Our school district just announced it would be 100% online in the fall.

[MuirWannabe]

For universities, I know I wouldn’t want my doctor to be one having graduated med school during this time. I’d prefer my doctors attend actual classes in person. Same with my engineers. Hate to drive across a shaky bridge. Lots of thoughts along those lines.

Missing an entire year or more of in person K-12 is it’s own disaster imo. I don’t believe for a second that online courses are even close to an equal substitution. It sure wouldn’t have been for my younger self. When/if schools do restart in person classes, I wonder if practically speaking, they’ll have to shift the curriculum down a level for each grade. Grade 12 redoes the grade 11 curriculum.

 

[rodi]

I agree that online learning is not the same as in person. I'm not too worried about my younger son (the one who's still in HS), since he only needs two classes - was a straight A student, and is reasonably self motivated. I'm grateful that my older son did not face this - he was the opposite - struggled with school, lacked motivation, managed to do poorly despite being really smart.

But younger kids - where everything is foundational - need to learn basic math before you can move on to more complex math... need to learn vocabulary and phonics before you can read text books on social studies etc... This will set the younger kids back unless they have parents who basically full time home school them.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

My predictions:

1) Many teachers are thrilled not to have to deal with distracting problematic students that use to ruin their day.

2) Child obesity increases.

3) Kids are going to learn less.

4) Divorce and DV increases. That's a lot of stress that will be shared in the family unit. Some households will remain peaceful, some won't.

 

[rodi]

I'm sure there are teachers like you describe. But I have several teacher friends who's concerns were more along the lines of availability of testing, how quarantining would work if a student or teacher tests positive. If ordered to quarantine would the district pay sick pay to the teacher? What to do about risks due to pre existing conditions/increased health risk factors for teachers and students. My teacher friends haven't expressed any joy with this decision.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I'm sure there are teachers like you describe. But I have several teacher friends who's concerns were more along the lines of availability of testing, how quarantining would work if a student or teacher tests positive. If ordered to quarantine would the district pay sick pay to the teacher? What to do about risks due to pre existing conditions/increased health risk factors for teachers and students. My teacher friends haven't expressed any joy with this decision.

I wasn't saying that's all they care about...just that the worst part of their job just went away.

 

[tb001]

We have two young kids, one who was supposed to start preschool this year and another entering kindergarten. The recent announcement is definitely going to impact us as well.

It’s a no win situation. Kids that age need the socialization that school provides and I’m in no way equipped to be a Pre-K teacher, though thank god at least I’m not working. By the same token, we’re older parents and spent all of last winter sick with various colds. I’m so worried about them bringing it home to us.

For the school districts, I just don’t see how they can open safely and not be exposed to huge liabilities. Our local district was saying no change to class size (25-30) in classrooms where social distancing isn’t possible due to size. And no money to cut class sizes. Masks encouraged but not required. It’s a recipe for disaster in an area with increasing case counts. I can’t even imagine being a 50 something teacher—I would be retiring if at all possible or raising hell.

I feel like we’re playing a game of Russian roulette every day they’re in school. But the negative impact on the kids is so huge too. There are no good answers. We’ve talked with a few parents about forming a pod and hiring a teacher, but there’s liability associated with that too.

 

[wrigley]

I don't envy the parents of school aged kids that have to make that decision. Ours are all grown and on their own. How the heck do you even make that decision?

My only grandchild is 6 (7 in August) and going in to second grade. My daughter lost her job when all of this started because her company was "essential' and continued to work from the office. My daughter told them she needed to be home with her son and they basically agreed that she would resign. My son is a second grade teacher here in Florida and they still don't have a clear path of what is going to happen with the upcoming school year. Children need that interaction with their peers, and adults need to go back to work. My daughter and son-in-law have a tough decision ahead of them like all parents in the same situation. I don't envy them.


Mike

 

[Badger]

My crystal ball said that for those school systems where the children will be required to attend classes in the school building there will be a shortage of teachers when a number of teachers retire early, other teachers will look for another career path, fewer substitute teachers will be willing to cover the classes, fewer first time teachers will be willing to begin teaching, after a couple of months a number of teachers will simply walk away from frustration and fear for themselves and their family, and those that stay will be constantly stressed if they have no other options and the quality of in class education will suffer.
I didn't check yet for what will happen to the children.


Cheers!

 

[molly312]

Here's my take on school closing: One year out of a child's life regardless of grade level (K-8, or 9-12) - to keep them safe from organ damage, brain damage, or other longer-term issues connected with Covid-19 is a small price to pay. No matter if they attend in-person school, online school or hybrid school this will not be a normal school year. Every school system is going to have disruptions this year. All teachers know this and as time goes on, there is going to be an educational clean-up price for all. However, if your child is healthy when that time comes, he/she can be remediated.

It is taking kids much longer to grow up these days. What does an extra year of school cost everybody? In-person college under these circumstances is very questionable. Does your child have the maturity to not put the bars and frat parties first? Online classes are good for some.

Everybody in the country is in the same boat. Teachers know how to get kids "caught up". Yes, we will have to look at our traditional education system differently for a couple of years.

This virus is no joke. We don't know the long term effects on children. Do we really want to find out the hard way? Can't turn back the clock on that.

Parents clamp down. Protect the kids. They are the future. You can make up a year of Geometry, Physics, etc. You can't reverse life-long damaged lungs.

I am a retired teacher. I live in a university and college town.

 

[Chuckanut]

Back in April when people realized the current school years was not returning to normal, we started discussing the the new school year. People assumed that having crushed the curve (remember that?), and with the addition of careful behavior the infection rate would be greatly reduced. Contact tracing would allow us to stop potential outbreaks in their tracks. In a year or two, a treatment and/or vaccine would allow us to return to a more normal lifestyle.

But, the infection rate never got as low and stayed as low as needed for contract tracing to work. So now we face the school problem which should have been simpler (not simple) to deal with it.

We made a tough but good start getting a handle on this disease, but the follow through was flubbed. There is plenty of blame to go around, IMO. No single group bears total responsibility. No group deserves sainthood. Many of us as individuals need to do better.

 

[harllee]

Here's my take on school closing: One year out of a child's life regardless of grade level (K-8, or 9-12) - to keep them safe from organ damage, brain damage, or other longer-term issues connected with Covid-19 is a small price to pay. No matter if they attend in-person school, online school or hybrid school this will not be a normal school year. Every school system is going to have disruptions this year. All teachers know this and as time goes on, there is going to be an educational clean-up price for all. However, if your child is healthy when that time comes, he/she can be remediated.

It is taking kids much longer to grow up these days. What does an extra year of school cost everybody? In-person college under these circumstances is very questionable. Does your child have the maturity to not put the bars and frat parties first? Online classes are good for some.

Everybody in the country is in the same boat. Teachers know how to get kids "caught up". Yes, we will have to look at our traditional education system differently for a couple of years.

This virus is no joke. We don't know the long term effects on children. Do we really want to find out the hard way? Can't turn back the clock on that.

Parents clamp down. Protect the kids. They are the future. You can make up a year of Geometry, Physics, etc. You can't reverse life-long damaged lungs.

I am a retired teacher. I live in a university and college town.

Molly I totally agree. It would be a hardship for children to have to have virtual learning for a year but it could be done and children are resilient and will catch up later. To me this would be a good trade off to make sure teachers, staff and children are healthy and safe. Past generations have gone through similar things. My mother tells me in the 1930s and 1940s her school was closed sometimes for months for the polio and her teacher dropped her lessons at her house (and maybe they also had classes on the radio--mother seems to remember this?). My mother's best friend at age 8 died of polio. In WWII many children in Great Britain had to be evacuated from London to live with other families in the country and had to miss school--talk about a real hardship. The United States can make sure our children continue to learn without schools for a year--it will be inconvenient but it can be done and children can still learn.

 

[harllee]

The NC Governor just announced the state plans for reopening public schools. The final decisions are up to each school district but no school district will be allowed to operate full-time. A school district can decide to operate fully online and all individual students will be allowed to be educated online no matter what their school district does. The state will provide online teaching for those that want it. The other option for school districts can follow is the "hybrid option" which allows some time in the classroom and some learning on line. Some districts are planning to do one third of the students every third week in the classroom, some are doing one third in the classroom on Mondays, one third on Tuesday, Wednesday for cleaning, one third on Thursday, etc.

 

[Badger]

Molly I totally agree. It would be a hardship for children to have to have virtual learning for a year but it could be done and children are resilient and will catch up later. To me this would be a good trade off to make sure teachers, staff and children are healthy and safe. Past generations have gone through similar things. My mother tells me in the 1930s and 1940s her school was closed sometimes for months for the polio and her teacher dropped her lessons at her house (and maybe they also had classes on the radio--mother seems to remember this?). My mother's best friend at age 8 died of polio. In WWII many children in Great Britain had to be evacuated from London to live with other families in the country and had to miss school--talk about a real hardship. The United States can make sure our children continue to learn without schools for a year--it will be inconvenient but it can be done and children can still learn.

+1 Since my father was career military we moved quite a lot which meant that we sometimes relocated in the middle of the school year and were out of school for as much as a month. It also meant constant adjustment to new children, different school systems, variable requirement standards, different social environments, as well as adjusting to different cultures. By the time I graduated HS I had been in 11 different schools in the US and overseas. It was not easy to be uprooted and start over each time but you adjust.

Children today are faced with adjusting to a different environment. They are capable of dealing with the new challenges just like millions of children have always done. They are more resilient it seems than their parents .


Just my personal observation from experience and a few decades as a teacher/professor. My wife (also a retired teacher) agrees. We should not be putting children at risk of dying or developing major organ damage for the rest of their lives for convenience.



Cheers!

 

[Ronstar]

I think that schools should quit trying to resurrect their sports programs. Lake Zurich high school in Illinois has 36 new Covid cases since they suspended their sports program last week.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20200714/36-lake-zurich-high-students-test-positive-for-covid-19

 

[SumDay]

I don't envy the parents of school aged kids that have to make that decision. Ours are all grown and on their own. How the heck do you even make that decision?

I say that to myself nearly daily. I've never been so appreciative of being empty nesters.

Many teachers I know are terrified and pretty resentful of being made responsible for 'restoring the economy' so they can take care of the kids while the parents return to work. Not to mention the health risks, I wouldn't want someone teaching my kid in that state of mind. I wish there were a good, easy answer.

 

[harllee]

No way I would be sending my children to school right now. I would have to figure out a way to homeschool or do virtual classes. I would not let a college age child live in a dorm right now and especially not a fraternity or sorority house.

 

[harllee]

My county in NC just announced 100% online learning for all grades, at least for the first quarter. This is the correct decision. It will be a hardship for many families but it will save lives and many health problems. We now need to figure out how to help families where both parents are working.

 

[Lucky13]

Here's my take on school closing: One year out of a child's life regardless of grade level (K-8, or 9-12) - to keep them safe from organ damage, brain damage, or other longer-term issues connected with Covid-19 is a small price to pay. No matter if they attend in-person school, online school or hybrid school this will not be a normal school year. Every school system is going to have disruptions this year. All teachers know this and as time goes on, there is going to be an educational clean-up price for all. However, if your child is healthy when that time comes, he/she can be remediated.

It is taking kids much longer to grow up these days. What does an extra year of school cost everybody? In-person college under these circumstances is very questionable. Does your child have the maturity to not put the bars and frat parties first? Online classes are good for some.

Everybody in the country is in the same boat. Teachers know how to get kids "caught up". Yes, we will have to look at our traditional education system differently for a couple of years.

This virus is no joke. We don't know the long term effects on children. Do we really want to find out the hard way? Can't turn back the clock on that.

Parents clamp down. Protect the kids. They are the future. You can make up a year of Geometry, Physics, etc. You can't reverse life-long damaged lungs.

I am a retired teacher. I live in a university and college town.

+1

 

[Calico]

Here's my take on school closing: One year out of a child's life regardless of grade level (K-8, or 9-12) - to keep them safe from organ damage, brain damage, or other longer-term issues connected with Covid-19 is a small price to pay. No matter if they attend in-person school, online school or hybrid school this will not be a normal school year. Every school system is going to have disruptions this year. All teachers know this and as time goes on, there is going to be an educational clean-up price for all. However, if your child is healthy when that time comes, he/she can be remediated.

It is taking kids much longer to grow up these days. What does an extra year of school cost everybody? In-person college under these circumstances is very questionable. Does your child have the maturity to not put the bars and frat parties first? Online classes are good for some.

Everybody in the country is in the same boat. Teachers know how to get kids "caught up". Yes, we will have to look at our traditional education system differently for a couple of years.

This virus is no joke. We don't know the long term effects on children. Do we really want to find out the hard way? Can't turn back the clock on that.

Parents clamp down. Protect the kids. They are the future. You can make up a year of Geometry, Physics, etc. You can't reverse life-long damaged lungs.

I am a retired teacher. I live in a university and college town.

+100

 

[Winemaker]

I believe it all lies with whether your local school board determines whether the education of our children is an "essential business". The bigger threat I think is the vulnerable adults involved.

https://www.acsh.org/news/2020/07/1...hs-among-children-and-reopening-schools-14909

 

[youbet]

This pandemic is SO hard on kids and teenagers. I think most of them aren't able to communicate that very well right now (due to their youth).

Our grand daughter just finished the final few months of her high school senior year doing classes online. No prom. No graduation (a real bummer since she was to be awarded several honors, both academic and athletic). No time spent at the "top of the hill" as a graduating senior.

The state university she'll be attending this autumn is having students come to campus. They've done extensive work on the dorms changing all the rooms to single. And classes will be a mix of online and in-person. The plan they published looks OK to me, but I'm hardly an expert. This is a school highly recognized for its STEM programs and she's planning on an engineering major, not good stuff to do 100% online IMHO.

She's being quite stoic about it all but I sense a bit of "this can't be happening to me" settling in with her. DW and I aren't sure how to help other than financially if university winds up taking five years (or more). We're prepared to do that. I hope it all works out.

 

[MichaelB]

Our grand daughter just finished the final few months of her high school senior year doing classes online. No prom. No graduation (a real bummer since she was to be awarded several honors, both academic and athletic). No time spent at the "top of the hill" as a graduating senior.

The state university she'll be attending this autumn is having students come to campus. They've done extensive work on the dorms changing all the rooms to single. And classes will be a mix of online and in-person. The plan they published looks OK to me, but I'm hardly an expert. This is a school highly recognized for its STEM programs and she's planning on an engineering major, not good stuff to do 100% online IMHO.

She's being quite stoic about it all but I sense a bit of "this can't be happening to me" settling in with her. DW and I aren't sure how to help other than financially if university winds up taking five years (or more). We're prepared to do that. I hope it all works out.

It is unfortunate she misses her peer recognition, but I would guess recognition from her family will be both more meaningful and longer lasting, and that she clearly has. Congratulations

 

[Chuckanut]

I believe it all lies with whether your local school board determines whether the education of our children is an "essential business". The bigger threat I think is the vulnerable adults involved.

https://www.acsh.org/news/2020/07/1...hs-among-children-and-reopening-schools-14909

+1 on the vulnerable adults- both the staff and the staff's vulnerable family members Why do we forget about them?

One other thing.... Many lower income folks depend on schools for childcare most of the working day. This is going to be a big mess.

 

[gayl]

DD has chosen homeschooling my granddaughters. I bought the same ciriculum as the local schools / actually got the same textbooks for the 9th grader at thriftbooks.com and they were barely used! The 6 yr old has started reading and addition. She's in the same 5 books as a number of other homeschool kids in her area completing the state standards. Both will meet up for sports and arts or music (their choice). This might be a better alternative long term --- better than getting up at 5am to catch the school bus at 6.

 

[Chuckanut]

DD has chosen homeschooling my granddaughters. I bought the same ciriculum as the local schools / actually got the same textbooks for the 9th grader at thriftbooks.com and they were barely used! The 6 yr old has started reading and addition. She's in the same 5 books as a number of other homeschool kids in her area completing the state standards. Both will meet up for sports and arts or music (their choice). This might be a better alternative long term --- better than getting up at 5am to catch the school bus at 6.

For those who don't know, there is a huge home schooling network of parents who work together to provide a wonderful education for their kids. From what I can see it works quite well until HS age when things like band, sports and some science classes start to require a more complicated/specialized classroom experience. Some districts will allow home schoolers to only enroll in things like band and sports. I was impressed with the home school materials I looked at. It can be done, if the parent(s) want to do it.