How do pods work?? Giving up hope

[Anonymous]

With Duran's latest email, I have lost hope he will have our kids back in class this year. Can anyone share their experience with a pod? I'm also considering hiring a teacher p/t to help my elementary-aged child, but have no clue where to start. I appreciate any tips.

[Anonymous]

I have a pod of fifth grade girls. First, find students who are like-minded and of the same educational level as your daughter. Then have one family member email those parents and set up a sign-up genius on sharing hosting responsibilities. We have a book club in our pod, do advanced math questions, do science projects, writing and grammar lessons and also have time for socialization and lunch. It’s great and it has saved my daughter this year. The only thing is all parents have to contribute to planning and teaching equally. We meet in our Screened porches and garages with the door open with masks on all the time and kids sitting 6 feet apart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a pod of fifth grade girls. First, find students who are like-minded and of the same educational level as your daughter. Then have one family member email those parents and set up a sign-up genius on sharing hosting responsibilities. We have a book club in our pod, do advanced math questions, do science projects, writing and grammar lessons and also have time for socialization and lunch. It’s great and it has saved my daughter this year. The only thing is all parents have to contribute to planning and teaching equally. We meet in our Screened porches and garages with the door open with masks on all the time and kids sitting 6 feet apart.

During DL or after DL?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a pod of fifth grade girls. First, find students who are like-minded and of the same educational level as your daughter. Then have one family member email those parents and set up a sign-up genius on sharing hosting responsibilities. We have a book club in our pod, do advanced math questions, do science projects, writing and grammar lessons and also have time for socialization and lunch. It’s great and it has saved my daughter this year. The only thing is all parents have to contribute to planning and teaching equally. We meet in our Screened porches and garages with the door open with masks on all the time and kids sitting 6 feet apart.

You are doing this in addition to distance-learning, or instead of distance-learning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a pod of fifth grade girls. First, find students who are like-minded and of the same educational level as your daughter. Then have one family member email those parents and set up a sign-up genius on sharing hosting responsibilities. We have a book club in our pod, do advanced math questions, do science projects, writing and grammar lessons and also have time for socialization and lunch. It’s great and it has saved my daughter this year. The only thing is all parents have to contribute to planning and teaching equally. We meet in our Screened porches and garages with the door open with masks on all the time and kids sitting 6 feet apart.

Super helpful, thank you. Did you hire an actual teacher for the pod given the additional activities? If so, how did you find them? This sounds like a great set-up!

[Anonymous]

We are in a pod of five first graders. Two families agreed to host and we alternate weeks. We hired a full time tutor to facilitate distance learning and do some extras. The hours are 8-3:30. This is expensive, but has been a blessing from a child care/social perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in a pod of five first graders. Two families agreed to host and we alternate weeks. We hired a full time tutor to facilitate distance learning and do some extras. The hours are 8-3:30. This is expensive, but has been a blessing from a child care/social perspective.

Exactly what I am looking for - thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in a pod of five first graders. Two families agreed to host and we alternate weeks. We hired a full time tutor to facilitate distance learning and do some extras. The hours are 8-3:30. This is expensive, but has been a blessing from a child care/social perspective.

Do the kids all have the same 5th-grade teacher at the same school?

[Anonymous]

We have a pod of three 2nd graders. We all decided to remain in fcps so we only meet on Mondays 9-3 pm. We hired a teacher who had previously taught early elementary.

We didn’t need the pod for childcare but had concern about how well the kids would learn during DL and wanted to supplement. I’m glad we did. The only thing they’ve learned this year is what their pod teacher has taught them.

I’m thinking of withdrawing from fcps next school year and homeschooling. Thinking we just hire a teacher on a part time basis to work with our child. It’ll be cheaper than private and more targeted.

[Anonymous]

It seems like pods are mostly designed to enable parents to work more, and the kids in the pod distract each other. At least for early elementary.

Would it be better if parents worked flexible hours so that one can supervise their child student during class times, and tried to do outdoor/masked playdates on weekends to keep some socialization?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like pods are mostly designed to enable parents to work more, and the kids in the pod distract each other. At least for early elementary.

Would it be better if parents worked flexible hours so that one can supervise their child student during class times, and tried to do outdoor/masked playdates on weekends to keep some socialization?

That would work if you are satisfied with the DL experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like pods are mostly designed to enable parents to work more, and the kids in the pod distract each other. At least for early elementary.

Would it be better if parents worked flexible hours so that one can supervise their child student during class times, and tried to do outdoor/masked playdates on weekends to keep some socialization?

We've been trying this for months.. doesn't properly work with both parents working FT, our child is so behind.. DL is pathetic in APS so we need alternatives. If only Duran would figure this out and follow the science, but clearly that is not happening anytime soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like pods are mostly designed to enable parents to work more, and the kids in the pod distract each other. At least for early elementary.

Would it be better if parents worked flexible hours so that one can supervise their child student during class times, and tried to do outdoor/masked playdates on weekends to keep some socialization?

That would work if you are satisfied with the DL experience.

Wait. Above the description of the pod says "We hired a full time tutor to facilitate distance learning and do some extras."

So... the tutor just supervises the kids doing distance learning, right? Plus some extras before and after school, which is something parents can do too, right?

I'm not being snarky, I'm truly trying to figure out the value-add of the pod versus parents supervising the kids' DL.

[Anonymous]

What is his letter say today? The didn’t get anything.

[Anonymous]

I can tell some of the other kids in my child's class are in pods. I can tell because they clearly have other kids in the room with them. I do not see these kids having any advantage whatsoever over the non-pod kids. To the contrary, the pod kids often have more technical issues because of feedback and headphones, and they sometimes distract each other.

I think a tutor outside of the classroom sounds great, and so does socialization outside the classroom. But I'm not convinced that being in a pod benefits the kids during DL. I think the pods are ultimately all about the parents' careers.