Pandemic, Day 906

This Monday was our first, honest-to-goodness day of school-from-home. Yes, we have been doing some form of homeschooling for the past few weeks, but this past Monday--which apparently was only two days ago--was the first day where all three children were really responsible for completing assignments and "attending" what could reasonably be called a "day of school."

In practice, this means that everybody needs a computer/iPad because everyone has Zoom calls now. Even Lucia! It's crazy! But while some of her academic activities can be done offline, virtually all of Celia and Andres' work is computer-based in some capacity--which means that they have both spent the better part of the week in their rooms, staring at their computers. It's depressing.

(During a walk on Tuesday, Lucia even confessed to me that she hadn't wanted to join a class Zoom earlier that day because she had five Zoom calls the day before. "It's a lot of Zoom," she said.)

I get that everybody is scrambling and honestly trying their best in what can only be described as a truly novel set of circumstances. But this push to recreate a "traditional" school experience using online tools and Zoom meetings is already wearing on me. You can't just "put school online" when a pandemic hits. You especially can't do that if your district has not already invested heavily in online learning platforms and teacher professional development. Yet, here we are.

I also made the mistake of reading a Facebook thread the other day where some parents were complaining that their kids were not getting enough online learning. "I know some schools where teachers have instruction from 9-3! Why can't we do that here?" was the tone of some. "I don't care if online learning isn't equal for all students, my child shouldn't have to suffer because of that!" was the tone of others. It was infuriating seeing so many people hung up on the assumption/illusion that academic screen time equates to academic learning. It's not true. And, honestly, don't we have bigger fish to fry now than whether Johnny gets enough math problem sets?

(I would argue that we do, and that kids' emotional wellness is going in the tank as normal school routines fade from memory. We've definitely seen this at home with Lucia, and even the other two have seemed more anxious/on edge than normal. This is to be expected, of course--how can any of them even begin to process what is going on now?--and we are deluding ourselves if we think that academic learning is kids' biggest need during this time. It's not.)

So, what should we do? As of now, school has only been cancelled through April...there is a slim chance that we will actually return in early May. (For the record, I think we may go back then, but Natalia thinks we will be out until June.) If we do go back in May, then fine--I can deal with a couple more weeks of school-by-Zoom and zombie children staring at screens all day.

But if school is cancelled for any longer than that? Then I say we just forget doing school at home, entirely. Let's not pretend we will be able to make up the two-and-a-half months of face-to-face academic work that they would have done in school. That simply will not happen! So just let it slide. Cancel school. Yes, parents may stage a revolt. But the kids will be alright.