Back to School during the pandemic ...a discussion thread

[mshanson3121]

My husband just found out today that there will be no cafeteria available at the college he teaches at. Nothing has been said yet about cafeterias at public schools in NB, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're shut down.

 

[hdrolfe]

My husband just found out today that there will be no cafeteria available at the college he teaches at. Nothing has been said yet about cafeterias at public schools in NB, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're shut down.

None in Ontario, but high school kids will mostly be going home at lunch time and I don't think any elementary schools have them. But also no pizza lunches, milk program, etc.

 

[hdrolfe]

I didn't realize they have updates to the Ontario plan for the online learning, they are putting numbers to the synchronous learning component (where a teacher will lead the online class)... for kiddo's grade it would be 225 of the 300 minutes of instruction!

 

[DiaryofaDisneyKid]

Hmmmm
Things parents can do to help their child prepare for school.
Here are a few.............................

1) spring laces
View attachment 518200

https://www.amazon.ca/No-Tie-Elasti...ocphy=9000821&hvtargid=pla-451164554860&psc=1
2) pack utensils if the food requires it,,schools don't supply spoons,forks,straws.

3) wash lunch and backpacks regularly,,not seasonally or yearly

4) add ski tags to coats to help little finger do up zippers

5) have child assist in lunch decisions(1/2 to 3/4 of food sent gets thrown out...really!

6) buy water bottles and test that they don't leak before sending them in a backpack.

7) buy a proper size backpack (this year is going to be important to have that extra room).

8) pop a note or two into their lunch bag occasionally,,,makes their day.

9) pack an extra snack in the backpack side pouch,,,you never know when hunger will strike

10) YES NUTELLA has nuts in it and it can cause life threatening anaphylaxis shock/death.

11) throw a napkin /paper towels in the lunch container,,yes kids will wipe their mouths after eating.

12) Puddle jumping is a favorite Fall activity,,,pack an extra pair of socks in the bottom of the bag.

13) Glass jars & bottles are a accident waiting to happen.

14) Feed them breakfast

15) support regular bedtime routines

16) Read everyday with your child.

17 turn off the phone/computer and talk with them about their day,,(what kids see is what kids do).
take time to talk about school.

18) Hold adult conversations for adults.

19) Support homework policies

20) Teach organizational skills starting with their personal belongings / bedroom.



Hugs
Mel

#12 I will have to remember for DS 7 because he is that kid. I usually remember to pack him extra socks but with all of the new things to pack this year (masks, mask extenders, extra hand sanitizer) I forgot about socks. I am also packing travel size hand cream for my younger 2 because hand sanitizer seems to really dry out their hands. #17 is my favourite thing to do!! I love meeting the kids at the bus stop after school and seeing their excitement as they run down the sidewalk eager to tell me all about their day! Even my oldest (the teenager) has a little grin on his face and starts telling me about funny things that happened at school.

 

[DiaryofaDisneyKid]

None in Ontario, but high school kids will mostly be going home at lunch time and I don't think any elementary schools have them. But also no pizza lunches, milk program, etc.

My kids don't have a cafeteria and have always eaten in their classrooms. They were disappointed about no pizza Fridays at school, so I said I would make them pizza and they can bring it on Fridays. Not the same but they were happy with the compromise.

 

[bababear_50]

Lots of changes
Unfortunately one of the main ways school councils fund themselves is Sub Day,Pizza Day,Fruit Stand, Bakery shack,etc.....
It is going to be rough coming up with some alternative ideas.

It is also going to impact some of our Spec Ed classes where we used to do a lot of cooking/baking.

I wonder if tutors in the school will happen this year.

I do know our breakfast program is in danger of being cancelled.

I usually organize a winter/Christmas food drive,,I can still organize it I think.
It's going to be a rough year for many families this year.


Hugs
Mel

 

[Debbie]

I didn't realize they have updates to the Ontario plan for the online learning, they are putting numbers to the synchronous learning component (where a teacher will lead the online class)... for kiddo's grade it would be 225 of the 300 minutes of instruction!

I can't imagine doing synchronous learning with the little ones. That's a lot of time in front of a screen. I also can't imagine trying to keep them in their seats at school. It is definitely not in their natural wheelhouse.

 

[hdrolfe]

I'll be doing pizza and subway days for kiddo, those are a few lunches he will eat any way! Lunches are hard for him. I know the council raises a lot of money this way, I guess they won't need as much for field trips since those won't be happening this year. I know they use the money for other things as well. It's unfortunate. They had to give refunds last year for the unused portions as well.

Hopefully this works for a table:

Division Grade Level of Students Daily Minimum Synchronous Learning Time Requirement*
Elementary Kindergarten 180 minutes
Grades 1 to 3 225 minutes
Grades 4 to 8 225 minutes
Secondary Grades 9 to 12 The higher of 60 minutes for each 75-minute class period** or 225 minutes per day for a full course schedule

No idea how they will do this for the kids, especially the little ones. It's hard enough in classrooms.

 

[bababear_50]

Well my board takes 1st. prize .....65 pages of info and protocols.........
Whew,,,lots to absorb.
Lots to learn.

Hugs
Mel

 

[FigmentSpark]

I can't believe our board was going to put in place 23 day 1 class Octomesters! They changed to quadmesters last night, thank goodness. How they thought teens could digest and really learn anything in 23 days that they would retain as a foundation for the next grade's class is beyond me.

 

[wdwmom3]

I can't believe our board was going to put in place 23 day 1 class Octomesters! They changed to quadmesters last night, thank goodness. How they thought teens could digest and really learn anything in 23 days that they would retain as a foundation for the next grade's class is beyond me.

That’s what happens when you do a course in summer school. So it can be done. But it’s not a great idea. And doing that 8 times in a row would be terrible.

 

[DiaryofaDisneyKid]

Lots of changes
Unfortunately one of the main ways school councils fund themselves is Sub Day,Pizza Day,Fruit Stand, Bakery shack,etc.....
It is going to be rough coming up with some alternative ideas.

It is also going to impact some of our Spec Ed classes where we used to do a lot of cooking/baking.

I wonder if tutors in the school will happen this year.

I do know our breakfast program is in danger of being cancelled.

I usually organize a winter/Christmas food drive,,I can still organize it I think.
It's going to be a rough year for many families this year.


Hugs
Mel

My oldest sons bestfriends mom is one of our schools breakfast club volunteers. I doubt they will be able to do the traditional hot breakfasts every morning in the gym but I am wondering if maybe they can hand out some sort of bagged packaged breakfast items to the kids that need them? I will have to get in touch with the school when it opens and find out if donations or gift cards for this will be accepted. I volunteered to help the kids in my youngest sons class last year with home reading. Every week I got to go to his class and listen to kids read levelled books to me. I will really miss doing that this year as I think they will be (understandably) limiting volunteers to the school.

 

[wdwmom3]

My oldest sons bestfriends mom is one of our schools breakfast club volunteers. I doubt they will be able to do the traditional hot breakfasts every morning in the gym but I am wondering if maybe they can hand out some sort of bagged packaged breakfast items to the kids that need them? I will have to get in touch with the school when it opens and find out if donations or gift cards for this will be accepted. I volunteered to help the kids in my youngest sons class last year with home reading. Every week I got to go to his class and listen to kids read levelled books to me. I will really miss doing that this year as I think they will be (understandably) limiting volunteers to the school.

My sons school had “nutrition bowls” in every classroom that was filled with different healthy foods. The kids were told they could go and grab something from it if they were running late and didn’t have breakfast, or if they were extra hungry and didn’t have enough for lunch. It helped take the stigma away from kids asking for food if they didn’t have enough. Something like that could be an idea. Maybe with those little boxes of cereal, fruit cups or things like that.

 

[Silvermist999]

I can't believe our board was going to put in place 23 day 1 class Octomesters! They changed to quadmesters last night, thank goodness. How they thought teens could digest and really learn anything in 23 days that they would retain as a foundation for the next grade's class is beyond me.

I can only hope that our board would change to quadmesters.
They decided to stick with the regular semester, meaning no opportunity to change from in person to online or vice versa until the end of January, when the semester ends. And more risk of exposure with four courses each semester.

 

[MoreTravels]

For those who are self employed or work for large national corporations, have you thought of moving away to rural towns where there are almost no cases and class sizes are much smaller? It’s a possibility to rent an apartment for one year and bring the entire family there for a safer environment? I guess some people in GTA must have thought about that. Then in one year the vaccine would be out (hopefully) so they move back to GTA?!

 

[FigmentSpark]

That’s what happens when you do a course in summer school. So it can be done. But it’s not a great idea. And doing that 8 times in a row would be terrible.

It can be done, but, as one board member said, there’s a reason most kids don’t take summer school. It’s much harder to retain. And, if the kid misses even one day due to sickness, catching up may well be impossible.

The board said they recommended it to keep the teens As safe as possible, all while saying they can’t afford to make smaller elementary school class sizes or increase the number of busses used so kids could socially distance.

 

[TammyLynn33]

Yeah im not feeling optimistic about this .. DD14 starting high school full size classes , capacity buses but in quads.so exposed to 40- 60 kids And whoever they associate with and then the bus .
Ds6 that seems Like a lot of screen time .
DS8 ASD was hoping he’d get in 3/4 split he didn’t 2:3 classes only Recommending masks but same teacher he was not a good fit with at all last year. He made such academic strides last year at home
Apparently the 3/4 teacher is less of a fit I was told. Take the known evil . I can’t be texted every day with he’s doing this or doing that or .. I wanted to beat my head off the wall last year. Do I want that stress level as a HCP in a pandemic ? But how do I monitor two littles online for 4 hours a day . I get the importance of love learning but if families have 1 laptop, or what if wanted to supplement with learning pods ? I almost would prefer taped classes at least part of that, then I could sit with one at a time ..
I don’t know about work, I currently work 8-2, I will be stepping out if my comfort bubble
And looking for an evening and weekend job I guess ..
This sucks Guys

 

[quandrea]

Well my board takes 1st. prize .....65 pages of info and protocols.........
Whew,,,lots to absorb.
Lots to learn.

Hugs
Mel

We must be the same board! Released yesterday. The online modality is offering a limited amount of courses. Glad I pulled dd from the system. She needs mostly level 12 courses. Not sure they’d have a full complement of courses to fill her timetable.

 

[quandrea]

Yeah im not feeling optimistic about this .. DD14 starting high school full size classes , capacity buses but in quads.so exposed to 40- 60 kids And whoever they associate with and then the bus .
Ds6 that seems Like a lot of screen time .
DS8 ASD was hoping he’d get in 3/4 split he didn’t 2:3 classes only Recommending masks but same teacher he was not a good fit with at all last year. He made such academic strides last year at home
Apparently the 3/4 teacher is less of a fit I was told. Take the known evil . I can’t be texted every day with he’s doing this or doing that or .. I wanted to beat my head off the wall last year. Do I want that stress level as a HCP in a pandemic ? But how do I monitor two littles online for 4 hours a day . I get the importance of love learning but if families have 1 laptop, or what if wanted to supplement with learning pods ? I almost would prefer taped classes at least part of that, then I could sit with one at a time ..
I don’t know about work, I currently work 8-2, I will be stepping out if my comfort bubble
And looking for an evening and weekend job I guess ..
This sucks Guys

You make a good point about taped classes. The synchronous learning was a deal breaker for dd. We are homeschooling for her last year. She loves online learning—has used it extensively since grade seven. The beauty of online studies is the freedom to do it where and when you want. The synchronous learning kills one of the main benefits of online studies.

 

[TammyLynn33]

You make a good point about taped classes. The synchronous learning was a deal breaker for dd. We are homeschooling for her last year. She loves online learning—has used it extensively since grade seven. The beauty of online studies is the freedom to do it where and when you want. The synchronous learning kills one of the main benefits of online studies.

I would tho zero experience but with DS8 having needs I don’t want to lose any although they can’t say what they are supports they may put in place.
gius I just don’t know I’m ready to teach two at home but being told the known evil is better than the unknown as teachers go how can I put him in class knowing he will be miserable and so will I and he will learn nothing all year..