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Welcome to Monday July 13!
Jul. 13th, 2020 12:19 pmI tried walking with M. It rained.
I think I am ready to add another section to my Education Planning for the Fall. But before I do, I will probably do a roundup post on people who specialize in providing mental health services / support to children, and their perspectives on an in-person return to school in a few weeks. My sense has been that a kid would have to be suffering pretty badly for it to be an improvement to go back to school in the current circumstances. And watching a family member suffer who caught the virus from the kid who caught it from school would presumably be damaging to one’s mental and emotional health.
I have been feeling very, very angry at a lot of people lately. However, some things have cheered me up.
First, a lot of the pre-existing federal funding for schools has already been disbursed for the first months of this school year.
Second, the enabling legislation seems to not support the ability of the executive branch to engage in shenanigans with stopping the funding, based on in-person or really anything else.
Third, while some individual pediatricians and smaller pediatrician representatives (Texas, I am looking at your group) continue to press for a return to schooling as in the Before Times, and during August, the AAP has walked back its participation in pressure to restart schools in person, full schedule, everyone there. It has not walked it back far enough, but it has walked it back partway.
Our first day of Kids Not In School was March 13. So this is month 4 ending and month 5 starting. _You_ might go, yeah, but do summer months count. However, both my kids are eligible for ESY, so, YEAH, the summer months count. My son is doing 3 days a week, 2 hours a day (virtual — maybe more if it goes well — they are figuring it out). I decline ESY for my daughter, because it does not work well for her, so she has 4 weeks of day camp instead through Camp Empow — which is virtual, and 9-4, zoom all day. No lie, it is a chore, and it is pretty exhausting, but she is still enjoying it and excited to do it every day. I, personally, will be fine when it is done. I think I can get her through a lot more material with a lot fewer meltdowns, and am looking forward to working on Python projects together.
ETA:
A lot of parents who have the resources (wifi, computers, parental time, energy, etc.) to support their kids continuing to learn at home are really worried that they are not doing a good enough job. This is a very normal part of the transition to school at home — one always assumes that with dedicated, experienced professionals, and more hours of the day, kids must surely be doing a lot more at school than they do at home with support from parents. And not all kids can learn at home, because some homes lack crucial resources. This is aimed at that broad swathe of humanity, however, which CAN support learning at home, but which is worried about how it is going.
First, remember how when you were a kid, you learned addition, subtraction, etc. year after year after year in elementary school? And how it seemed like you were relearning about the Europeans arriving in the Americas and the American Revolution year after year after year? Yeah. School has a lot of repetition, because repetition is necessary to make sure everyone got it at least once and that it sticks. You know how you have to look shit up in wikipedia, because you cannot remember something that you know you learned in school? How much did that failure to remember hold you back in life? A lot of what the families that are set up to support learning at home worry about ... is not worth their time and energy to worry about. Just stop.
Second, if you or anyone you know was ever routinely missing school because of illness or family travel or whatever, think about — or ask that person — what was involved in “catching up” on the days or even weeks (*or months or years*) that were missed. You will be stunned, I can guarantee it. I always thought I was a weirdo for missing a week or two of school every year that I was a kid. I had one of my sisters go pick up stuff from the office that the teachers delivered (or I took it home when they sent me home and said do not come back until you are better, or I went in and picked it up while trying not to fall over or cough on anyone). I was never behind when I returned. I did all the work the last day or two before I returned (too sick before that). And it generally speaking took at least _another week_ for the class to catch up to what I had done based on the teacher’s lesson plans going into the week that I missed.
You do not realize how much you are learning just being alive right now. And your kids are sponges. They are learning right along with you, even if you are doing your very best to protect them from the worst of what is happening in our world.
Those of us who do not die are going to get through this. Those of us who avoid the virus or the worst consequences of the virus will be fine. The quicker we start interacting with the real world, the better this will all be.
I think I am ready to add another section to my Education Planning for the Fall. But before I do, I will probably do a roundup post on people who specialize in providing mental health services / support to children, and their perspectives on an in-person return to school in a few weeks. My sense has been that a kid would have to be suffering pretty badly for it to be an improvement to go back to school in the current circumstances. And watching a family member suffer who caught the virus from the kid who caught it from school would presumably be damaging to one’s mental and emotional health.
I have been feeling very, very angry at a lot of people lately. However, some things have cheered me up.
First, a lot of the pre-existing federal funding for schools has already been disbursed for the first months of this school year.
Second, the enabling legislation seems to not support the ability of the executive branch to engage in shenanigans with stopping the funding, based on in-person or really anything else.
Third, while some individual pediatricians and smaller pediatrician representatives (Texas, I am looking at your group) continue to press for a return to schooling as in the Before Times, and during August, the AAP has walked back its participation in pressure to restart schools in person, full schedule, everyone there. It has not walked it back far enough, but it has walked it back partway.
Our first day of Kids Not In School was March 13. So this is month 4 ending and month 5 starting. _You_ might go, yeah, but do summer months count. However, both my kids are eligible for ESY, so, YEAH, the summer months count. My son is doing 3 days a week, 2 hours a day (virtual — maybe more if it goes well — they are figuring it out). I decline ESY for my daughter, because it does not work well for her, so she has 4 weeks of day camp instead through Camp Empow — which is virtual, and 9-4, zoom all day. No lie, it is a chore, and it is pretty exhausting, but she is still enjoying it and excited to do it every day. I, personally, will be fine when it is done. I think I can get her through a lot more material with a lot fewer meltdowns, and am looking forward to working on Python projects together.
ETA:
A lot of parents who have the resources (wifi, computers, parental time, energy, etc.) to support their kids continuing to learn at home are really worried that they are not doing a good enough job. This is a very normal part of the transition to school at home — one always assumes that with dedicated, experienced professionals, and more hours of the day, kids must surely be doing a lot more at school than they do at home with support from parents. And not all kids can learn at home, because some homes lack crucial resources. This is aimed at that broad swathe of humanity, however, which CAN support learning at home, but which is worried about how it is going.
First, remember how when you were a kid, you learned addition, subtraction, etc. year after year after year in elementary school? And how it seemed like you were relearning about the Europeans arriving in the Americas and the American Revolution year after year after year? Yeah. School has a lot of repetition, because repetition is necessary to make sure everyone got it at least once and that it sticks. You know how you have to look shit up in wikipedia, because you cannot remember something that you know you learned in school? How much did that failure to remember hold you back in life? A lot of what the families that are set up to support learning at home worry about ... is not worth their time and energy to worry about. Just stop.
Second, if you or anyone you know was ever routinely missing school because of illness or family travel or whatever, think about — or ask that person — what was involved in “catching up” on the days or even weeks (*or months or years*) that were missed. You will be stunned, I can guarantee it. I always thought I was a weirdo for missing a week or two of school every year that I was a kid. I had one of my sisters go pick up stuff from the office that the teachers delivered (or I took it home when they sent me home and said do not come back until you are better, or I went in and picked it up while trying not to fall over or cough on anyone). I was never behind when I returned. I did all the work the last day or two before I returned (too sick before that). And it generally speaking took at least _another week_ for the class to catch up to what I had done based on the teacher’s lesson plans going into the week that I missed.
You do not realize how much you are learning just being alive right now. And your kids are sponges. They are learning right along with you, even if you are doing your very best to protect them from the worst of what is happening in our world.
Those of us who do not die are going to get through this. Those of us who avoid the virus or the worst consequences of the virus will be fine. The quicker we start interacting with the real world, the better this will all be.