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

[rodi]

San Diego Unified just announced it will be 100% online in the fall. So will LA Unified. These are the two largest districts in the state. LAUSD is the 2nd largest in the country, and SDUSD is the 21st largest in the country.

Here is a link to our districts' announcement

https://www.sandiegounified.org/newscenter/node/2285

Prior to this SDUSD had said they would offer 3 options: all in person, all online, and hybrid. When that was announced in June I was leaning towards hybrid - but given the rising numbers - I had been shifting to 100% online for my son. This was the right decision, IMO, since there is no practical way to social distance, plexi-divide the school. Perhaps if our numbers were declining it

 

[pb4uski]

I hear you and I think that is probably the prudent path given the contagion, but at the same time I don't think online is anywhere near as good an education as in-person.

 

[ProspectiveBum]

I hear you and I think that is probably the prudent path given the contagion, but at the same time I don't think online is anywhere near as good an education as in-person.

Both my kids finished the year online (10th and 7th grades, respectively), and it was substantially less effective than in-person instruction. It felt like a lot of the teachers really phoned it in, with almost no actual instruction happening, even though they were having Zoom sessions. In fairness to them, the move to online instruction happened very quickly, so they didn’t have a lot of time to prepare. They may also have been juggling caring for their own kids or families. Far from ideal for everyone involved.

ETA: Even with the learning challenges, we would not have sent the kids physically back to school this fall given the current state of the pandemic.

 

[corn18]

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?

 

[MichaelB]

Our DD is waiting for her school to announce their plan. I’ve been following our local school district, which has yet to release it’s plan, and also reading on what different universities are doing as well. This is a tough one. No pain free option, no clear cut choice.

Hopefully our national discourse will acknowledge the high degree of difficulty and high level of uncertainty.

 

[rodi]

I feel fortunate that my younger son - who is entering his senior year - is old enough to know what's going on and reasonably self motivated. He only needs 2 classes to graduate (English and government). He's thinking about dropping the other classes and taking some online community college classes. His girlfriend is super bummed about missing senior year activities, but her mom was already leaning towards the all-online option when the choice was still available.

I think this is much harder on families with younger kids - a parent or nanny needs to be there to make sure online learning happens. Lack of separation from the kids makes working for a living much harder. That's why I feel fortunate, these issues don't apply to our family. Our neighbor is a lawyer who can mostly work from home - but having a 7 year old and 5 year old who aren't in school has meant she had to bring in a nanny so she can get work done. Her kids go to a private school - not sure what that school's decision for the fall will be.

Our older son had already decided to put college on hold while distance learning was happening... He's gotten a job with an employer that is doing reasonable mitigation (temp checks at start of day, required masks at work with managers enforcing, and since the work involves working in pairs - plexi barriers between the two workers. )

 

[kgtest]

I hear you and I think that is probably the prudent path given the contagion, but at the same time I don't think online is anywhere near as good an education as in-person.

Agreed, everyone in this neighborhood hoping we have some version of in person. DS went back to youth sports. Also back to daycare for at least a couple months now and we finally had our first 'runny nose' paranoia.

Mine will be in K, if he misses first year of Kindergarten that will be sad, but I am glad I started teaching him some things on my own, so I know the struggles already when it comes to parents are the teacher now.

 

[Dtail]

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?

+1

 

[rodi]

I may have spoken too soon about older son and his job... Our governor just announced that the naughty counties (which includes San Diego county) have to shut down non-essential indoor stuff like gyms, churches, personal care services, and non-essential office... His job is a factory type job- filling bottles of a grooming product... not sure if it's essential... We'll see.

https://covid19.ca.gov/roadmap-counties/

 

[audreyh1]

I may have spoken too soon about older son and his job... Our governor just announced that the naughty counties (which includes San Diego county) have to shut down non-essential indoor stuff like gyms, churches, personal care services, and non-essential office... His job is a factory type job- filling bottles of a grooming product... not sure if it's essential... We'll see.

https://covid19.ca.gov/roadmap-counties/

That will be interesting. Seems like most manufacturing type jobs have been protected, and factories close temporarily due to outbreaks or lack of demand rather than being deemed non-essential.

 

[Montecfo]

Closing the schools creates a real burden on parents and exacerbates learning differences and student health issues.

I'm sure this was a difficult decision.

 

[Major Tom]

When I was in what we call infant school in England, I had to repeat my final year, which occurred at around the age of 9. The details were never completely clear to me, but it was explained that I was just a little too young to proceed to the next school. Apparently, my birthday fell within a grey area. I had managed to skate through school from ages 5 through 9, occupying classes for which I was actually just a little too young. To correct the error, I was held back for a year, before I was allowed to graduate to middle school.

I was a little disappointed at the time, but quickly adjusted. The point of this post is to suggest that perhaps schools in the US should continue with some form of mainly online schooling, with the recognition that it is only partially effective. Effectively, the kids would be "treading water" until schools can be reopened relatively safely.

It won't be the end of the world if everyone has to do an extra year or two of school, though I do recognize the extra burden this places on parents.

 

[rodi]

That will be interesting. Seems like most manufacturing type jobs have been protected, and factories close temporarily due to outbreaks or lack of demand rather than being deemed non-essential.

Hoping this is the case. He's had issues "growing up"... and the job is a good step towards him living in the real world with real responsibilities.

 

[NYEXPAT]

Kids here in Peru have been online since the school year started in March. My little guy who is in private school Kindergarten will not participate but we pay his tuition regardless. We had planned to move up to the USA this month, but with all that is going on will put it off until after the elections and re-access. No way I would allow my kids to go to a brick and mortar school with the things that are going on all over the country.

 

[W2R]

His girlfriend is super bummed about missing senior year activities, but her mom was already leaning towards the all-online option when the choice was still available.

I can't even imagine being a high school senior and being told prom is cancelled! That was such a Big Deal back in 1965-1966 when I was a senior in high school. I was just as much of an introvert then as now, but still, it's PROM! Rights of passage and all that, and it was something my classmates and I looked forward to our whole lives. If prom still means anything to teenaged girls, then I can sure see why his girlfriend is super bummed about it.

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). We won't know the fallout from all of this for years to come.

 

[lauradrops]

I personally am really hoping for remote learning this fall. I know I may be in the minority, but it was great for my 8th grade daughter. She suffers from anxiety and finds some social situations very difficult, remote learning has removed that and let her focus more on learning.

Her school also did an amazing job with the remote learning school day. Her 4 core classes were taught live daily with the teacher and the class. It was really amazing to see. Had to remind my hubby constantly to watch himself as the class could hear most things I am not sure if the entire school did it this way because my daughter has an IEP that makes her class size no more than 15 kids. She learns her regular grade level curriculum but has the benefit of an extra teacher with the smaller class which gives them more individual help.

Her technology class and music were mostly busy work with research and answering questions and PE was a log kept where she had to write what exercise she did, for how long and what muscle groups it worked. (best they could do I suppose)

 

[Arizona1]

It’s going to be really tough for two earning families. Both can’t go to work with a child at home. On the other hand it will let each child learn at their own pace.

 

[Ronstar]

I was thinking about the upcoming school year yesterday. DW and I host Thanksgiving. Niece, her husband and their 3 kids (10,5, and 1yo) always come. So does 91 yo MIL. And me, DW, 2 BIL's and 2 SIL's all in our mid 60's.

I do not know if the kids are going to school in the fall. I suspect they are. I know it's a long way off, but this has the potential for disaster if the kids are going to school and then have close contact with a 91 yo.

That said, I hope that they can go to school and resume normal lives. There is no easy answer to this problem.

 

[JDARNELL]

If we had younger kids I would can school for a year and do something else if online was the only option. We are waiting to see if college sophomore goes back to campus this fall. If he doesn’t I may discuss with him his options.

 

[Walt34]

It’s going to be really tough for two earning families. Both can’t go to work with a child at home. On the other hand it will let each child learn at their own pace.

Well, maybe. I was just thinking, that if it was me as a student the way I was in Jr. High (Middle school) and HS, I'd have figured a way to put a photo of me in front of the camera and gone back to bed.

Not that any of your little darlings would ever think of such a thing....

 

[MuirWannabe]

What do y’all think about day care facilities for pre schoolers? My grandchildren used to go to daycare in another ladies home. She watches several children. Makes me a bit nervous. But working from home while having a couple pre schoolers running around the house seems almost impossible. Maybe the risk isn’t so much?

It’s not my decision of course. That rests with my DD’s who are quite capable. But it’s something I’ve wondered about. It’s not just school aged children situations that pose challenges.

 

[Montecfo]

Well, maybe. I was just thinking, that if it was me as a student the way I was in Jr. High (Middle school) and HS, I'd have figured a way to put a photo of me in front of the camera and gone back to bed.

Not that any of your little darlings would ever think of such a thing....

They already have. Beuller app.

https://beulr.com/

 

[harllee]

I was thinking about the upcoming school year yesterday. DW and I host Thanksgiving. Niece, her husband and their 3 kids (10,5, and 1yo) always come. So does 91 yo MIL. And me, DW, 2 BIL's and 2 SIL's all in our mid 60's.

I do not know if the kids are going to school in the fall. I suspect they are. I know it's a long way off, but this has the potential for disaster if the kids are going to school and then have close contact with a 91 yo.

That said, I hope that they can go to school and resume normal lives. There is no easy answer to this problem.

No way I would expose my 89 year old mother to that large group. Our Thanksgiving this year will most likely have to be by Zoom.

 

[rodi]

Well, maybe. I was just thinking, that if it was me as a student the way I was in Jr. High (Middle school) and HS, I'd have figured a way to put a photo of me in front of the camera and gone back to bed.

Not that any of your little darlings would ever think of such a thing....

You can always mute the video (not required to use webcam since not all computers use them. My son muted audio and video output - just to prevent random family members entering his camera - or saying embarrasing things. And he 'listened' to more than one early zoom meeting from bed on his phone.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

It’s going to be really tough for two earning families. Both can’t go to work with a child at home. On the other hand it will let each child learn at their own pace.

Learn at their own pace...or not learn.