Ever since school was cancelled in March, I had my fingers crossed the kids would go back in the fall. All summer, most people were in limbo waiting to see what their school district would decide. In July, Dallas County created an order that no in-person classes or activities could occur until September 8. That came after getting false hope from the Texas Education Board who said every student needed to have the chance for in-person school. (Virtual options have always been available for those who prefer it.) So then RISD came out with a plan to start school virtually, and then open schools after about 3 weeks.
I think it was good to establish virtual capabilities; in the case that the school (or class) has to go virtual for a period, they're fairly well prepared for it. But... it was painful.
The toughest part was having to abide by their schedule, which lasted from 7:50 am - 3 pm. There was only about 1.5 hours of substance in there, but they manage to spread it out over the entire day, with calls throughout the day. Between the two class schedules, we never got to leave the house, and barely even got a lunch break. Plus, kids are grumpier when they're on tablets all day.
Tiago, literally, just wanted to sit in the chair and read all day. Once school re-started, he said he'd rather just be home reading. And, I don't blame him. Sounds good to me, too.
Initially the school district set case-number requirements our county needed to meet before re-opening. And they had a phased opening, that would start with half-classes attending two days a week (M,T and then Th,F). As the 're-open' date approached, I was super confused, because we were nowhere near meeting the metrics. Just a few days before they were supposed to go back face-to-face, they explained they were not using all of Dallas County numbers, and only the small part of Dallas County in our school district. And without mention, they just did away with the phased approach.
On September 8 I went and dropped off ALL THREE big kids for a full day of school. Of course, they were wearing masks, all day. (I think they just take them off for lunch, and recess if they need to, as long as they're not in close contact with others.) They have clear plastic 'shields' or dividers that they use in the classroom and carry with them to lunch and specials. They have assigned seating and interact mostly with a group of only 4 students. And the best part of all is they don't really complain about any of it. I think the social aspect outweighs the inconvenience, and they're happy to be in school.
The only problems are the kids biting the inside of their masks. Or sucking on them. Several already have holes in the inside, and it hasn't even been a month. And all of Tiago's masks slip off his nose. It would be great to buy a bunch and see what really fits his face best, but I don't want to spend a small fortune on a bunch of masks that probably won't work well, either.
I always imagined that having the oldest 3 at school all day would give me a bigger break, but here I am trying to entertain a baby/toddler for 7 hours. (Well, he takes a nap for part of that, which is when I hurry and try to get everything done.) He often throws a tantrum if I take him on a walk longer than 10 minutes, which I still do sometimes, anyway. He likes to dump all of our containers of toys out all over the floor then empty all of my lower kitchen cabinets. Every. Day. And he wants to be held if I'm standing up trying to do anything. It has been a reminder of how unstimulating I find the beginning years of motherhood. Bigger kids get hard, but there's at least stuff going on. Conversations. Activities. Etc. With Enzo, we've read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" about 100 times since the start of school. But he's cute. I'll keep him.
My fingers are crossed that the kids stay in school all year. Flu season may throw a wrench in things. Currently, the school district has a covid-tracker where you can see all current/past cases by school. It's interesting to follow. Weekly, we have to fill out a symptoms tracker, indicating whether the kids have any covid symptoms. I suspect if there's any positive, they tell you to stay home and make you get a test before coming back. So with flu symptoms mixed in, I think things could get messy.
No comments:
Post a Comment