William started First Grade this week. It was not at all how we intended our son to experience school but with Covid-19 infecting every area of life since March, distance learning is how it needs to be. Six weeks ago we attended a virtual town hall meeting with our school district. It became very apparent from that conversation that I had two choices: 1) expect the district, our school and William's teacher to create and execute an actual distance learning plan and be able to teach my son in Spanish (He's in an Immersion school) better than what happened in the Spring; or 2) Take on the job myself and homeschool him (forgetting about the language, since I don't speak Spanish).
We discussed both options and prayed about it and we kept coming to the conclusion that it would be better to ride this out with the support of the school and keep him at least somewhat exposed to Spanish so when in-person classes became an option he could still attend and not be completely behind in the language. We have been working on math and reading over the summer so we don't have any real concerns of being behind in those subjects if distance learning is a flop.
So, how did the first week go? It was interesting. The first grade teacher seems to be very experienced and I can tell she did her work this summer to make online class doable for six and seven year olds. She started things off very easy -- Just one zoom call a day and three assignments that had the kids drawing, writing and reading. Even with that little of an expectation, William still struggled with motivation to do the work. He didn't fight me on the zoom calls, but was never really looking forward to them.
Our quiet corner was converted to a school corner using my old standing desk. We hope to get him a better desk soon, but this actually works quite well.
Things William learned this week include: how to use a touch-screen chromebook (provided by the district) and login to his zoom call and use a new program called seesaw. If I let him, he can do all of these things on his own. I was impressed with the way they had set up the computers so this could happen! He met his teacher and found out who was in his class.
Next week they'll add a couple more zoom calls and make the school day a bit longer. The end goal is that he'll have school from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with several breaks for at-home work/projects and lunch, but they're working up that slowly. That is a bit longer of a day than I was planning, but hopefully we'll still have time for getting outside, distance playdates, and free play.
But the really crazy part of our week was what was going on outside. A heatwave hit last week bringing the temperatures up to 100 degrees. We hit the beaches several times and enjoyed the feeling of an actual summer. I can't tell you what it was like to stand in the water, watching my kids splash in the waves, running free and realizing how trapped I had felt most of the summer. All our plans had changed. We stayed home except for the essential trips to the grocery store and the daily excursion to the park. There was very little that felt free. And here I was, watching my kids jump, run, and laugh as free as the birds. It filled me up.
On Sunday night, we had our first thunderstorm in years. Lightening filled the sky throughout the night and into the next day.
Monday was such a weird, gloomy day.
Tuesday was hot and sunny so that afternoon we headed to the beach and relived the freedom we experienced on Saturday. It was the most perfect day.
Then we woke up on Wednesday and saw a red sun and a foggy sky. Fires. There were fires on all sides of the bay. The air was thick with smoke and ash. Everyone started checking air quality reports.
So, with the exception of a short playdate outside with a friend on Thursday, we have been inside our home, once again feeling stuck with nothing to do. Not at all how I expected this first week of school to go.
And William lost a tooth!
William started First Grade this week. It was not at all how we intended our son to experience school but with Covid-19 infecting every area of life since March, distance learning is how it needs to be. Six weeks ago we attended a virtual town hall meeting with our school district. It became very apparent from that conversation that I had two choices: 1) expect the district, our school and William's teacher to create and execute an actual distance learning plan and be able to teach my son in Spanish (He's in an Immersion school) better than what happened in the Spring; or 2) Take on the job myself and homeschool him (forgetting about the language, since I don't speak Spanish).
We discussed both options and prayed about it and we kept coming to the conclusion that it would be better to ride this out with the support of the school and keep him at least somewhat exposed to Spanish so when in-person classes became an option he could still attend and not be completely behind in the language. We have been working on math and reading over the summer so we don't have any real concerns of being behind in those subjects if distance learning is a flop.
So, how did the first week go? It was interesting. The first grade teacher seems to be very experienced and I can tell she did her work this summer to make online class doable for six and seven year olds. She started things off very easy -- Just one zoom call a day and three assignments that had the kids drawing, writing and reading. Even with that little of an expectation, William still struggled with motivation to do the work. He didn't fight me on the zoom calls, but was never really looking forward to them.
Our quiet corner was converted to a school corner using my old standing desk. We hope to get him a better desk soon, but this actually works quite well.
Things William learned this week include: how to use a touch-screen chromebook (provided by the district) and login to his zoom call and use a new program called seesaw. If I let him, he can do all of these things on his own. I was impressed with the way they had set up the computers so this could happen! He met his teacher and found out who was in his class.
Next week they'll add a couple more zoom calls and make the school day a bit longer. The end goal is that he'll have school from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with several breaks for at-home work/projects and lunch, but they're working up that slowly. That is a bit longer of a day than I was planning, but hopefully we'll still have time for getting outside, distance playdates, and free play.
But the really crazy part of our week was what was going on outside. A heatwave hit last week bringing the temperatures up to 100 degrees. We hit the beaches several times and enjoyed the feeling of an actual summer. I can't tell you what it was like to stand in the water, watching my kids splash in the waves, running free and realizing how trapped I had felt most of the summer. All our plans had changed. We stayed home except for the essential trips to the grocery store and the daily excursion to the park. There was very little that felt free. And here I was, watching my kids jump, run, and laugh as free as the birds. It filled me up.
On Sunday night, we had our first thunderstorm in years. Lightening filled the sky throughout the night and into the next day.
Monday was such a weird, gloomy day.
Tuesday was hot and sunny so that afternoon we headed to the beach and relived the freedom we experienced on Saturday. It was the most perfect day.
Then we woke up on Wednesday and saw a red sun and a foggy sky. Fires. There were fires on all sides of the bay. The air was thick with smoke and ash. Everyone started checking air quality reports.
So, with the exception of a short playdate outside with a friend on Thursday, we have been inside our home, once again feeling stuck with nothing to do. Not at all how I expected this first week of school to go.
And William lost a tooth!
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