Since arriving in California we are learning, first-hand, the joys of homeschooling first graders.
Our daughter’s twin sons are in the first grade. They attend
school online Monday through Wednesday and attend school in class (half-day)
Thursday and Friday. The school district’s plan is to switch to five days a
week, (half-day) in-class learning after Thanksgiving. With the Coronavirus on the uptick I’m not
certain if that will still happen.
The
country is waiting for someone to do something definitive rather than play golf
and bitch about the election.
Yes. That is a political comment.
Regardless of what the district decides, we are here in California to help our daughter with daycare/homeschooling while she works. It’s tough trying to work from home with children in the house. Been there done that. It’s just plain scary when one works on commission.
On day one, what I discovered was keeping first graders engaged and on task (always hated those words when I heard educators use them) is akin to herding cats. “Sit up. Pick up your pencil. No you don’t have to sharpen that pencil again. Don’t hit your brother. Get off the floor. Do you wiggle like that in school?”
There was also some initial shyness when it came to reading in front of Grandma and Poppa, although at night they are always eager to take turns reading. I think when it comes to school it’s a little different.
The daily schedule is self-paced learning in the morning and
zoom classroom in the afternoon. We finished early on Monday and spent some
time in Grandma and Poppa’s truck pretending to catch bad guys or look for
stray animals. Imaginations take us everywhere. On Wednesday we took them to La Jolla to watch
the sea lions and seals. It’s about 20 minutes from their apartment so we could
finish with morning class, spend as much time as they wanted watching sea life
and returned in time for speech class.
I asked the boys if their Mom or Dad helped them as much as I did with school.
They said no. It’s hard to know what is
helping and what is interfering. The day after I questioned them about “help,”
I stepped back a bit. King, the retired educator, didn’t agree with my tactic.
I’m sure by spring we will have it figured out.
Back in Michigan one of our granddaughters in Grand Haven was exposed to COVID and was in quarantine. A few days later the entire Grand Haven school district gave up with in-class learning and school board decided to go back to virtual learning until December 9. In Paw Paw where the other grandkids go to school, the high school has closed for three weeks as mandated by the state, but the elementary remained open. Some things simply defy logic. Although I was informed it was so working parents who can’t find daycare can continue working, I personally believe if we don’t stop the spread, a mandatory stay-at-home order can’t be that far off. It’s scary times for everyone. Please people. Wear your masks. It’s such a simple thing.
Speaking of masks… Yesterday we took the boys to check out a campground closer to their home. We drove their mother’s car, since using her car with the car seats already installed is so much easier than moving them into the truck. We forgot and left our own masks in the truck. King went into a gas station and had to use one of the kids’ masks … the one with dinosaurs on it. He looked really dashing. The boys were quick to point out that the mask had to be washed after Poppa used it. It’s rather sad that seven-year-olds are so wise in the ways of the spread of a virus.
After driving through the campground we took them to the local beach. I came home with bits of shell, lots of sand, and a few other "treasures" that I keep in my "treasure box" in the trailer.
Between trips to campgrounds, beaches and learning how to do virtual learning, it looks as though we are going to have a busy winter.
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