remote learning demands unreasonable for families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents did nothing but complain that their teachers were never available in the spring -- that there wasn't any live instruction.

Now you get it and you STILL complain. Just withdraw your child if its such a hassle.

This. People complained when there was not enough live instruction in DL and are now complaining that there is too much. Workbooks and textbooks are not coming back, no funding and getting the same ones for everyone is a serious contract issue etc. for kids that little, sign into whatvwr live pieces woth the teacher work for you and skip the rest.
No one thinks this is easy or really doable with parent working and w supervising kids at the same time.

I didn’t hear anyone argue that they thought the DL day should literally follow the in person 8:30-3 schedule. This clearly responds to the motivation of the schools, not the parents.

[Anonymous]

I have kids in K and 4th. Without a nanny that we have because one child has significant SN, it would be impossible.

I agree activities would be great but of course they would be even more work.

I feel like in the short term thinking out of the box and in the longer term voting at all levels and political activism are my only options. I’m a medical researcher working on covid so I won’t stop working.

I hope you’ll consider the voting and politics part for what you think would be more effective, coordinated policies to get us back to normal as fast as possible and do better for kids in the mean time, but it’s cold comfort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The challenge is that schools and teachers can't win. When teachers did a few video sessions a week and suggested supplements, the cry was that teachers suck and c are lazy and should be fired. Now it is 8 hours of screens and the cry is it is too much.

What I wish they could come up with for the younger children is a less demanding schedule. Most of us are not sitting beside a single happy docile child who simply loves homeschooling. Last spring, DC's kindergarten teacher had ruthless demands. I'm lucky I'm still employed. She certainly will be employed with union protection. It all feels too CYA. It's not about what's good for the kids. The kids will be fine, they'll learn what they need to learn. But they don't need to learn this way. A full-day with mom and/or dad rushing back and forth between their work laptop and the kid's ipad(s) all day long. Why are we expected to function this way for possibly an entire year? It's unhealthy, it creates miserable homes, all of this screentime is bad for the kids. I hope the schools will at least offer up free reading glasses with the kids start having vision issues earlier than usual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents did nothing but complain that their teachers were never available in the spring -- that there wasn't any live instruction.

Now you get it and you STILL complain. Just withdraw your child if its such a hassle.

This. People complained when there was not enough live instruction in DL and are now complaining that there is too much. Workbooks and textbooks are not coming back, no funding and getting the same ones for everyone is a serious contract issue etc. for kids that little, sign into whatvwr live pieces woth the teacher work for you and skip the rest.
No one thinks this is easy or really doable with parent working and w supervising kids at the same time.

I didn’t hear anyone argue that they thought the DL day should literally follow the in person 8:30-3 schedule. This clearly responds to the motivation of the schools, not the parents.

That's why I thnk this is more of a CYA move. And what if we don't play ball? Social workers show up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents did nothing but complain that their teachers were never available in the spring -- that there wasn't any live instruction.

Now you get it and you STILL complain. Just withdraw your child if its such a hassle.

Breathe. I don’t think anyone was complaining. Just sharing opinions. Also, who is “you”? You have no idea if these were the parents complaining about lack of instruction in the spring. If you have nothing to contribute to the conversation, then why even respond?

[Anonymous]

Neither of us can afford to pause our careers (and we live in a 2br apartment - haha!), so we are trying to do the mininum with our preschooler and taking reading breaks with our toddler. We tell ourselves that we are lucky to have jobs and thus the childcare/work conflict problem.

It appears that society's priorities in all of this were: 1) bail out large corporations, 2) take halfhearted measures and then close schools to keep people healthy, 3) try to fix the economy by opening restaurants and bars so that more people can have jobs and afford to eat, 4) LAST ON THE LIST: the education and socialization of small children and the preservation of their parents' sanity.

[Anonymous]

Every one if you had the option of home schooling. So do that or shut up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The challenge is that schools and teachers can't win. When teachers did a few video sessions a week and suggested supplements, the cry was that teachers suck and c are lazy and should be fired. Now it is 8 hours of screens and the cry is it is too much.

What I wish they could come up with for the younger children is a less demanding schedule. Most of us are not sitting beside a single happy docile child who simply loves homeschooling. Last spring, DC's kindergarten teacher had ruthless demands. I'm lucky I'm still employed. She certainly will be employed with union protection. It all feels too CYA. It's not about what's good for the kids. The kids will be fine, they'll learn what they need to learn. But they don't need to learn this way. A full-day with mom and/or dad rushing back and forth between their work laptop and the kid's ipad(s) all day long. Why are we expected to function this way for possibly an entire year? It's unhealthy, it creates miserable homes, all of this screentime is bad for the kids. I hope the schools will at least offer up free reading glasses with the kids start having vision issues earlier than usual.

Exactly. I agree with you on this. We aren’t asking or “complaining” about school. I think what parents of younger students are looking for is a consistent approach across the board to how our younger children will be learning this year. I greatly appreciate the teachers that take distance learning seriously, but I would appreciate it if ages were taken into consideration more. This isn’t about lazy parenting at all. This is about unrealistic expectations for 5-7 year olds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every one if you had the option of home schooling. So do that or shut up!

What does this sentence even mean? I hope you are not homeschooling your children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Neither of us can afford to pause our careers (and we live in a 2br apartment - haha!), so we are trying to do the mininum with our preschooler and taking reading breaks with our toddler. We tell ourselves that we are lucky to have jobs and thus the childcare/work conflict problem.

It appears that society's priorities in all of this were: 1) bail out large corporations, 2) take halfhearted measures and then close schools to keep people healthy, 3) try to fix the economy by opening restaurants and bars so that more people can have jobs and afford to eat, 4) LAST ON THE LIST: the education and socialization of small children and the preservation of their parents' sanity.

Well in your situation this is actually top of list since daycares are open again. You’re not having to educate school aged children. You have childcare options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Neither of us can afford to pause our careers (and we live in a 2br apartment - haha!), so we are trying to do the mininum with our preschooler and taking reading breaks with our toddler. We tell ourselves that we are lucky to have jobs and thus the childcare/work conflict problem.

It appears that society's priorities in all of this were: 1) bail out large corporations, 2) take halfhearted measures and then close schools to keep people healthy, 3) try to fix the economy by opening restaurants and bars so that more people can have jobs and afford to eat, 4) LAST ON THE LIST: the education and socialization of small children and the preservation of their parents' sanity.

Well in your situation this is actually top of list since daycares are open again. You’re not having to educate school aged children. You have childcare options.

Np, But are daycare centers going to facilitate the distance learning education? How will they do this with multiple different children from different schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents did nothing but complain that their teachers were never available in the spring -- that there wasn't any live instruction.

Now you get it and you STILL complain. Just withdraw your child if its such a hassle.

This. People complained when there was not enough live instruction in DL and are now complaining that there is too much. Workbooks and textbooks are not coming back, no funding and getting the same ones for everyone is a serious contract issue etc. for kids that little, sign into whatvwr live pieces woth the teacher work for you and skip the rest.
No one thinks this is easy or really doable with parent working and w supervising kids at the same time.

I didn’t hear anyone argue that they thought the DL day should literally follow the in person 8:30-3 schedule. This clearly responds to the motivation of the schools, not the parents.

+1
There are many ways for the teachers to stay employed without forcing us to adhere to the typical schedule. I'd rather my child have 1-2 hours per week one-on-one with his teacher than this unforgiving schedule. The schools can send out assignments on Monday and throughout the week we can work on them according to our schedules and then report back with everything by Friday. DH and I will have to deal with several graded assignments per week-- -that's what the teachers are demanding. The administrators, and many teachers, are very tone deaf. So, my kid, who would usually be a great student, may have lower grades because I have to choose between his assignments and my paycheck? My kid's school has quite a few teachers on the verge of retirement who are probably ok with this situation. Their kids are grown and out of the house and they've probably already put in their retirement paperwork.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Neither of us can afford to pause our careers (and we live in a 2br apartment - haha!), so we are trying to do the mininum with our preschooler and taking reading breaks with our toddler. We tell ourselves that we are lucky to have jobs and thus the childcare/work conflict problem.

It appears that society's priorities in all of this were: 1) bail out large corporations, 2) take halfhearted measures and then close schools to keep people healthy, 3) try to fix the economy by opening restaurants and bars so that more people can have jobs and afford to eat, 4) LAST ON THE LIST: the education and socialization of small children and the preservation of their parents' sanity.

Well in your situation this is actually top of list since daycares are open again. You’re not having to educate school aged children. You have childcare options.

Np, But are daycare centers going to facilitate the distance learning education? How will they do this with multiple different children from different schools?

New poster here

PPs kids are preschooler and toddler. "Education" can be handled at daycare.

I'm sick of all these whiny parents complaining that their toddlers are going to fall behind academically and saying that older kids can just suck it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kids are in kindergarten and third grade. The remote learning schedule outlined by their teachers is unbelievable. I don't understand how even the teachers can agree with doing this to small children. It's torture.

I know, it's hard, we all have to do this somehow but please, within reason. Why are iPads and Chromebooks the only option? I get it, they need to learn technology. But how about they use their iPads and Chromebooks for an hour rather than on and off all day long. How about workbooks? Storytime on the radio for the little ones? Phonics lessons on PBS? I don't know how we're supposed to make this work for possibly even the entire year if virus case numbers don't decrease significantly. Trying to execute this plan for even one child, let alone, 2, 3 or more, while working, is not realistic. We got through last spring, but that was with the expectation that it was temporary. This isn't good for small children. Their doctors insist we cut the time with devices and the schools have ramped it up even more.

This whole situation is sickening.

Lobby for the schools to be open in person.

Why? Do they can just close again at the first covid case(s)? Or get us or our kids sick?

This is one more place where having true presidential leadership would have paid off. A national children’s learning network and parental support. As it is now we have a true idiot as Secretary of Education and a total inept fool for a president.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kids are in kindergarten and third grade. The remote learning schedule outlined by their teachers is unbelievable. I don't understand how even the teachers can agree with doing this to small children. It's torture.

I know, it's hard, we all have to do this somehow but please, within reason. Why are iPads and Chromebooks the only option? I get it, they need to learn technology. But how about they use their iPads and Chromebooks for an hour rather than on and off all day long. How about workbooks? Storytime on the radio for the little ones? Phonics lessons on PBS? I don't know how we're supposed to make this work for possibly even the entire year if virus case numbers don't decrease significantly. Trying to execute this plan for even one child, let alone, 2, 3 or more, while working, is not realistic. We got through last spring, but that was with the expectation that it was temporary. This isn't good for small children. Their doctors insist we cut the time with devices and the schools have ramped it up even more.

This whole situation is sickening.

The teachers don’t agree to this. We are not involved in most decision making. Just an FYI. We think it’s outrageous too.