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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