Home Schooling

[mickey2942]

She has basic computer skills, but has never planned or had to run a classroom online. It takes more than just pushing a button.

I agree with this. And learning online takes a student who is highly self motivated. Not all children are a good "fit" for this type of education.

And, as with all learning, it is still also on parents to help their children be engaged with this new method of learning. Parents who may be overwhelmed with their own jobs, or dealing with financial problems.

People are doing the best that they can.

 

[Kavya01]

I figure this: the school district, teachers, admins, and the kids and parents, are doing the best that they are able.
I realize having special needs kids is a whole other ball of wax, but for my average kiddos, I am impressed with them and the school as well.

My kids are learning some things that are invaluable: self- starting, self-motivating, time management. Even if they don't learn their whole total grade curriculum that was left for these months. They are learning how be adaptable, how to amuse themselves, and alternate ways of communicating with and staying close to their friends rather than in person.

IMO, who cares about the curriculum, really? All kids the world over will fall behind a few months, or if worse comes to worst, a year of curriculum behind. So what? What's one year on an 80 year life span? So the kids' ll catch up with some summer school down the line, or some extra hours next year or more homework, or they'll all repeat a year. To me, it is not the end of the world.

I also keep telling them that they are now already getting a taste of what college will be like, and that, because of this situation, they'll already have learned the skill set to easily settle into that sort of learning environment of being responsible for your own research and communicating what you are learning and how you are developing rather than getting it all pre-chewed and structured for you in your average middle school setting.
What won't kill them will make them stronger, and more capable, and adaptable, and responsible.

I hope, anyway, haha!!

 

[mickey2942]

@Kavya01 my friend is homeschooling her kids, they have learned how to manage a budget for their vegetable garden, keeping track of the expenses, dates of planting and researching what plants to plant, and making excel spreadsheets for all kinds of data.

Plus, they have been making masks, learning how to sew, measure, keeping track of how many they have made for friends, family and local nursing homes.

This is in addition to their regular studies. Sounds like a great curriculum to me.

 

[Kavya01]

Exactly, Mickey2942!

 

[10ofRods]

It's looking like most schools will be having real world school come August, although data from Israel shows that schools can become hotspots, so we'll see.

I think part of the instruction in many places will be online. I wonder if teachers can get parents to read to their kids, if it's an assignment. It's such a great opportunity for that little bit of "home schooling" to take place.

I wonder how many teachers will be permitted to deviate from mandated curriculum to engage with students around issues of interest to the students themselves - because that's where online learning really begins.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I haven't participated in this discussion and haven't read all of the posts, but I wanted to ask if you think that there will a lot of parents who will be reluctant about sending their children back to school this fall? I've noticed a plethora of commercials and other advertising for various home-schooling programs that makes me wonder if more families will opt for educating children at home. I've checked websites for several local school districts, and so far, no one has announced an opening date for the 2020-2021 academic year. In these parts, school generally starts in late August or right after Labor Day. I'm sure there a many decisions that will have to be made with regard to when students will return to school, what precautions and procedures will be implemented to keep students, teachers, and staff safe, etc.

 

[Kavya01]

I will not be comfortable sending my two teen aged sons back to school until there is a vaccine widely used. So I think Fall semester I am really hoping here in Jersey will still be Remote Learning!! Fingers crossed!

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I will not be comfortable sending my two teen aged sons back to school until there is a vaccine widely used. So I think Fall semester I am really hoping here in Jersey will still be Remote Learning!! Fingers crossed!

That seems reasonable, and there will likely be many parents who feel the same way. When there is eventually a vaccine, there will probably be those who will refuse to have their children vaccinated for Covid, but that's a whole 'nother topic.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

In-person classes, online learning or a mix? Reopening schools will bring new struggles

“There’s not much time to plan, particularly when you don’t know what to plan for.”

With the next academic year less than three months away, and no end in sight to the coronavirus pandemic, school districts face a daunting decision: Reopen the schools they shuttered, or continue to teach students remotely?

Educators across the United States are weighing their options, taking into account the quality of the education they can offer, the need for children to socialize and keeping safety in mind above all else.

So far, a hybrid model that combines some in-person learning and some remote learning has emerged as the most popular proposal for the fall, according to Dan Domenech, the executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents Association, an advocacy organization for the 14,000 superintendents in the U.S. ...

 

[10ofRods]

I haven't participated in this discussion and haven't read all of the posts, but I wanted to ask if you think that there will a lot of parents who will be reluctant about sending their children back to school this fall? I've noticed a plethora of commercials and other advertising for various home-schooling programs that makes me wonder if more families will opt for educating children at home. I've checked websites for several local school districts, and so far, no one has announced an opening date for the 2020-2021 academic year. In these parts, school generally starts in late August or right after Labor Day. I'm sure there a many decisions that will have to be made with regard to when students will return to school, what precautions and procedures will be implemented to keep students, teachers, and staff safe, etc.

I think that well-informed and reasonable parents will not send their kids to school. They'll do whatever it takes to at least wait and see what happens.

More desperate, less educated parents will send their kids back if the schools are open. This means that the essential workers' kids and kids from families where there is greater risk of COVid will be in the classroom.

Here in California, we have two patterns (not uncommon in other states): year round school and schools that start in August. Almost no schools wait until after Labor Day, although this year, they certainly should.

The precautions have already been set forward by the CDC and by independent researchers. But school districts don't own or have the budget to buy PPE or Hepa filters or to do any of the other things suggested (including lower class size).

I think some people think a teacher can actually be in a real world class and teach kids at home at the same time (but that is nearly impossible). The real world teachers are encouraged or required to spend the first month or so of school teaching the kids how not to infect each other, supervising new kinds of recess activities and of course, staggered arrival and lunch schedules. IOW, the schools themselves will not be functioning as normal, it will be relatively chaotic and when employees or kids get CoVid, most districts will shut the school down for cleaning (as if that's the main problem) for at least 2 days.

So education will be intermittent and work will be disrupted for those parents who do need schools as childcare.

Almost no schools are considering a truly hybrid situation (where the non-attending half of the students are required to be online at home). There are tremendous difficulties in getting various kids in one family online at the same time.

What is clear: some states and districts are about to run uncontrolled experiments on children of all ages. Really, 10 and unders are at fairly low risk (although I would never send my child).

High school students are going to transmit CoVid asymptomatically to their teachers, each other and to their broader families. They need to stay home (they also do much better than younger students at online learning).

 

[Kavya01]

Just got the plan here for our school district.

Although they will have a "Fully Remote" option, mainly the district will split kids in two groups and one half will be at the school one week while the other half works remotely that week, and it flip-flops.

Parents do have the option to have their kids do fully remote, but that means there will be zero instruction for those kids. I had hoped they'd zoom or webex broadcast the classroom and the teacher's instruction so the kids at home could follow along at least. Big disappointment.

In any event, no way in H*** will our two sons (13 and 14) go to those buildings in Sept, so we will apply for the Fully Remote option regardless,

Just worried, now that Remote Learning will no longer be the across the board norm for everybody, and fearing how my boys will keep up with all their honors classes if they don't get any instruction and have to figure stuff on their own, and some of their peers will get the instruction, and if they'll start to fall behind and/or get demoted .

Still. even getting demoted for a year or, repeating a year if need be, beats dying, or permanent organ damage for them for the rest of their lives, or them being orphaned.

So there we have it. We'll start filling out the application forms this weekend.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

This past weekend, I contacted an Administrator to request a thread that is specifically dedicated to the reopening of schools around the country (and/or elsewhere). While there are posts about schools reopening on the main COVID thread, there are many other topics to weed through to find posts about students returning to school. Hopefully, we will get a dedicated thread to discuss strategies that will be employed as students return to their classrooms.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Opinion | Back to school? Not so fast. A COVID-19 checklist for parents and teachers

If infection rates are high in your area, schools should not reopen. If they drop, teachers and parents should still remain vigilant for signs of the virus.

 

[10ofRods]

@Kavya01 my friend is homeschooling her kids, they have learned how to manage a budget for their vegetable garden, keeping track of the expenses, dates of planting and researching what plants to plant, and making excel spreadsheets for all kinds of data.

Plus, they have been making masks, learning how to sew, measure, keeping track of how many they have made for friends, family and local nursing homes.

This is in addition to their regular studies. Sounds like a great curriculum to me.

Sounds great to me too. Even if it were only learning the basics of Excel, it would be an amazing curriculum for a few months - adding in the botany/biology and math regarding money is excellent.

People who know Excel make extra money when compared to people with same education and work experience who don't know Excel (and it's a significant amount extra).

I'm struggling to teach even the basics to my freshman and sophomore level classes. Most are completely unfamiliar with it.

 

[mickey2942]

Sounds great to me too. Even if it were only learning the basics of Excel, it would be an amazing curriculum for a few months - adding in the botany/biology and math regarding money is excellent.

People who know Excel make extra money when compared to people with same education and work experience who don't know Excel (and it's a significant amount extra).

I'm struggling to teach even the basics to my freshman and sophomore level classes. Most are completely unfamiliar with it.

Excel is important. I won't go into my education or work hx, but everyone needs to be able to make spreadsheets to manage data now. Today's work environment is data driven in every field now. Show your results with data, or never move up.

 

[10ofRods]

This is an excellent idea. I wonder if anyone here has children or grandchildren who are in school. Perhaps this is only of interest if one is a parent, grandparent or teacher? I think everyone should be interested!

Enrollments are down in the public colleges in California by about 10%. That's not good news. Enrollment in the allied health fields is way down (pre-med, nursing, optical sciences, physical therapy, radiological techs, etc) Just at a time when healthcare workers are quitting, retiring - and dying, we are losing our "supply" and the reasons need to be addressed. Students need to be guaranteed a "pod" approach to these subjects - but even then, a lot are going to take a wait and see attitude.

Most students do not want to go into health or science related fields. Or accounting (but "business" (i.e., making a lot of money somehow by selling or doing something, is very popular).

"Youtube influencer" is popular. And why not? Right now, the entire student world is online. And it's not going to change - we've lost a lot of the traction we had as a society to encourage face-to-face interaction. The lack of athletics/sports is not good. I am myself not a sports fan, but I have learned to value sports for students, because of the incredible positive impact it has (especially college level teams - where they have to maintain a certain GPA to play; most are "business majors" but some are in the Mass Media/Broadcast track and some are studying kinesiology - which is a hard major for them).

I think math and logic can be taught fairly well online. The nuances of English, though? Needs Zoom.

 

[10ofRods]

Excel is important. I won't go into my education or work hx, but everyone needs to be able to make spreadsheets to manage data now. Today's work environment is data driven in every field now. Show your results with data, or never move up.

Exactly! I'll probably quote you to my students. .

I have to be pretty heavy-handed with my students to get them to even use a spreadsheet. So much whining. Prefer to get a "C" or "D" on an assignment rather than learn proper data entry. Some will try almost any other method (word table - unnumbered) and then I can't comment on their data - their data can't be cleaned and is useless.

They don't really care. "Not numbers people." Since I have been at this for a looong time, I know the outcomes. Those same students...well, I do see them employed. They work at Home Depot or Lowe's, stocking shelves or assisting customers or - managing the paint department. I see them in grocery stores. Many stay in touch over the years, and are still in minimum wage jobs 10 years out of college - but most are apparently happy. I guess college can be a mostly developmental (as opposed to academic) experience for a lot of kids.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Looks like this thread isn't active lately, but this NBC report is worthwhile viewing. Public and private schools show a pandemic learning divide (nbcnews.com)

In my subdivision, public school students have been doing online since Michigan Governor shut down all public schools last March. There are some public schools across the state that have returned to in person learning, but locally, many public schools remain closed. In our district, high school students returned to in person learning this month, but middle and elementary students are still at home. Governor Whitmer recently indicated that she would like all public schools to reopen with appropriate restrictions by March 1. With new virus strains appearing in nearby counties, it will be interesting to see if kids actually go back in March.

Meanwhile, students in our neighborhood who attend various private or parochial schools have been going to school since late August/early September. Seems there have been few problems and only a handful of cases among staff and students.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

CDC says in-person learning can resume with precautions in place (clickondetroit.com)

Precautions include masks, social distancing, ventilation

In research published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers conclude that in-person learning has not meaningfully contributed to community spread of COVID-19, and in-person classes should resume with precautions in place.

Those precautions include mandatory mask wearing, social distancing and good ventilation.

In terms of high school sports, indoor and contact sports should not be permitted, meaning cross country outdoors would be fine while wrestling is not.

Additionally, the research states that in-person instruction also relies on what else a community is doing to stop the spread of the virus and specifically mentions limiting indoor dining...

 

[acutename]

CDC says in-person learning can resume with precautions in place (clickondetroit.com)

Precautions include masks, social distancing, ventilation

In research published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers conclude that in-person learning has not meaningfully contributed to community spread of COVID-19, and in-person classes should resume with precautions in place.

Those precautions include mandatory mask wearing, social distancing and good ventilation.

In terms of high school sports, indoor and contact sports should not be permitted, meaning cross country outdoors would be fine while wrestling is not.

Additionally, the research states that in-person instruction also relies on what else a community is doing to stop the spread of the virus and specifically mentions limiting indoor dining...

kids in my neighborhood have hybrid learning with one week on one week off- they also have a shortened day which (I think) reduces the need for in-school eating, bathroom facilities....