My son didn’t care for his spring semester homeschool teacher. She made him attend a few zoom meetings and complete his last six weeks’ worth of homework packets. She wasn’t very interested herself. OK, yes, she is me and I was completely done with school when it closed for CoVid-19. My son was more done with school than I was. He completed everything. He got one B and the rest were A’s last year.
Zoom meetings… We both agreed that my laptop would be aimed at a closed door and part of the china cabinet for the entirety of any zoom meetings. The inside of our house is our private space. You don’t get to invite yourself to our house. We invite people whom we choose into our house. However, kids get more out of school than just the classwork. The zoom meetings were more for the teacher and kids to catch up socially. I had zero problems with zoom being about social interaction. I agreed with his actual teacher on how she used the meetings. She helped the kids stay connected socially. That’s a big deal for kids who are being isolated for months. They are being isolated socially when they are supposed to be learning social skills. Lockdowns are going to have long lasting effects on kids. In the last six months, there have been two teenagers in two small towns commit suicide in this area. Isolation is not good for anyone, but can be devastating for kids. To make matters worse, the only thing on news is the crashed economy due to the virus and social unrest. What do kids have to look forward to? Nothing. Absolutely no decent foreseeable future if they are watching the news and cannot connect with their friends. Adults understand that bad times will pass. Kids do not have the emotional or intellectual ability to understand life is ever changing. If you have kids and they are not back in school and/or having social interactions, you better be an active parent or you stand a good chance of losing your child to drugs, violence, depression, or suicide. Sometimes even the most involved parent cannot save their child in times like now.
I had two schools to choose from when regular school resumed this month. My son and I both agreed to move him to the school that is in the town in which we live and a few blocks down the street. The two schools are both taking virus precautions with completely different approaches. My son’s school is wearing masks (he is wearing a face shields). He thinks it’s more comfortable and easier to breath. He is in 5th grade. I’m fine with this choice. His school is taking lots of breaks outside and having recess outdoors with no masks. They all have their own water bottle the carry at all times and can refill. They are still planning on regular sports. As of right now, there have only been 10 cases in our county and they aren’t even all active anymore. No deaths. No cases in our town. He rides his bike to school, eats breakfast, lunch and then they provide a snack at the end of the day. His favorite parts of school are the long amounts of time spent outdoors, the food, and making new friends. He likes his teacher and how she is teaching her classes. He loves the school food. He hated the food at his school last year. This school uses real beef from the local locker plant and feeds the kids high quality food which they will eat. His end of day snack yesterday was an apple, milk, orange juice, and a good quality turkey lunch meat sandwich with cheese. He ate every last bight. Kids do better at school when they are served food they like and will eat. Don’t we all feel better, have more energy, and are more alert when we eat well? Moving him was a great choice. The other school has good things to offer as well. For my son, this is the better choice. We are all hoping and praying that this virus stays out of our area so that school can stay open. I am not holding out too much hope though because the county right beside ours has had a significant increase in cases.
Here is to a happy and safe school year for kids, teachers, school administrators, employees, and parents everywhere!
Middle of the Muddy Road 