Seriously -What happens if we don’t participate in Zoom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since there are grades this time around I think it would affect their grade unless you opt out for homeschool.

Why would I care about my K or 2nd kids’ grades?

I don’t think they will show up on his transcripts for college or anything else meaningful.

I don’t know why you would either. PP asked what penalties are and that is grades and student learning.

Student learning isn’t a consequence either since learning doesn’t happen on Zoom for primary kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since there are grades this time around I think it would affect their grade unless you opt out for homeschool.

Why would I care about my K or 2nd kids’ grades?

I don’t think they will show up on his transcripts for college or anything else meaningful.

I don’t know why you would either. PP asked what penalties are and that is grades and student learning.

Student learning isn’t a consequence either since learning doesn’t happen on Zoom for primary kids.

Then hybrid won’t be any better bc they will also have what.....oh right more Zoom and asynchronous which also isn’t ideal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is not going to be grading. How can there be grading? Half of the kids in Spring never turned in one assignment once in person school ended. Not every kid has a home, a parent who can stay home with them, a stable home life, or safety to be able to succeed with DL. People inside this bubble are really tone deaf.

That’s why students never turned in assignments because there was no grading. Ask your BOE why this is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really hope parents communicate this concern bc it is mine as well. We are not sure how to do both.

+1

I communicated my concern that the five or whatever hours of Zoom per day is far too much for elementary school kids. My older two are rising first and third graders, and DH and I both work FT (albeit from home, but our hours aren't super flexible and our workloads have increased due to COVID). If MCPS doesn't change the proposed hours, we'll figure it out.

Officially withdrawing them and homeschooling is something we're considering.

Never thought I would say this, but we are considering this as well. We told our 4th grader that we will stick it out (MCPS) for the first fee weeks and then see how we are all feeling.
I also expressed this concern to MCPS. My incoming Ker’s behavior PLUMMETS with too much screen time and he is not interested in online “interaction” - ie, a parent will need to sit with him every minute to keep him on task.
The ONLY thing that is keeping us in mcps at this point is that my older kid MIGHT have some friends in their class who they would be able to see and interact with a bit on the zooms. Oh, and the fact that we both work FT and the idea of homeschooling 1 or both kids is soul crushing. But we are seriously considering it.

How are you going to homeschool? Is one parent going to go part time or take a leave of absence? I am asking because we would like to do it as well, but I don’t think it is possible with two FT working parents. Our jobs are somewhat flexible, but not flexible enough to block 4-5 hours everyday to homeschool. Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kids don't need school for fresh air and movement.

No, they don’t. I don’t want my kids at school in person. I want the 100% remote option, limiting screen time to no more than an hour a day. My daughter is 6.

At this point, that isn’t a choice being offered. If that is what you want for your child, you need to homeschool.

Or she can simply pick and choose how much her 6 year old attends. If you really only want an hour a day, just have your kid do an hour a day.

There was so much complaining last school year about lost opportunities and lack of instruction, hence lack of progress in learning and now when schools are offering greater access, parents are going to refuse. All I can say is that if your kid doesn’t learn to read or whatever else they are working on, the blame won’t lie with the school.

The district is too big. Nothing will satisfy all. Time to tear down MCPS into smaller districts. Or give principals more power to act independently.

Or...parents can decide to move if they want a smaller district. The larger district has advantages due to economies of scale and lots of options the district can offer students. Parents have to decide what is most important to them and choose their residence accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The district is too big. Nothing will satisfy all. Time to tear down MCPS into smaller districts. Or give principals more power to act independently.

Also, the moon is not bright enough. Time to make the moon brighter. Brighter moon now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kids don't need school for fresh air and movement.

No, they don’t. I don’t want my kids at school in person. I want the 100% remote option, limiting screen time to no more than an hour a day. My daughter is 6.

At this point, that isn’t a choice being offered. If that is what you want for your child, you need to homeschool.

Or she can simply pick and choose how much her 6 year old attends. If you really only want an hour a day, just have your kid do an hour a day.

There was so much complaining last school year about lost opportunities and lack of instruction, hence lack of progress in learning and now when schools are offering greater access, parents are going to refuse. All I can say is that if your kid doesn’t learn to read or whatever else they are working on, the blame won’t lie with the school.

The district is too big. Nothing will satisfy all. Time to tear down MCPS into smaller districts. Or give principals more power to act independently.

The district is too big and it causes problems. But this isn’t one of them.

Principal autonomy won’t help here. Even within each classroom, never mind each school, there is no way to satisfy everyone. People simply have different ideas of what should be done in this far from ideal set of circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kids don't need school for fresh air and movement.

No, they don’t. I don’t want my kids at school in person. I want the 100% remote option, limiting screen time to no more than an hour a day. My daughter is 6.

At this point, that isn’t a choice being offered. If that is what you want for your child, you need to homeschool.

Or she can simply pick and choose how much her 6 year old attends. If you really only want an hour a day, just have your kid do an hour a day.

There was so much complaining last school year about lost opportunities and lack of instruction, hence lack of progress in learning and now when schools are offering greater access, parents are going to refuse. All I can say is that if your kid doesn’t learn to read or whatever else they are working on, the blame won’t lie with the school.

DP, but come ON. The problem is that most kids, especially young ones, don't learn well via online instruction only. THAT is the problem. Offering more of the same won't fix it, in no small part because most parents need to be *working* and can't ALSO teach their kids at the same time. Why is that so hard to understand?

A couple of things. OP just doesn't feel like sending her kid because it's inconvenient. Second, I am not sure that "most kids" didn't learn via online. Almost everyone I know (except those of us with kids with special needs) did fine with distance learning. The issue they had was that it was tough to make it work with parents work schedules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We skipped the Zoom session last Spring. Not worth the time and hassle. (And we got flamed for it on here, repeatedly.)

As long as you do the assignments and check in with your teacher, it is fine.

It is unlikely MCPS will assign grades in the Fall - so it’s not really an issue anyway.

This is just plain wrong. MCPS is using the regular grading in the Fall. It was stated both during the BOE meeting AND during the virtual town hall yesterday. Don't post unless you are actually paying attention to what the county is posting and saying. You are just a source of misinformation.

[Anonymous]

People are saying that young kids can't sit through the zoom without parental assistance. That is not what I hear from my friends. Those with little kids have to set their kids up, but once they are set up, it hasn't been a problem. But, I can see that some would be challenged by this. Don't you think that teachers should be working on strategies for this?

Also, everyone I know of complains about lack of structure and having to entertain their kids while they try to work. Again, wouldn't the zoom classes alleviate some of these problems?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are saying that young kids can't sit through the zoom without parental assistance. That is not what I hear from my friends. Those with little kids have to set their kids up, but once they are set up, it hasn't been a problem. But, I can see that some would be challenged by this. Don't you think that teachers should be working on strategies for this?

Also, everyone I know of complains about lack of structure and having to entertain their kids while they try to work. Again, wouldn't the zoom classes alleviate some of these problems?

So now teachers should teach a group of 30 love every day, find childcare for their own who need to do the same and provide strategies to help your child attend to instruction from your house as theirs have to do the same (if they have kids)? Anything else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is not going to be grading. How can there be grading? Half of the kids in Spring never turned in one assignment once in person school ended. Not every kid has a home, a parent who can stay home with them, a stable home life, or safety to be able to succeed with DL. People inside this bubble are really tone deaf.

That’s why students never turned in assignments because there was no grading. Ask your BOE why this is.

That's not why. Why is because parents checked out, don't care if it gets done and aren't supervising. Even if you are working/not home you still need to monitor your child's education. You cannot blame the school for your lack of parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For younger kids, there just isn’t a lot of learning happening on Zoom. Not due to the quality of our teachers (they are wonderful) or due to MCPS. It’s nobody’s fault. 4-7 yr olds just don’t engage well in lecture-style learning. Center rotations, hands-on projects, small group instruction, dramatic play, participating in class jobs, engaging in conversations at snack/lunch/recess, etc are how young children learn.

Parents of young children are reluctant to rearrange their lives or hire help to put kids on Zoom bc it’s just not worth it.

Homeschooling appears to be the best option for this age group.

Depends on the child. Mine did better with stronger academics in a structured environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s DL for MCPS meaning no education, glorified busy work, parents doing the teaching and pass fail. Get used to it or demand better. Or take your property taxes to another county.

In person education wasn't any better except free babysitting in elementary school. Its sad how many parents aren't involved with their kids education and supplement at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is not going to be grading. How can there be grading? Half of the kids in Spring never turned in one assignment once in person school ended. Not every kid has a home, a parent who can stay home with them, a stable home life, or safety to be able to succeed with DL. People inside this bubble are really tone deaf.

That’s why students never turned in assignments because there was no grading. Ask your BOE why this is.

That's not why. Why is because parents checked out, don't care if it gets done and aren't supervising. Even if you are working/not home you still need to monitor your child's education. You cannot blame the school for your lack of parenting.

And parents didn’t care because no grade