QUARANTINE LIFE: BACK TO SCHOOL

It seems that if you have a tech problem these days, you can ask even the littlest kid who can’t even talk yet, and they’ll snatch your phone, and figure it out for you. 

I feel for many parents, who purchased devices to “keep the kids occupied” everywhere from car rides, to shopping trips, to church, who are suddenly worrying that technology is too “difficult” for their kids to master, and screen time is “excessive” when it comes to school year 2020-21.

Parents, be honest. Just say you always looked forward to this glorious time of year when you enthusiastically turned your kids over to someone else for the majority of the work week. You miss that, don't you? Just say you don’t want to do it; you don't like how virtual learning has cut into your “me time”.  

Just say that you now retract, and are sorry for everything you’ve ever said to imply that teachers were lazy, overpaid, glorified babysitters, undeserving of vacation time for a job that any idiot could do. 

Go on and vent, but not in front of your student(s). Don’t infect your children with your apprehension, fear, stubbornness, or negativity. They won’t feel it unless you pass it on. 

Kids are clever. They take their cues from adults. They read your temperature. The minute you openly convey your disapproval with the virtual process, you chip away at their attentiveness, enthusiasm, and willingness to cooperate and participate. The same way they would adopt and carry your funky attitude to in-person learning and be disruptive, uncooperative, and defiant, they’ll carry it into the virtual classroom— only this time, their antics can be muted. Why sour your child’s view of virtual learning before he or she even gets started? 

For many children, virtual learning IS, and will be the norm.

Some of you may not mean it, but the tone of your complaining kind of translates that you’re tired of your children being at home with you, and you need a break. That's normal and understandable. It sounds like you’re disturbingly ready to deny science and statistics, ignore the news of new outbreaks due to hasty reopening, and are willing to risk your child’s health (and your own) by sending them to the giant Covid-19 Petrie dish that is their school building and campus. 

Snap out of it. 

Have you MET children? In-person class, whether elementary or collegiate, is a sure sign that people aren’t taking Covid-19 seriously. What economy will there be to worry about opening, closing, or stimulating if everyone is sick or dead? One hundred eighty thousand deaths is nothing to brush off.

We are still in a pandemic. America The Arrogant, Deluded and Money Hungry, has the shameful designation of handling it worse than any other place in the world. 

Wake up. There is no “back to normal”. 

Enclosed spaces with large groups of people may not be the place to be for now. Have you seen the news about every institution that opened and had to shut down days later? 

Adjust. 

Your children are watching, and need you to be wise and honest. Gather the kids and read about the 1918 pandemic, or any health crisis that occurred that was exacerbated by poor leadership, ignorance, misinformation, stubbornness, and ill preparation.

It’s time to PARENT the people you brought into this wacky world. It’s your job. Don’t abdicate it--in the same way you don't want your child to abdicate his or her job as a learner. Believe it or not, parenting totally, absolutely involves TEACHING. Stop seeing yourself as some brainless, helpless, talent deficient babysitter. Congratulations! YOU are your child’s first teacher! 

A teacher is merely one who passes on information or skill. That’s what you’ve done since day one. Stop thinking you’re not a teacher! You are. Accept it. Pace yourself. Those are YOUR children; your responsibility. Nothing else you think you have, or want to do is more important. Don’t drop the ball. 

Overwhelmed? Take something off of your plate. Your children, however, are not on that list of dispensable things. Perhaps it’s time to prioritize, practice time management, adjust your attitude, and BREATHE.

Forget everything you think teaching is, that causes you to miss or ignore the teachable moments that present themselves each day. Read the cereal box. Identify words on street signs. Watch movies together and discuss them. Take a walk and look at plants. Follow a recipe. Lessons in Math, Reading, Science, Geography, Art, Social Studies, Civics, etc. are everywhere! So what, you’re not a professional teacher, but you too, are full of information. Every day, with everything you say and do, you’re teaching, demonstrating, showing, informing. You know your child's strengths and interests. Encourage them. Encourage yourself, too. 

The very smart phone you’re using is a freaking encyclopedia. It is chock full of resources and knowledge about every subject imaginable. Your child’s school curriculum and standards are accessible, too. Considering modern technology, every kid today should be a rocket scientist/neurosurgeon, bilingual pop culture wizard genius. Imagine if YOU’D had the Internet when you were in school. Now imagine the wealth of knowledge available to your child. 

Breathe; monitor and guide— and you might even mess around and learn something new yourself, too.

You can do this, Teach. Hang in there.