Allegedly there are several options for the fall none of which include being back full time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This obnoxious quote has been repeated 10,000 times on here. If all of our children were learning so beautifully from distance leaning and google classroom, would this really be a 35 page thread? This and in person learning do NOT equate. Whomever doesn't comprehend this simply does not want to.

I have to say, my kids have been doing pretty well with distance learning, and I was thinking overall it was not so bad. But then we watched my 5th grader's virtual promotion ceremony last night, and all the pictures of all the things they did the first 2/3 of the year...there is NO COMPARISON. There is just no comparison between the baseline something they are getting from distance learning and the incredibly enriching and stimulating and fun experience they were getting before. There's no comparison.

I understand, but don't miss the fact that they aren't going to get the enriching, stimulating, and fun experience they were getting before if in-person school returns in the fall either. Regardless of what we do, this isn't going away and the new normal is going to be different from last fall.

There is no reason for it to be different. If numbers are still continuing to decline by then-there is no reason to have it be "so different" in the fall. Daycares have been doing just fine and operating for months. Those kids literally lick each other and touch each other constantly and the providers have to change diapers etc...

Really? Daycares have been operating with 30 plus in classrooms and 2000 plus in the buildings. Interesting? Where?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This obnoxious quote has been repeated 10,000 times on here. If all of our children were learning so beautifully from distance leaning and google classroom, would this really be a 35 page thread? This and in person learning do NOT equate. Whomever doesn't comprehend this simply does not want to.

I have to say, my kids have been doing pretty well with distance learning, and I was thinking overall it was not so bad. But then we watched my 5th grader's virtual promotion ceremony last night, and all the pictures of all the things they did the first 2/3 of the year...there is NO COMPARISON. There is just no comparison between the baseline something they are getting from distance learning and the incredibly enriching and stimulating and fun experience they were getting before. There's no comparison.

I understand, but don't miss the fact that they aren't going to get the enriching, stimulating, and fun experience they were getting before if in-person school returns in the fall either. Regardless of what we do, this isn't going away and the new normal is going to be different from last fall.

Yes, it will be different, but that doesn't really say much. The questions are, how different, and in what ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This obnoxious quote has been repeated 10,000 times on here. If all of our children were learning so beautifully from distance leaning and google classroom, would this really be a 35 page thread? This and in person learning do NOT equate. Whomever doesn't comprehend this simply does not want to.

I have to say, my kids have been doing pretty well with distance learning, and I was thinking overall it was not so bad. But then we watched my 5th grader's virtual promotion ceremony last night, and all the pictures of all the things they did the first 2/3 of the year...there is NO COMPARISON. There is just no comparison between the baseline something they are getting from distance learning and the incredibly enriching and stimulating and fun experience they were getting before. There's no comparison.

I understand, but don't miss the fact that they aren't going to get the enriching, stimulating, and fun experience they were getting before if in-person school returns in the fall either. Regardless of what we do, this isn't going away and the new normal is going to be different from last fall.

There is no reason for it to be different. If numbers are still continuing to decline by then-there is no reason to have it be "so different" in the fall. Daycares have been doing just fine and operating for months. Those kids literally lick each other and touch each other constantly and the providers have to change diapers etc...

Really? Daycares have been operating with 30 plus in classrooms and 2000 plus in the buildings. Interesting? Where?

The amount of kids doesn't really matter. A 5 year old is going to be better at reducing contact with others than a two year old would be. There are far riskier behaviors at daycares even though there are less kids. How many parents complain that their kids are constantly sick from daycare? If it was going to be a problem, it would have been apparent by now.

Also at the beginning it was for essential workers so these kids were getting exposed to their parents daily who have been working the entire time. If it was going to happen, it would have happened.

[Anonymous]

In China a study said that students were only 1/3 as infectious as adults. However, because they were in such close proximity to others they were three times more likely to cause spread. So, basically they were just as likely spreaders as adults once a school situation was factored in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This obnoxious quote has been repeated 10,000 times on here. If all of our children were learning so beautifully from distance leaning and google classroom, would this really be a 35 page thread? This and in person learning do NOT equate. Whomever doesn't comprehend this simply does not want to.

I have to say, my kids have been doing pretty well with distance learning, and I was thinking overall it was not so bad. But then we watched my 5th grader's virtual promotion ceremony last night, and all the pictures of all the things they did the first 2/3 of the year...there is NO COMPARISON. There is just no comparison between the baseline something they are getting from distance learning and the incredibly enriching and stimulating and fun experience they were getting before. There's no comparison.

I understand, but don't miss the fact that they aren't going to get the enriching, stimulating, and fun experience they were getting before if in-person school returns in the fall either. Regardless of what we do, this isn't going away and the new normal is going to be different from last fall.

Yes, it will be different, but that doesn't really say much. The questions are, how different, and in what ways.

Here is what Japan is doing. Can you see this happening here?

Article rank 8 Jun 2020The Washington PostBY SIMON DENYER [e-mail]
Japan’s schools reopen, with health checks and silent lunches
tokyo — As Japan reopens its schools, parents are getting some early morning homework.

They are expected to take their children’s temperatures every morning and enter the results on a health report, which is then brought to school and checked by teachers on arrival.

The monitoring is just one of the new realities at schools across Japan, which are now back in session for the first time since March. It’s also a taste of how education around the world is remaking itself in the coronavirus pandemic era.

Schools have been closed in 146 countries around the world, according to UNESCO, affecting at least two-thirds of students globally. Japan is among a small number of countries trying to find a way to restart education — under restrictions and with emergency plans to close again if the virus finds a foothold.

At Hoyonomori Gakuen, a school in Tokyo’s Shinagawa ward, the new rules, including temperature checks, are set down in a 28-point plan designed by the school to minimize risks.

Lunch in silence

Children attend on alternate days, so half the desks in every classroom can be left empty, and for now they are also going home early. Teachers and students all wears masks.

The students line up — paying attention to marks on the floor to indicate appropriate distancing — to wash their hands before classes even start, and continue to do so throughout the morning.

Lunch is eaten at their desks, facing forward, in silence.

It’s harder to make new friends when everyone has to keep their distance, says Naho Shinagawa, and school would be much more fun if she could play outside during recess. But the 8-year-old third-grader is just glad to be back, learning and playing with her friends again.

“When I walk to school, I feel a little bit scared in case I pass someone who is infected, but once I’m here, I feel safe,” she said. “I’m so glad I can take my classes together with everyone.”

The silent lunchtime is a hard adjustment for Yukihisa Ishikawa, an 11-year-old boy.

“I enjoy class, and between classes, although we have to keep our distance, I enjoy talking to my friends,” he said. “But a good part of lunchtime is talking to friends while eating, and if we can’t do that, it’s disappointing.”

Ishikawa and fellow sixthgrader Miki Akimoto say it’s easier learning at school than it was at home, not least because they have a sense “that we’re all in it together.”

“At home, my younger brother and sister would finish their work earlier than me, and it was difficult to concentrate,” Akimoto said. With dad also often working from home, it also tended to be quite crowded, she added.

At school, both kids said it was hard to remember to keep their distance from their friends all the time.

“Actually when my friends come close to me, I start to become aware of social distance,” Ishikawa said. “Then I get to talking myself, and it’s easy to forget.”

Contingency plans

After closing schools at the beginning of March and declaring a state of emergency in April, Japan has managed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, with just a few dozen new cases recorded every day. Its official death toll stands at just over 900, a fraction of the numbers seen in the United States and Western Europe.

But school principal Jun Ninomiya says he is still checking the government’s coronavirus data, in detail, every day, and has drawn up contingency plans in case the school needs to close again. The end of the state of emergency has seen a small but significant rise in cases, especially in Tokyo and the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka prefecture, in Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu.

At least 13 children in Kitakyushu have been found to have the coronavirus, including five in the same class, although not all had symptoms. Five schools in the city have been forced to close again, after reopening only last month.

Ninomiya said he had expected some parents to be reluctant to send their children back to Hoyonomori Gakuen, “but so far those fears were not justified.”

“Parents have been waiting to send their children back to school,” he said, “so this is the right time.”

Children have not been as badly affected as older adults by the coronavirus. That does not mean they are entirely safe, nor that schools can’t become vectors of virus transmission, experts say. Children in Asia, the United States and Europe have also been diagnosed with a “multi-system inflammatory syndrome” similar to Kawasaki disease, thought to be linked to the coronavirus.

In Japan, the Ministry of Education says singing should not be allowed in music classes just yet, because that can encourage virus particles to spread, while physical education should be designed to avoid contact between children.

Hoyonomori Gakuen has removed many doors that divided up the school and is keeping its windows open to maximize ventilation, while also keeping the air conditioning on. It can still be uncomfortable in a face mask, though.

“The mask does get hot, and I’m often tempted to remove it,” said third-grader Shinagawa, who isn’t a huge fan of social distancing either. “It’s sad not having a friend sitting next to me at school.”

Akiko Kashiwagi contributed to this report.

[Anonymous]

MA planning for part-time school:

Newton Superintendent David Fleishman on Wednesday told families in an e-mail, “Portions of the next school year will likely involve three different modes of instruction: in-person learning at schools, distance learning with an improved schedule, and/or a hybrid of the two models to facilitate social distancing.”

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/10/metro/students-likely-attend-school-only-part-time-this-fall-local-officials-warn/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This obnoxious quote has been repeated 10,000 times on here. If all of our children were learning so beautifully from distance leaning and google classroom, would this really be a 35 page thread? This and in person learning do NOT equate. Whomever doesn't comprehend this simply does not want to.

I have to say, my kids have been doing pretty well with distance learning, and I was thinking overall it was not so bad. But then we watched my 5th grader's virtual promotion ceremony last night, and all the pictures of all the things they did the first 2/3 of the year...there is NO COMPARISON. There is just no comparison between the baseline something they are getting from distance learning and the incredibly enriching and stimulating and fun experience they were getting before. There's no comparison.

I understand, but don't miss the fact that they aren't going to get the enriching, stimulating, and fun experience they were getting before if in-person school returns in the fall either. Regardless of what we do, this isn't going away and the new normal is going to be different from last fall.

Yes, it will be different, but that doesn't really say much. The questions are, how different, and in what ways.

Here is what Japan is doing. Can you see this happening here?

Article rank 8 Jun 2020The Washington PostBY SIMON DENYER [e-mail]
Japan’s schools reopen, with health checks and silent lunches
tokyo — As Japan reopens its schools, parents are getting some early morning homework.

They are expected to take their children’s temperatures every morning and enter the results on a health report, which is then brought to school and checked by teachers on arrival.

The monitoring is just one of the new realities at schools across Japan, which are now back in session for the first time since March. It’s also a taste of how education around the world is remaking itself in the coronavirus pandemic era.

Schools have been closed in 146 countries around the world, according to UNESCO, affecting at least two-thirds of students globally. Japan is among a small number of countries trying to find a way to restart education — under restrictions and with emergency plans to close again if the virus finds a foothold.

At Hoyonomori Gakuen, a school in Tokyo’s Shinagawa ward, the new rules, including temperature checks, are set down in a 28-point plan designed by the school to minimize risks.

Lunch in silence

Children attend on alternate days, so half the desks in every classroom can be left empty, and for now they are also going home early. Teachers and students all wears masks.

The students line up — paying attention to marks on the floor to indicate appropriate distancing — to wash their hands before classes even start, and continue to do so throughout the morning.

Lunch is eaten at their desks, facing forward, in silence.

It’s harder to make new friends when everyone has to keep their distance, says Naho Shinagawa, and school would be much more fun if she could play outside during recess. But the 8-year-old third-grader is just glad to be back, learning and playing with her friends again.

“When I walk to school, I feel a little bit scared in case I pass someone who is infected, but once I’m here, I feel safe,” she said. “I’m so glad I can take my classes together with everyone.”

The silent lunchtime is a hard adjustment for Yukihisa Ishikawa, an 11-year-old boy.

“I enjoy class, and between classes, although we have to keep our distance, I enjoy talking to my friends,” he said. “But a good part of lunchtime is talking to friends while eating, and if we can’t do that, it’s disappointing.”

Ishikawa and fellow sixthgrader Miki Akimoto say it’s easier learning at school than it was at home, not least because they have a sense “that we’re all in it together.”

“At home, my younger brother and sister would finish their work earlier than me, and it was difficult to concentrate,” Akimoto said. With dad also often working from home, it also tended to be quite crowded, she added.

At school, both kids said it was hard to remember to keep their distance from their friends all the time.

“Actually when my friends come close to me, I start to become aware of social distance,” Ishikawa said. “Then I get to talking myself, and it’s easy to forget.”

Contingency plans

After closing schools at the beginning of March and declaring a state of emergency in April, Japan has managed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, with just a few dozen new cases recorded every day. Its official death toll stands at just over 900, a fraction of the numbers seen in the United States and Western Europe.

But school principal Jun Ninomiya says he is still checking the government’s coronavirus data, in detail, every day, and has drawn up contingency plans in case the school needs to close again. The end of the state of emergency has seen a small but significant rise in cases, especially in Tokyo and the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka prefecture, in Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu.

At least 13 children in Kitakyushu have been found to have the coronavirus, including five in the same class, although not all had symptoms. Five schools in the city have been forced to close again, after reopening only last month.

Ninomiya said he had expected some parents to be reluctant to send their children back to Hoyonomori Gakuen, “but so far those fears were not justified.”

“Parents have been waiting to send their children back to school,” he said, “so this is the right time.”

Children have not been as badly affected as older adults by the coronavirus. That does not mean they are entirely safe, nor that schools can’t become vectors of virus transmission, experts say. Children in Asia, the United States and Europe have also been diagnosed with a “multi-system inflammatory syndrome” similar to Kawasaki disease, thought to be linked to the coronavirus.

In Japan, the Ministry of Education says singing should not be allowed in music classes just yet, because that can encourage virus particles to spread, while physical education should be designed to avoid contact between children.

Hoyonomori Gakuen has removed many doors that divided up the school and is keeping its windows open to maximize ventilation, while also keeping the air conditioning on. It can still be uncomfortable in a face mask, though.

“The mask does get hot, and I’m often tempted to remove it,” said third-grader Shinagawa, who isn’t a huge fan of social distancing either. “It’s sad not having a friend sitting next to me at school.”

Akiko Kashiwagi contributed to this report.

This should be the primary consideration. Not that parents will suddenly decide to move to Accident, MD.

[Anonymous]

My child’s Principal let slip that school would start online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My child’s Principal let slip that school would start online.

Your child's Principal can't "let it slip" because your child's Principal doesn't know.

[Anonymous]

With every part of the society opening up, it would be absolutely unacceptable for schools to stay closed. Mental/emotional toll on kids is huge, let alone educational loss or financial impact on working families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My child’s Principal let slip that school would start online.

Your child's Principal can't "let it slip" because your child's Principal doesn't know.

DP. They must be telling them something. There’s been a lot of chatter among teachers about broad hints given by principals. There’s also the fact that schools aren’t requesting the return of Chromebooks —even for students who are going to the next grade band or moving clusters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With every part of the society opening up, it would be absolutely unacceptable for schools to stay closed. Mental/emotional toll on kids is huge, let alone educational loss or financial impact on working families.

Just keep in mind that "every part of society" that is "opening up" is opening up with modifications in place. The question is, will schools be able to afford the necessary modifications to open safely? We all hope it will happen, but some are more optimistic than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With every part of the society opening up, it would be absolutely unacceptable for schools to stay closed. Mental/emotional toll on kids is huge, let alone educational loss or financial impact on working families.

Every part of society has not opened up without restrictions. Indoor
Activities are still restricted. That’s not to say they won’t be open by fall, but right now, everyone agrees that indoor crowded spaces are high risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With every part of the society opening up, it would be absolutely unacceptable for schools to stay closed. Mental/emotional toll on kids is huge, let alone educational loss or financial impact on working families.

Every part of society has not opened up without restrictions. Indoor
Activities are still restricted. That’s not to say they won’t be open by fall, but right now, everyone agrees that indoor crowded spaces are high risk.

Today is June 12. The first day of school is August 31.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With every part of the society opening up, it would be absolutely unacceptable for schools to stay closed. Mental/emotional toll on kids is huge, let alone educational loss or financial impact on working families.

Every part of society has not opened up without restrictions. Indoor
Activities are still restricted. That’s not to say they won’t be open by fall, but right now, everyone agrees that indoor crowded spaces are high risk.

Today is June 12. The first day of school is August 31.

Which is why I said it might change by the time school starts.