As a parent with school age kids, this has been a challenging year. I'm fortunate that my employment situation makes it possible for my wife to stay home and work with my 6 year old son during the day and keep him on task with his assignments. I had to go to 2nd shift back in March so I would be able to work with my 9 year old son and help him with his work during the day. It's been difficult for everyone and I'm sure a lot of households have had it much worse than us. One thing I realized quickly was how difficult teachers have it. I used to think they had a cushy job - great benefits, summers off etc. It turns out I'm not beaming with infinite patience when it comes to the task. I've improved, but I really have to make a conscious effort to work at it. As of this week my kids are back to full-time remote learning again and my days are very long. I imagine others are feeling overwhelmed at times too. If you're a parent in the thick of things right now, you're not alone. I hope that in spite of everything that's happened in 2020, we can still enjoy the holiday season. It's a good time to take stock of what's really important in our lives and hug our loved ones a little tighter this year.
Looks like my kiddo and your son are the same age. We had remote learning Mar/Apr/May. I'm sorry you have to do it again. No doubt we are all good parents, know our 3 R's and can help and coach & cheerlead through homework etc. but in my case I do not have the long term all subjects magic that a good teacher does. Nor the class dynamic of a few kids in class getting excited about a subject and spurring the other kids in class interests or healthy peer competition. We made it through that but barely. She was quite willing to do her preferred homework (math book, not computer based) but yikes it was feat towards the end to get her to do wit & wisdom (hybrid reading + grammar components + comprehension of the story all at once ((my schooling was different)) mostly computer based, it did not help the last minute remote learning software program assigned odd books and many of them were....... odd. Other times I had to study for a long time to understand the question and figure out what they wanted as answer before I could even coach kiddo Then came her wanting her Dad to help her, he works more that full time and does most the shopping and more than his share of the cooking dinner (he's an unabashed back seat driver in the kitchen) Something else her teacher emphasized on a zoom meeting with all parents this year is, by 4th grade on, it's not about knowing everything, but learning the skills to know how to look and find the information they need, and the skill communication is vital in that. Communication in the home is golden. Also manners and work ethic and Patriotism . I did a reading program summer before last, it was both paper books then she did the assignments on the computer, that worked really well for her. All 100% computer based was a struggle. They are little kids, little persons, I cannot blame them for not liking sitting and staring at a computer screen a for learning. I heard other parents in both eternal and on/off remote learning are doing similar by moving to other learning programs. I am giving thanks on Thursday like no other time in my life despite other difficult times.
We had a choice, and chose remote learning for my 6yo daughter this summer. She has learning differences, and we believe she is undiagnosed on the autism spectrum. My wife realized that remote was not going to work for her just before school started, and attempted to have her changed to in school, but they denied it. It has been a disaster. She refuses to sit in front of a computer all day and do work, mainly because they are working at a level that is above where she is at, so it is frustrating for her. My wife has been trying to get her to do it, while also battling with the school to get her the services she needs. She is now 1/3 of the way through first grade, and she has learned mostly nothing because of the schools unwillingness to work with us. She is supposed to go back to in school on 12/3, but they just changed everything to remote for 2 weeks after thanksgiving, so an additional two weeks lost, and they are still fighting us on services to help her, so that will be another probably 4 weeks after that. Will they end up back to remote learning after that? Its a very strong possibility it seems. Thankfully, my wife has a background in teaching kids with learning differences that make my daughter seem perfectly normal, and we are lucky enough that I have been able to afford to have her not working for the past 5 years raising her. She has been doing the teaching herself, in a way that my daughter finds fun. Like math with popcorn etc. The infuriating part is that the school knows damm well what kind of struggle we are having, and that she is either "dismissed" because she wont stay longer than attendance in the morning, or absent because she refuses all together to sit in front of the computer without enormous stress for both of them, and a giant tantrum. Even when she is at the computer when we can get her to, she is just doing her own thing anyway, so what is the point of the fight? They have this week started threatening my wife with truancy because of this. WTF? Their unwillingness to help has us there! We have a meeting next week, and depending on how it goes, we may just withdraw her and homeschool because this remote learning mess just doesnt work.
I thought ahead and planned for this potential event to happen when I married a teacher 13 years ago . She actually got her first full time teaching job the month after we got married in August of 2007. I’m much like you Eric, little patience, though I’m getting much better as I get older
Wow, sorry to hear that your daughter's schooling is all on you and your wife. No IEP until all those specialists can evaluate her, and anyway, what's the diff, until school is in person. My grandson (1st grade) likes his computer learning, but what they do is pretty lame. I've sat with him a few times, which his mom usually does. It helps enrich the lessons. He's had two weekend outdoor outings to meet up with his classmates in a park.
As a teacher and a parent, it's tough on everyone. I am in my 21st year in the classroom and I still enjoy most everything about my job. I have grown tired of teacher bashing through the years though so it is nice to hear people recognizing it's not the cake walk of a job they thought it was. Being a high school teacher, I do feel fortunate to not be an elementary teacher at the moment. We are all working harder now (teachers, parents, and students) but they seem to have it pretty bad especially if they have young children of their own.
Whats aggravating is that all the evaluations are done. They have x number of days to complete each step of the process, and they seem to enjoy using all of them. Meanwhile, Charlotte is suffering.
I am so glad that my children are grown. You got my sympathy for what you are going through as is your children. You all have my total respect.
Kids are grown but the grandkids have to go through this crap. My one granddaughter has down syndrome and spends the night here every 2 weeks, we had to quit that for now, she understands but doesnt make it any easier.
Yea im glad i dont work anymore and no small kids to take care of but I'm still stressed out. Sorry if i have offended any one lately.
Our son is doing online kindergarten...how hard can it be, right?! The work itself is not hard, (obviously) but the whole thing is time consuming and confusing...we aren't sure if its just our school system, or his teacher, but the whole thing is just in general not well organized IMO. It feels very hodge-podged together...I dunno, but one thing is for sure, I am not a good teacher! (and I can tell already, me and the school system are gonna go a few rounds on how they teach math now!)
Remote learning just plain stinks. My school (I'm a Principal) has had some or all of our kids on remote since last March-some by choice but most because of closures. More work for everyone (kids, parents, teachers) with fewer results. About 1/3 of our kids simply don't do it or do very little-parents unwilling or unable to support/motivate the kids. As I tell my teachers, your value isn't that you are so smart or that you develop wonderful lesson plans-it's the time you spend with the kids-many who don't get that level of attention anywhere else.
And in case anyone is wondering, my school is on Thanksgiving break today-I'm not posting while on the clock! Took a vacation day and I went hunting until I was texted at 8:00am that a teacher tested positive-out of the tree and into the office to quarantine another class-17 more on remote learning for 2 weeks.
Darn I'm sorry! He's missing learning the school experience, the routine, possibly the bus, and classmates. Our remote learning last year was also thrown together at the last minute, clumsy and all review. Then there's the ONE teacher worked magic on us and we remember them our entire lives. I do believe my child's teacher this year is THAT teacher. I am so grateful. I'm seeing excitement and motivation from kiddo I've never seen before. That said I was more than willing and able to support and did my dammedest to motivate her. I do not have the talent/magic teachers do and I am so grateful they choose to teach! God Bless all of you.
Yeah that's been my experience here too. They've switched platforms a couple times on us, we had school provided tablets and laptops, then someone's laptop caught fire while in a parent's vehicle and we all had to return them and get new ones. Even now it's hard staying on top of things. I have to triple check myself every day so my son doesn't miss assignments. The Zoom meetings are like pulling teeth (I imagine teachers don't get much enjoyment from them either). What would normally be a half hour of an in-school lesson gets dragged out for hours. The kids are getting cheated and I assume teachers are frustrated. I haven't dealt with the common core math BS yet but I know it's coming. I would not want to be a teacher through all this. Now I'm hearing the unions in my state are pushing for remote learning until mid to late January...
Everyone is adapting, no one is perfect and I hope that the majority of students, teachers, parents and admin are doing their best. It's hard, 2 hybrid elementary kids while I work remote and my wife teaches 2nd grade. So covered almost all the angles here. Stay positive, and yeah, teaching is hard.
As a teacher, I feel I speak for the masses. We hate zoom. We hate google meets. We love being with our students! There is no substitute for face to face contact and interaction. That being said, with our current situation, we all have to make the best out of what we are dealing with and it’s not a one shoe fits all solution.
