Sending your kids back to school (1 Viewer)

[gboudx]

Our schools are offering virtual learning, but they have a limited number of openings and high risk kids get first priority, so the spots filled up quickly and a lot of those who signed up for it didn't make it. The schools just don't have enough resources and teachers to dedicate to it.

There is no limitation on virtual in our school district. They were betting on at least 50% wanting virtual, especially at the high school level. They got 68% in person which put too many in the 2 high schools to provide social distancing. So they pulled out Plan B for high schools which is either all virtual or a hybrid in person/virtual. This way they can social distance.

As for the teachers, with less students on campus some teachers will teach in-person while others will teach virtual. And the curriculum is in sync so there are no issues should they have to go all virtual due to outbreaks. We‘ll see how well it’s planned out in a few weeks.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I guess that sort of makes sense, from an interaction standpoint, but i would think the curriculum would be the same either way and just do a live stream of in person presentation for those doing virtual. That's what would make the most sense to me anyway.

So that’s what they are calling ‘synchronous’ learning (kids at home are watching a live stream at the same time as the regular class

now imagine watching a live stream of a play with the camera set at the back of the house - the audio and visual quality is going to suck even if you have a great camera
(ie kids at home will have a hard time hearing, won’t really be able to see what’s on the board)

now imagine that same play shot as a movie - even with soso equipment it’s going to be much easier to see and hear with the camera right in on the action

kids at home are much better served by lessons done for distance learning - teacher speaking into laptop, lessons or images posted in google docs, et al

but that means the teacher has to give the same lesson twice - taping a distance learning version right after class (or after school or the previous weekend)

it’s at least double the work

the school I’m starting at has said teachers will only do one class and post the taped copy of the f2f class - which I appreciate but it sucks for the kids
my wife’s school wants both - not sure that’s going to work

 

[Get in the Carr]

If it makes you feel any better i have had a second grader in summer camp all summer and a toddler in day care all summer. Other than my toddler having a fever his first week in day care, we have not had any issues or heard of any. Now my toddler is only in a class with about seven other kids and the second grader is in a group and required to wear a mask. From what i can tell the camp kids wear their masks even when playing outside. They do have computer lab time where they are indoors i’m sure like in a school environment. Not one issue. Maybe they are just exceptions but just telling you our experience to maybe ease your mind a little.

 

[rajncajn]

So that’s what they are calling ‘synchronous’ learning (kids at home are watching a live stream at the same time as the regular class

now imagine watching a live stream of a play with the camera set at the back of the house - the audio and visual quality is going to suck even if you have a great camera
(ie kids at home will have a hard time hearing, won’t really be able to see what’s on the board)

now imagine that same play shot as a movie - even with soso equipment it’s going to be much easier to see and hear with the camera right in on the action

kids at home are much better served by lessons done for distance learning - teacher speaking into laptop, lessons or images posted in google docs, et al

but that means the teacher has to give the same lesson twice - taping a distance learning version right after class (or after school or the previous weekend)

it’s at least double the work

the school I’m starting at has said teachers will only do one class and post the taped copy of the f2f class - which I appreciate but it sucks for the kids
my wife’s school wants both - not sure that’s going to work

I forgot what they're called, but my wife's school district is supposed to have purchased special cameras that follow and stay focused on the teacher, which they will use for any kids that have to be quarantined. Still, it's going to be a different animal trying to learn from home rather than in person, especially for the elementary age children.

Edit: Swivel is the name

 

[bclemms]

Not sending my kids back. Their school is going with as few restrictions as possible in a state that has the highest cases per capita in the country in a community of anti-masker and hoaxers. The schooling will end spectacularly in a matter of weeks.

The public schools are not doing any distance learning options either so it's not really much different.

I don't want to do online learning and have even considered getting an apartment and doing a temporary move to a state with low virus loads so my kids can go to school but lack of confidence in any state being able to keep numbers low into the fall is so low that I don't think it will work.

So my choices are online learning and I haven't found any really good options or letting them skip a year. Both options really suck.

 

[Arathrael]

I’m in Canada. Pretty low case load. My 3 year old is eligible to start pre K.

We are keeping him home. His birthday is in Dec so he barely qualified as being eligible to enroll.

We have a tough time getting him to wear a hat, let alone a mask.

Social interaction is important though.

The UK has very similar case loads to Canada (maybe; we were almost certainly significantly under-counting cases compared to Canada earlier, but it might be similar now), but we didn't send our 3 year old back to preschool when those reopened in June. He's 4 next week and due to start reception in primary school in September, but we're 99% at not sending him.

The UK starts kids in formal schooling ridiculously early anyway (reception is the equivalent of kindergarten in the US, but it's at 4-5 instead of 5-6), and as he's summer-born he'd be one of the youngest. If he was three weeks younger he'd be starting next year anyway. He'd probably have been OK - he's very sociable and not lacking in confidence, so not at all like his parents - but while they're re-opening for full schooling here, I don't think it's going to be a great environment.

The measures they're putting place are pretty limited; only one adult allowed to bring the child to school, they're not allowed on school premises (the children are collected by teachers and assistants from the gate), extra handwashing, and bubbled classes. But there's no masks, the bubbles are pretty large (full-time classes of 30 children, and I suspect some staff will be moving between 'bubbles'). No PPE. Not sure what they're doing in terms of social distancing and preventing interaction in terms of sharing toys, but if they're preventing it, it's safer, but it kind of defeats the point of sending him so he can play with other children. It's either safer, but not a great environment for a four year old IMO, or it's less safe, which is also bad.

I don't think it'll be stable either. Without schools being open, we're having localised resurgences in various areas (ours is OK right now, but there's re-imposed lockdown measures 12 miles away from us). Unless other measures are taken (like closing pubs and restaurants) I can't see opening schools not adding to the increase, especially as we head into cold and flu season anyway. Basically I suspect to keep schools open if it's even possible would require severe measures elsewhere, and I don't see those happening.

So we're pretty much at applying for him to start next year instead of this year, which is an option for us with him being born in August, and then we'll see if another year is long enough for the country to get its act together. He could go back to preschool in the meantime, which has smaller classes, but I think we'd still be leaning away from that as well at the moment.

I really feel for people whose children are older though, or who aren't in a position to be able to keep their child at home indefinitely. It's a screwed up situation.

 

[Maxp]

Baldwin County Alabama already had a virtual school prior to Covid19 for middle through high school kids, about 300 students. This year they expanded to grade school and enrollment skyrocketed to 7000 kids. The school system has 30,000 total. One of my daughters is starting 1st grade in the virtual school, one a pre k 3 hour a day program and my two year old son does his speech therapy three days a week.

 

[superchuck500]

My five-year old started kindergarten today. I'm happy that she's back in school but I'm nervous at how aggressive the school is being. Monday morning, back to school full-time, 8:30 to 2:30 - five days a week, no masks. The teachers (where they can) and staff are wearing masks. The only mitigation measure is temperature checks .

Even without the virus, I think the first week schedule is a bit shocking - these kids haven't been to school in six months. But perhaps the administrators know more about their needs than I do. But with full attendance and no masks, I'm very concerned about the virus.

I'm much more comfortable with my second-grader's school plan. For the first three weeks (and perhaps after) they're at "Orange Mode" with class size cut in half (each half goes 2x a week) - so she's only there with 7 other kids, and they only interact with their class. For example, lunch isn't in the cafeteria. We order their lunches through an app (you can only choose between the hot option or the sandwich option) and the lunches are brought to the classroom or to an outdoor location weather permitting.

Masks are required anywhere outside of the classroom and in the classroom when appropriate. The desks are spread apart. There is a health screening app that you have to do each morning and the child won't be allowed to school if the screening hasn't been done that morning.

She starts on Wednesday.

 

[CoolBrees]

Oregon doesn’t start until after Labor Day and then Oregon and more specifically Portland Public Schools for my family is 100% distant learning until Nov 9.

All fall sports cancelled.

 

[superchuck500]

A Florida judge has issued an injunction against Gov. DeSantis's order that schools that do not reopen will lose funding. The judge ruled that the Governor's order appears to contradict applicable law (including that schools must operate safely) and required schools to disregard professional advice from their own medical panels.










@Saint_Ward

 

[0rion]

My five-year old started kindergarten today. I'm happy that she's back in school but I'm nervous at how aggressive the school is being. Monday morning, back to school full-time, 8:30 to 2:30 - five days a week, no masks. The teachers (where they can) and staff are wearing masks. The only mitigation measure is temperature checks .

Even without the virus, I think the first week schedule is a bit shocking - these kids haven't been to school in six months. But perhaps the administrators know more about their needs than I do. But with full attendance and no masks, I'm very concerned about the virus.

I'm much more comfortable with my second-grader's school plan. For the first three weeks (and perhaps after) they're at "Orange Mode" with class size cut in half (each half goes 2x a week) - so she's only there with 7 other kids, and they only interact with their class. For example, lunch isn't in the cafeteria. We order their lunches through an app (you can only choose between the hot option or the sandwich option) and the lunches are brought to the classroom or to an outdoor location weather permitting.

Masks are required anywhere outside of the classroom and in the classroom when appropriate. The desks are spread apart. There is a health screening app that you have to do each morning and the child won't be allowed to school if the screening hasn't been done that morning.

She starts on Wednesday.

All of mine started back today....remotely. We all sat at the kitchen table at 8am and were all done with today's stuff by 9:30. Granted....first day there wasn't much to do but our goal each day is to be done or close to done before lunch with that days work.

 

[saintmdterps]

My wife is a teacher in the county school system and is doing virtual learning. She’s not happy about it but knows it is the only safe option. Our daughter is switching from county to private because my wife knows there’s no way she’s going to have time to help Ella. The private school has limited class size and we’re pretty comfortable with their protocols to keep everyone as safe as possible

my son started college last week. There are only 700 freshmen on campus. The rest are doing distance learning.

I work in a nursing home. Just call us COVID house.

 

[mattgdg]

My daughter started back to school today. We had the option of traditional learning vs virtual. We opted for traditional because she does so much better with personal interaction. Her school split the grades into halves with one half attending Mon/Tue and the other doing Thurs/Fri. She only goes Monday and Tuesday, the Wed/Thurs/Fri is virtual. Her class only has 9 students, so we were hoping this would be a great opportunity to get more 1-on-1 time with a teacher.

Then we heard a 'rumor' (from someone connected with the local Board of Education) that our school system was only going to be open for 2 weeks in order to qualify for Federal funding, then go to all-virtual the rest of the semester. I have no idea how federal funding works or if the source misunderstood what was said. That is going to be incredibly crappy if this was the plan all along.

 

[Goatman Saint]

My daughter started back to school today. We had the option of traditional learning vs virtual. We opted for traditional because she does so much better with personal interaction. Her school split the grades into halves with one half attending Mon/Tue and the other doing Thurs/Fri. She only goes Monday and Tuesday, the Wed/Thurs/Fri is virtual. Her class only has 9 students, so we were hoping this would be a great opportunity to get more 1-on-1 time with a teacher.

Then we heard a 'rumor' (from someone connected with the local Board of Education) that our school system was only going to be open for 2 weeks in order to qualify for Federal funding, then go to all-virtual the rest of the semester. I have no idea how federal funding works or if the source misunderstood what was said. That is going to be incredibly crappy if this was the plan all along.

Nope. That’s not how federal funding works at all. It’s essentially illegal for them to tie funding that way even though I know a certain someone has said it. I have friends and family from county office, district and site administration. Not one has said anything about this.

 

[nolaswede]

Nope. That’s not how federal funding works at all. It’s essentially illegal for them to tie funding that way even though I know a certain someone has said it. I have friends and family from county office, district and site administration. Not one has said anything about this.

Haven’t heard too much yet regarding too many cases in schools (except for colleges). Most have been open for 2 weeks, I guess we will find out in another week or so.