Are you sending your kids to school next month?

[dvcgirl67]

I can envision some lucrative side businesses with teachers taking on 10-12 students to lead proper homeschooling. For parents who can afford it.

Oh, 100%. This is already happening in my area. I have friends/customers who are setting up elaborate home-schooling pods with other friends' kids, with tutors...etc. If I was a teacher, I'd take a leave of absence and do this for a year. Make some bank, and avoid getting sick. Parents are planning on using outdoor spaces, then screened in porches....etc, keep the kids out in the open air as long as possible.

It's really something, because now a good teacher/tutor who will do this kind of work is going to be in major demand. Also in huge demand in my area, outdoor tents for restaurants. You can't get them. Picnic tables...forget it, almost impossible to find, restaurants are buying them to put in their parking lots. On and on we go through this crazy pandemic. It seems like a million years ago that we snagged what seemed to be the last freezer small enough to fit into my side basement door.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

My district delayed the start of school from August 13 to August 17, then the governor delayed all schools until after Labor Day. Our district has been gathering opinions via Thought Exchange and last week sent out an outline of three plans, one for in person learning, one for hybrid and one for online. I'm not sure what feedback they got, but we now have until June 21st to log in to Skyward and select the option we intend for our child. I don't know if this means I will get what I chose, or if this is still part of the information gathering stage. I indicated that I want my child to do online learning. What I need to know, is if that will be an option regardless of whether they go hybrid or full in person. If not, I need a game plan for a program of online learning or cirriculum for homeschooling!

I have many reasons for choosing this option, but here's one I'll share.
DD14 will be going to high school this year and her school had an athletic conditioning program through the summer. June 25th we were notified that two students had tested positive for the virus. July 7th fourteen students had tested positive. That gives me zero confidence that they can keep the entire student population safe when they could not manage it with a very small percentage of the student population.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I've always been a supporter of homeschooling IF the parents are qualified and are utilizing socialization activities. That said, ours are going to be in school next month.

 

[etoiles]

We are going to try online learning most likely. I’m so sad about it though since my youngest was about to begin kindergarten. In our district you currently have to go full time or you can apply for online learning if the student or parents are high risk which my husband is. Even after you apply and send in a doctor’s note the school says it will still make the final decision if you’re allowed to do virtual learning. This was outrageous to me and many others so after many emails, phone calls, a change.org petition they’re reconsidering this plan and will let us know by the end of the month.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

New CDC paper on schools: We showed that household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was high if the index patient was 10–19 years of age. In the current mitigation strategy that includes physical distancing, optimizing the likelihood of reducing individual, family, and community disease is important. Implementation of public health recommendations, including hand and respiratory hygiene, should be encouraged to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within affected households.

 

[monsterkitty]

Oh, 100%. This is already happening in my area. I have friends/customers who are setting up elaborate home-schooling pods with other friends' kids, with tutors...etc. If I was a teacher, I'd take a leave of absence and do this for a year. Make some bank, and avoid getting sick. Parents are planning on using outdoor spaces, then screened in porches....etc, keep the kids out in the open air as long as possible.

It's really something, because now a good teacher/tutor who will do this kind of work is going to be in major demand. Also in huge demand in my area, outdoor tents for restaurants. You can't get them. Picnic tables...forget it, almost impossible to find, restaurants are buying them to put in their parking lots. On and on we go through this crazy pandemic. It seems like a million years ago that we snagged what seemed to be the last freezer small enough to fit into my side basement door.

Unfortunately a lot of districts have it in their contracts that if a teacher takes a leave of absence they must agree that they are not using that leave to teach elsewhere. You can be a TA at a college or university, but you cannot teach at another public or a private school. Knowing the districts around here, they would probably consider this a private school.

Also, with the leave of absence the teacher lose all benefits, including health insurance. Way too risky for that.

That said, a few parents in my neighborhood know I just retired and have contacted me. I'm considering it.

 

[godisney14]

Unfortunately a lot of districts have it in their contracts that if a teacher takes a leave of absence they must agree that they are not using that leave to teach elsewhere. You can be a TA at a college or university, but you cannot teach at another public or a private school. Knowing the districts around here, they would probably consider this a private school.

Also, with the leave of absence the teacher lose all benefits, including health insurance. Way too risky for that.

That said, a few parents in my neighborhood know I just retired and have contacted me. I'm considering it.

I don’t know about other areas, but I have a couple teacher friends in CA who have been private tutoring for a very long time on weeknights and weekends. No problem with the schools.

 

[mom2rtk]

The educational gap between the haves and the have nots is getting wider and wider. It's heartbreaking to watch.

 

[dvcgirl67]

This piece cites a very large and detailed study out of South Korea that shows children under 10 are less likely to contract and spread COVID. For kids 10-19, that's not the case. They can contract and spread it as well "at least as well as adults".

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/...ml?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage

 

[monsterkitty]

I don’t know about other areas, but I have a couple teacher friends in CA who have been private tutoring for a very long time on weeknights and weekends. No problem with the schools.

Tutoring on the side is allowed because you are still working at the school. I taught private viola and flute lessons for years. My math friends tutor as well.

What is not allowed by the contracts here is taking a leave of absence and then taking a teaching job. With the teacher shortages we already had before COVID, I can see districts saying that teaching a group of children for money would be taking a teaching job.

 

[MrsPete]

This isn't a debate about masks. I wear my masks.

Bill Nye has a nice video in which he tests several masks by trying to blow out a candle while wearing them -- and the video has a nice ending. I'm thinking of showing it on the first day of class, then letting students try the test themselves. I'm not a science teacher, but I'm hoping it'll sway some of the "I don't need to wear a mask!" people.

Large classes/congested students are a totally different scenario.

Thing is, within any school and certainly within any county/school system, some classes are large while other classes are small. So schools can't make a decision based upon a handful of senior classes that happen to be small.

my wife just completed a survey for her school’s return plans. she voice-texted her response so while I was eating breakfast, I heard: “While I understand the implications on my students’ learning, I cannot teach my students if I am dead.”

I just may have to steal that!

Also, with the leave of absence the teacher lose all benefits, including health insurance. Way too risky for that.

Yes, the idea of taking a year off /homeschooling a handful of kids in an environment I alone control does sound appealing, BUT it wouldn't work out financially in the long run:
I've been teaching a long time, and benefits have slowly disappeared over the years. Because I signed my "hiring papers" literally decades ago, my benefits -- especially my retirement benefits -- are significantly better than those of the new teachers. Two huge things: I will have paid medical in retirement, and my pension is more generous than that of newly hired teachers. If I were to quit /return, I'd come back in under the new, lesser retirement rules. Could I take a leave of absence /not totally quit? Maybe -- if I were sick /had doctor's orders. But if that were true, I really wouldn't qualify to teach the neighborhood kids either.

On the other hand, a younger teacher who doesn't have "the old benefits" that I have would have less to lose. Or if I were a new teacher who's unsure about whether to stay long-term in teaching (3 out of 5 new teachers leave within 5 years), I might see this as an opportunity to exit the profession.

From the kids/parents' point of view, the concern would be getting credit for the year. Homeschoolers who do it long-term don't care about this so much, but a student who plans to "small group it" for freshman year, then go back to public school for sophomore year MIGHT just be in trouble when he can't PROVE he took freshman math/never took a state exam at the end of the course. We don't have any type of "test-in" for our courses.

The educational gap between the haves and the have nots in education is getting wider and wider. It's heartbreaking to watch.

It's true that having money buys options, and that's very evident right now.
I grew up a poor kid, and from a young age I saw that an education was my ticket to a middle class life, so -- yes -- I agree that this is very sad. However, if it's only a year, it's a blip on the kids' radar.

 

[quandrea]

Does the US not have independent, online learning that is paid for by the state? I homeschool my younger kids. Older dd was homeschooled until grade nine, when I sent her to HS just because I figured it was an easier way to get the transcript done. We however have an independent learning centre here in Canada that is 100% online and 100% funded. If I don’t like the back to school options offered by our school board, all I need to do is initiate homeschool paperwork and she can finish Hs as a homeschooler, fully funded by the ILC. I feel very grateful. No transcript worries. ILC is considered an Ontario high school.

In fact, this whole Covid business, coupled with my older DD’s experience at regular high school, made me decide that my younger twins will just homeschool until grade 12 with the ILC. High school has been pretty much a waste of time for older dd. Her online classes have been far superior and she can work at her own pace. The in class courses have been frustrating.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Does the US not have independent, online learning that is paid for by the state? I homeschool my younger kids. Older dd was homeschooled until grade nine, when I sent her to HS just because I figured it was an easier way to get the transcript done. We however have an independent learning centre here in Canada that is 100% online and 100% funded. If I don’t like the back to school options offered by our school board, all I need to do is initiate homeschool paperwork and she can finish Hs as a homeschooler, fully funded by the ILC. I feel very grateful. No transcript worries. ILC is considered an Ontario high school.

No, virtual learning is not a common thing in the US.

 

[quandrea]

No, virtual learning is not a common thing in the US.

That’s too bad. I feel very fortunate that we have the ILC then. I know homeschooling in the US is far more widespread than Canada, but I guess parents cobble together their own programmes. I like that my kids get the true provincial curriculum and a transcript. Makes university applications a snap.

Homeschooling here in Canada is so rare that my three kids at one time made up fifty percent of the homeschooled children in our district.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It's interesting to read about younger children and spread likelihood because in my state the Board of Education finally came up with their document, It's more than 1,000 pages long.

It it came this with respects to masks suggestions: "Masks for students pre-K (through) sixth grade are not recommended to be required, primarily because the positions that were involved in the report felt like it would do more harm than good. Students that age are going to be distracted by their mask. The board recommends that students in seventh grade and older wear a mask."

Our governor did push back the start date of school from typically mid-August to now after Labor Day presently.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

It's interesting to read about younger children and spread likelihood because in my state the Board of Education finally came up with their document, It's more than 1,000 pages long.

It it came this with respects to masks suggestions: "Masks for students pre-K (through) sixth grade are not recommended to be required, primarily because the positions that were involved in the report felt like it would do more harm than good. Students that age are going to be distracted by their mask. The board recommends that students in seventh grade and older wear a mask."

Our governor did push back the start date of school from typically mid-August to now after Labor Day presently.

The line for transmission seems to be about fourth grade. Before it, not so much. After it, as much as any adult.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Does the US not have independent, online learning that is paid for by the state? I homeschool my younger kids. Older dd was homeschooled until grade nine, when I sent her to HS just because I figured it was an easier way to get the transcript done. We however have an independent learning centre here in Canada that is 100% online and 100% funded. If I don’t like the back to school options offered by our school board, all I need to do is initiate homeschool paperwork and she can finish Hs as a homeschooler, fully funded by the ILC. I feel very grateful. No transcript worries. ILC is considered an Ontario high school.

In fact, this whole Covid business, coupled with my older DD’s experience at regular high school, made me decide that my younger twins will just homeschool until grade 12 with the ILC. High school has been pretty much a waste of time for older dd. Her online classes have been far superior and she can work at her own pace. The in class courses have been frustrating.

There's different levels available. With that comes different financial commitments.

Rules vary between the states. For instance if you home school your child in my state it's considered a Private School. If you connect with a qualifying school already in existence then it can be considered Public Schooling. There's online/virtual educational institutions which is more similar to what happened this past spring where learning happened for some online tutorials, online video chats with teachers, etc. All come with different pros and cons and financial impacts. Tuition requirements are typically connected to Private Schools vs Public Schools but many online/virtual educational institutions you'll pay out of pocket for supplies and whatnot.

In a nutshell it really varies.

 

[TJA]

Thing is, within any school and certainly within any county/school system, some classes are large while other classes are small. So schools can't make a decision based upon a handful of senior classes that happen to be small.

Very true! I only mentioned Seniors because that happens to be what my kids are , but we are a small district with generally small classes. When my kids were younger, classes used to be larger (15-20-ish kids) because there weren't as many "specialized" classes, so I can see how it will be difficult for lower grades to work on social distancing. Once my kids hit Grade 11, though, the class options are endless so that naturally spreads kids out into smaller classes (plus, our school has a BOCES program which takes a bulk of kids out of our school each day). From our latest zoom meeting, it appears that our school is headed in the direction of separate decisions for each level of school. That would put grades 11 and 12 together because they share a large "wing" in our school. It sounds like a solid plan and I know they're trying very hard to make this work. The teachers have their own facebook "sharing ideas" page and they are very enthusiastic about returning! Many have already converted their classrooms to cater to the anticipated strong changes required by New York State.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

No.

We are being given the open for full virtual learning, regardless of whether the schools open. We're taking it. We know that we're lucky to be in positions where we can both work (at least part time) from home and school DD.

 

[ScubaCat]

My answer is YES, whatever gets him out of the house. Can't stay home forever!