Distance learning?

[bones]

CDCs and Montessori?s are essentially daycares. Many of them have stayed open for essential workers and parents who just can?t deal. Way different than k-12 schools.

As Germany shows, clearly they can socially distance. 

There is a practical limit though as the students get younger.  Especially K, 1 & 2.  The older elementary a little better but with still developing impulse control, recess, etc, they won't follow although masks may be possible as we had some children wearing them through the winter as is.

All play part in what the districts need to do with staffing para-educators, expectations and/or they just throw up their hands.

COVID has shown us what a lot of other countries can do and what we can't (or choose not to do).

But one US college is undertaking mass testing. Goal is to test everyone once a month come September.
https://edsource.org/2020/will-othe...os-plan-to-widely-test-for-coronavirus/631027

 

[Kangen.Irvine]

Irvine?s year round school is slated to start mid July, but no commitment on whether that means students in the classroom, but the district is shying away from the mention of continued distance learning.

About masks being worn by students, teachers are no longer allowed to take away cell phones for being misused, can?t imagine mask enforcement.

My only solution would be to alternate school days by alphabet. A-M on even weekdays and N-Z on odd weekdays; this would halve class size and at least allow parents to return to work part-time or plan for care halftime.

 

[qwerty]

So what is the magic number of feet between kids with the alternating class schedule? Is it 3ft? Is it 6ft? Does it even really matter?

This kind of reminds me about people complaining recently about some United flight being packed and they kept saying united went back on their word about not having people in middle seats. Does it really matter on an airplane? There is no meaningful amount of distance that works on an airplane.

I think this applies in school too.

 

[irvinebullhousing]

This is so F?up. We as parents know that kids and their friends at school will play closely together. Especially younger kids.

I can imagine, I will get a call from staffs to inform me that my kids violate the rules and get detentions at home.

 

[Innosint]

So what is the magic number of feet between kids with the alternating class schedule? Is it 3ft? Is it 6ft? Does it even really matter?

This kind of reminds me about people complaining recently about some United flight being packed and they kept saying united went back on their word about not having people in middle seats. Does it really matter on an airplane? There is no meaningful amount of distance that works on an airplane.

I think this applies in school too.

For flights, it's not about the max distance between people, it's about having less people on the plane to infect less people if any passenger is sick.

I imagine this applies to school as well.

 

[Kenkoko]

Those who plan on sending their kids back to school may want to follow up on this new development.

New York is now investigating about 102 cases of the condition known as pediatric inflammatory multi-system syndrome (PIMS), which affects blood vessels and organs and has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock.

Three children in the state have died, including a 5-year-old New York City boy.
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loc...d-to-virus-worries-new-york-100-sick/2413952/

NYC Health Dept has posted fact sheet on pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome (PMIS), possibly linked to covid-19.
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/imm/covid-19-pmis.pdf

PMIS is a rare condition. However, because it is life-threatening, it is important that parents know signs & symptoms, so they can get help right away.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Are your kids having daily or even just weekly Zoom/video calls?

People I know say their teachers are doing that but I don't see a lot of that in IUSD or with my kids.

 

[qwerty]

Our kids teacher does them about once a week. About 20 minutes.

 

[bones]

Are your kids having daily or even just weekly Zoom/video calls?

People I know say their teachers are doing that but I don't see a lot of that in IUSD or with my kids.

3x a day - small group lessons on math/reading/spelling/science/history.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Maybe it depends on level of school?

 

[bones]

Maybe it depends on level of school?

I think it depends if you pay for school or not.  Private school  :-\

 

[qwerty]

Yeah I think I may look into doing online classes that will at least get my kid more engaged. I?ve seen some as low as $5/class (freckle, I believe). Not a small group but a least live instruction will help my daughter engage more.

Kind of like 5% protection from viruses by wearing a mask, something is better than nothing!

 

[bones]

Yeah I think I may look into doing online classes that will at least get my kid more engaged. I?ve seen some as low as $5/class (freckle, I believe). Not a small group but a least live instruction will help my daughter engage more.

Kind of like 5% protection from viruses by wearing a mask, something is better than nothing!

Great idea! And a good way to support some local businesses. We?ve done a bunch and my kids have enjoyed all of them.  I find the topic specific classes through private vendors to be way more effective than school offerings. Many of them are small (less than 10 kids, usually 4-6) and the curriculum is fully developed versus teachers trying to wing online teaching.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Kind of like 5% protection from viruses by wearing a mask, something is better than nothing!

Don't walk this back later on.

 

[Liar Loan]

Maybe it depends on level of school?

I think it depends if you pay for school or not.  Private school  :-\

My kids attend private:

6th grade - Zoom from 8am-2pm with periods just like real school.
4th grade - 1 hour of Zoom; about 3 hours of work per day; optional chapel time weekly
2nd grade - 1 hour of Zoom; 3-4 hours of work per day; optional music class weekly; optional chapel time weekly; After school dance team once per week via zoom
Preschool - A weekly packet of assignments that are age appropriate for 3-4 year olds; The teachers also do short videos a few times a week.

They did lower our tuition during this study-from-home time:

K-3rd is given a 35% discount.
4th-5th is given a 28% discount.
Jr. High 6th-8th is given a 20% discount.
Preschool is providing content for free.

 

[paydawg]

Maybe it depends on level of school?

I think it depends if you pay for school or not.  Private school  :-\

My older kid is in public school (IUSD) and has about 90 minutes of Zoom time daily with her teacher and classmates.  3rd grade.  Maybe it depends on the teacher?  We have a great one, so we're very lucky. 

 

[bones]

Maybe it depends on level of school?

I think it depends if you pay for school or not.  Private school  :-\

My older kid is in public school (IUSD) and has about 90 minutes of Zoom time daily with her teacher and classmates.  3rd grade.  Maybe it depends on the teacher?  We have a great one, so we're very lucky. 

I think it definitely is a YMMV situation, but I would guess that more often than not, it's not a lot.
In NYC, they've abandoned it for the most part a few weeks ago.  https://nypost.com/2020/04/30/teachers-across-nyc-abandoning-live-lessons-amid-lockdown/

For public school, parents have no recourse if their teacher doesn't want to do any instruction.  For private school, parents pull their kids out and stop paying, so in general, private schools will have more structure in their distance learning curriculum.

 

[Liar Loan]

I've heard that some districts are worried about the liability of hosting zoom classes.  They have no control over what goes on in the background of each child's camera, so if their parent walks by naked, it could lead to lawsuits against the school.

 

[Innosint]

I've heard that some districts are worried about the liability of hosting zoom classes.  They have no control over what goes on in the background of each child's camera, so if their parent walks by naked, it could lead to lawsuits against the school.

The school has no control over the child as well.

my mother is an admin for an afterschool/Saturday school class. They transitioned to online classes for the last three months, however, some parents just leave their child in front of the computer and consider them "taken care off"

well, guess what, they had kids just physically leave the class halfway, one of the students started playing something inappropriate in the background for a joke, and the teacher had to mute him immediately, etc.

 

[bones]

Homeschool programming PSA.  SpaceX launch today.  They're doing the prep now - link below.  Launching around 1:30PST I believe.

https://youtu.be/Aymrnzianf0