Dear Addie,
And then, after weeks of confusion… it was back to school. Kind of.
Addie, this is a tough scenario for someone who is a creature of habit, and who has a strong association to people, places, or things like yourself. What does that mean? Well...here's an example.
Back when you were in Pre-k 4, your teachers would do at home visits periodically on days off throughout the year. Like clockwork, as soon as they would arrive, you became agitated, stressed and you couldn’t wait for them to leave! It was not that you didn’t like them, that couldn't be farther from the truth! They were associated with school, so in your mind they shouldn’t be here in your home! Goodbye!
That same year, your teacher told us about a particular chair (kind of like a mini-glider), and giant alphabet book you loved at school. As if Christmas wasn’t hard enough, we gifted you these things thinking we totally scored, wrong. You took off screaming with the book shoving it under your bed where it remained literally for months and the chair, well your hiney never sat in it once. Fail.
There are many, many, many examples like this, but the takeaway is this. School is school, home is home. Duly noted.
I guess now begs the question, but what happens in a global pandemic and the school you’ve come to know is gone and home becomes school? When associations are forced to merge? Well with you already struggling with the emotions of the quarantined life, we were about to find out.
Deep breaths and extra coffee, here we go!
Let me just start out by saying, I’m not a teacher, nor would I ever claim to be. Most of us parents have suddenly taken on this new role of teacher/school coordinator/project manager of not one, or two but in our house - three wildly different online school forums. Each having their own required commitment of parental support.
Virtual learning chaos - check!
Manageable? Yes, it is, but it requires multi-tasking and patience on a whole new level. I’m not even embarrassed to say I’ve had to Google a number of things just to figure out what Clara and Gabe are talking about, and exactly how to teach it! I've heard a number of parents say that they aren't "teaching" their kids - well to each their own and good for them, but even with the amazing supports put in place by their teachers, there is still a fair amount of side teaching going on at Menzo elementary/middle school.
Now successfully having set up 3 separate spaces, with enough quiet for online teacher and class meetings, but close enough to get me if necessary - we were ready to begin. Still unsure how you were going to accept this new concept I sat you down and said: "it’s homework time." Not totally a situation out of the norm, but then I clicked into a video your teacher had sent.
Now if I was a betting gal I’d say you would run away angrily when you hear your teacher's voice...
On your mark, get set,...
Predictably unpredictable, and really emphasizing why I shouldn’t gamble, I was wrong, and as soon as I pushed the button and you heard Ms. Lee’s voice you perked right up, cracked a smile even. You looked at me, then back at the screen as if you were saying “hey I know her!” Finally - familiarity in all this chaos! Hearing her voice and her sending your exact format of "calendar time" you were used to, was just the boost we needed! Winning!
Now Addie, while most people are lost in knowing what day or month it is lately, I can proudly say I am not! You may wonder what my amazing secret is in keeping the days from smooshing together? Well, because of your amazing teacher we get to do a calendar time via video recording each morning which not only keeps me up to date on what day of the week ending in “Y” we are on, but also it's like having my own personal meteorologist letting me know the weather I might find if I choose to leave the house or look out the window! Score!
I thought to myself, wow this is actually going well. Awesome.
As I sat listening to your teacher guide us through the days of the week, month, weather for the day, and season, there was an added bonus at the end of calendar time - a warm-up video. That’s right Ad, what better way to start the day than a “count to 100” Spider-Man get your body moving video!?! Excellent.
There are a few things I’ve realized from your warm-up routine.
A. I missed a career opportunity somewhere of dressing up in a costume and doing jumping jacks.
B. You love squats. Jogging in place, not so much.
C. I too get tired after 7 jumping jacks.
And, D. The way you execute the swimming strokes exercise is probably a good indicator of why you struggle with swimming.
After the video is over, we are all warmed up and ready to learn. A common misconception of special education - we are not doing coloring sheets all day. But in complete transparency, there were a few days I wish we had. There is math, writing, reading, comprehension, stories, cutting, pasting - you name it, we are doing it.
Some takeaways from our “at home” school experience:
· Mondays are hard for everyone.
· If there is ice cream in a video - the screen gets licked every time.
· Children’s videos have way too many farm animals. (How do I know this? Well anyone who knows you knows you have a love but mostly hate relationship with those farm friends and run away screaming every time you see them. Insert the next 20 minutes of getting you calmed and back to school.)
· Pajama day at real school for spirit week - no way no how association tells us pajamas are for the home. Fast forward to a country being lockdown by a virus and it’s your new uniform. Well that and a bathing suit, but nothing else. Addie girl, I pick and choose my battles.
Is this a perfect scenario? Probably not, but it’s the "something" we needed! Definitely.
Don’t worry Addie we are all a mess. You’re doing great and by the time we get the hang of all this, it’ll be time to get used to going back to a real school or who knows what.
As the great Chris Farley once said, “Stay strong little root”
We got this! Maybe...
Love,
Mom
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