Tuesday was a super-mega-blur of back-to-reality-ness. I was back at work and everyone was back to busying around in the normal vibe. That amps up an extra notch this week because Amelia starts her first day of second grade on Thursday.
A virtual first day, but a first day nonetheless. So Erin worked hard making sure that all Amelia’s logins and everything on her Chromebook is set up and ready to go for the first day. We have yet to fully comprehend all this will all work, but it at least appears that there will be a lot more direct classroom interaction.
Back in spring, when this whole thing was…well…sprung…on schools, everyone was doing the best they could with what they had in front of them. Now, with a little more time to prepare, it seems like there is a much better strategy in place. It will be very interesting to see how all of that goes.
But, even though school is virtual, we thought it was important to continue in basic back to school traditions for Amelia. Erin took her out shopping for school supplies and got her an awesome new backpack and lunchbox. She is very proud of them.
Our district is taking a flexible approach, which we think is wise. School will be virtual for the first month or so, and in a few weeks they’ll make a determination, based on the caseload in the area, about whether to attempt some kind of hybrid model or stay virtual. Parents can also opt for pods, where kids are in small groups in school, getting supervised virtual learning.
So we shall see. One step at a time. As I discussed in an earlier post, none of this is by any means ideal. All parents want to see their kids back in school, both for their development and education as well as for our own sanity. But given the situation, I’m thankful for the cautious approach our district is taking.
It’s strange and stressful times, but we are making the most of it. Sometimes I’ll be wrapped up in thoughts about this or that, and then look over and see things like my kids in their jammies playing with our puppy in the guest bed.
That always helps.
