We go back to the States next week and public school starts immediately. I have NO IDEA what to do about school: in person? Distance learning? Homeschool with a public online school? Homeschool myself? Unschool aka let my kids go feral?
We will be in the US for 3 months and then return to France as soon as Eric's university semester is over in November. So that is one factor in our decision. It's not the whole school year.
I know from this year's pandemic schooling that I am not a good homeschooling parent. I am also working full-time at home and I need to be able to concentrate on my own projects. I don't do well being interrupted all day. I am a good teacher (of adults) and good parent but, let's be honest, I have a hard time being my kids' teacher.
I have this romantic notion of me homeschooling my kids, us reading interesting books and watching nature documentaries and gardening and sewing and cooking and exploring...but honestly I don't think that will be the reality.
On the other hand: SAFETY. I think it's absolutely insane to send my kids back into face-to-face schooling in the height of a pandemic. We've spent half the year working so hard to keep from getting exposed to covid-19 (including traveling overseas on purpose to a country in strict lockdown). Sending my kids back to school would basically undo all of the work we've done since mid-March.
On yet another hand, Eric doesn't think we should homeschool/distance school and thinks the kids need the interactions with friends. He also realizes that I'll be the one bearing the burden since he's teaching full-time at the university. Plus Zari and Dio can only play soccer if they're in face-to-face school (maybe distance--I'm waiting to hear back).
On yet another hand, my mom has invited us to all come up to Minnnesota and she'll gladly homeschool them for a few months. But this would mean a long separation from Eric and that's pretty much off the table for all of us. Sure, we could go up to MN for 2 weeks at a time, maybe 2 or 3 times total. Also, Eric really really wants to put the kids in soccer (he's coaching Ivy's and Inga's teams) and doesn't want them to miss.
I have way too many hands.
HELP?!????
oh, that's so hard. :-( All of the options have such pitfalls right now. We've selected in-person for our children, largely because we know they'll learn better not together. We're enrolled in a private school, though, so smaller classes and stricter policies than the public schools near us are planning. Still not ideal, but for us it's worth at least trying. Best of luck in choosing for your children!
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have the choice of sending them back, but I'm not sure what I would have chosen if we had had that choice. I probably would send them back, if only because distance learning feels impossible as a working parent, and we can pivot if an outbreak occurs. I don't know. We're not having parties or seeing friends all the time, but we do occasionally see two families, and we go on bike rides, and I go to the store. It's hard to know how much risk is too much risk.
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