child's learning and schedule. It is individualized to your child. If they are struggling in a subject, you just don't move forward till they get it, if they are excelling in a subject, they can go as far as they want past "grade level". The teaching style is meant to be engaging in a home education setting. You can take days off whenever you like, you are in control of the holiday schedule. We used to take "perfect weather" days off instead of "snow days" off. Con: You have to provide the curriculum which generally isn't free. You have to engage with your child and be part of their learning (this can be a pro or a con). That means if you don't understand what they don't understand, you have to do the lesson yourself or find a friend to help! Un-schooling: This isn't being discussed as much but I want to touch on it. Un-schoolers believe in child led education. There is generally no curriculum. The kid is allowed to pursue their interests and passions. They learn though real life situations and exploring things they interested in. This option is generally for those parents who want to un-school for the duration of their child's schooling. Billie Eilish is a famous person who learned in this fashion. This post is by no means comprehensive. This is just meant to show the basic differences of the schooling types. Only you know whats best for your child and situation. I've just seen so many of my friends needing definition and clarity that I figured one post would be easier! If you are curious what we decided to do, I made a post here http://www.sonottired.com/blog/what-about-school. In the end, you do whats best for you and your family. I'm just here to help you feel empowered and understand your options better. You got this!!!
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Let's have a little chat about school.
OMG WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO??????????????????? You feeling that? We all are. New Jersey has just released some proposed guidelines for opening school back up. Nothing in it is particularly surprising, most of the protective measures are what's necessary. Here is an small idea of what we are dealing with. Face coverings for everyone including the kids if they wont stay 6 feet away from people. Desks 6 feet away and barriers between them. No shared school supplies. No reading circles. Possible split schedule (some days at school, some at home). Lots and lots of cleaning. Distance learning again if Covid cases spike. All necessary things. As my husband and I have been agonizing over what to do about school this year three things were of the utmost importance to us; Stability, emotional health and the kids being able to learn. Let's talk about stability first. If the kids are on a split schedule, it will be very disorienting knowing what day is what when they wake up. Eventually they would get the hang of it.....Until someone tests positive or Covid cases blow up again. Then they will be back home again for who knows how long. Its very uncertain and so many unknowns. So many things could change so quickly. No stability at all. Emotional Health is next, and is a big one. Its one of the main reasons why so may are pushing the schools to open back up again. The kids need to socialize. They need their friends and teachers. They need community. This is all very, very true! Amelie is going into kindergarten and she has been longing for the day she will ride the bus with her brother and go to big girl school. There is one big problem, that school environment that we want for her doesn't exist right now. I cant imagine being in a room full of people but being isolated at the same time. Not being able to go near anyone, being behind a barrier. And wearing a mask all day? My 8 year old struggled wearing one for an hour today. He's a stressed out kid and hes scared of catching the virus. The whole time he's in school he will be scared and stressed. For my kids, the scenario at school that is necessary will not be good for their emotional health. I want my kids to be able to learn. A stressed out, isolated kid wont learn. Our kids have been though a lot this year. So much. They have been troopers and rolled with it. The kids did the distance learning and adapted. I'm actually very proud of the way our elementary school got it together in such a short time. It was masterful and I thanked God every day for his teacher. It was her first year teaching, can you imagine? However, having home schooled one of my kids for 2 years before, I could see where it was lacking. This is by no fault of the teachers or schools. It's simply that they teach in a way meant for classroom engagement. Home school curriculum teaches in a way meant for individual home engagement. Once we are able to finally identify our actual concerns and hopes for the year, we were finally able to make a choice. We will be pulling our kids out of school for the year and homeschooling them. They will have stability, they will learn, and now I just have to find a family or 2 who want to have a play date every week. We can add them to our "safe" bubble. I'm also removing us from the school system to enable the school to do what it needs to for the kids who will be going back this year. Less kids mean less juggling and hopefully more resources available to the kids who have to go back. I love our school system. I love our school. My kids will go back, just not this coming year. Some parents don't have any choice but to send their kids back to school. I want to help their kids be successful too. I am mourning my daughter not getting on the bus for the first day of kindergarten. I'm mourning that my 8 year old wont start an instrument this year. I'm mourning what should have been. And yet, I have peace finally. Our decision is not for everyone. And it doesn't have to be. You do you. I am not in your shoes and there is literally no judgement being tossed in anyone's direction. As parents, we are all struggling right now. Every one of us. We can only do what is best for our family. You are the best advocate your child has. I also want you to know that you are the boss. You make the choices. This is the United States and homeschooling is not illegal. Different states just have different laws. New Jersey happens to be awesome, they basically don't care what you do. If you need to talk it out or it seems scary and daunting, i'm happy to have a chat. I wrote this post because every parent I know is internally screaming right now. No option is good. They all have flaws. There is nothing worse than choosing the best choice out of bad choices. I wanted you to know you are not alone. We are all there. Let's be supportive and help each other as best we can. We got this. |
AuthorI'm so tired. The children are so not tired. |