Third Wave is Here...

[mshanson3121]

How does everyone manage with homeschooling? Is it that you all have older children? I will be despondent if they close schools again here in Quebec. My husband and I both work full time. We can't handle distance learning, unless we stop working. And my two ADHD kids can't handle 5h+ on screens, they lose focus after 30 minutes.

Some here just withdrew their kids and homeschooled them, so it wasn't dependent on screens/the public schedule - especially since online learning has bombed for the majority. The kids went to daycare during the day, or stayed home with older siblings, grandparents etc... and then the parents taught in the evenings. Others have switched to working different shifts, working from home, and some left their jobs (even just temporarily). The CERB is available to those who have to take a leave of absence to educate their children at home during the pandemic, so it hasn't been as hard that way as some might think.

 

[wdwmom3]

And therein lies the problem with closing schools.

It's not only ADHD kids that have an issue, it is an impossible learning situation with most kids. The emotional toll on kids is immense.

What happens to those kids whose parents have to leave the house to work?

Kids in Ontario are off school next week for a break anyways. I’m thinking if they close schools kids will only be online for a couple of weeks. 3 weeks would make a huge difference if people actually listen.

Parents will just have to figure it out. Sorry if that sounds harsh. But it’s reality. And I’m a parent who works at home full time so I do get how stressful it can be. If parents can’t work and watch kids at the same time they can stop working and collect CRB. Houses with 2 parents can split the time

I know it sucks but we all have to do our part.

 

[dvcdisney]

No matter what is done, there'll always be a segment of the population who will be upset. And everyone has a point. However, the purpose of the closures and restrictions are to bring down the cases and keep it down until there's a good number of people who are vaccinated.

I hear a lot of people describing the difficulty in keeping their jobs. I can imagine how difficult it must be.

But I also hear, not in the media, people who choose to go to the office or travel for business because they "feel" that it's necessary to be face to face. This, I feel, is blatant disregard for the issues. I've heard people insist that trade shows and events NEED to be face to face, even though it's been able to function virtually. There's people out there who believe businesses can't function unless they meet face to face. How does one restrict these unnecessary "meetings"? How does one convince an executive to stop travelling for business? They are, absolutely not, front line workers. They rationalize the necessity for these business meetings because they miss the social interactions with their colleagues and not because it's required for their job.

Sorry about the vent. I just hate hearing people insist the it's okay for these type of face to face meetings when there's so many people waiting to see their relatives. I think these people hiding behind "business" is appalling.

If you don't need to be physically there to do the work, why would you?

 

[Carolynleanne]

How does everyone manage with homeschooling? Is it that you all have older children? I will be despondent if they close schools again here in Quebec. My husband and I both work full time. We can't handle distance learning, unless we stop working. And my two ADHD kids can't handle 5h+ on screens, they lose focus after 30 minutes.

My kids are all under 10, so we’ve been homeschooling from the start. It’s honestly easier than that whole virtual learning thing It takes about 2-3 hours a day and it’s super chill. We love it!!! I’ve got a grade 5, grade 3, and grade 1.

 

[hdrolfe]

How does everyone manage with homeschooling? Is it that you all have older children? I will be despondent if they close schools again here in Quebec. My husband and I both work full time. We can't handle distance learning, unless we stop working. And my two ADHD kids can't handle 5h+ on screens, they lose focus after 30 minutes.

I have been blessed to be able to work from home from the start of the pandemic. We tried the online schooling at the start but it was a struggle and not worth the effort. In September my son wanted to go back to school so I sent him. He lasted 2 days. He was too worried about everything, and had some problems with the school in the past so this just made it worse. He has ADHD so did not do well with the online learning. I withdrew him from school to homeschool instead. He is 11 so able to entertain himself for the most part during the day. The thing I like about homeschooling is that it takes so much less time, because we are one on one we focus on the things he may have trouble with or that he really wants to learn. And if he's "done" with a topic, we stop and do something else. We are able to fit it in while I am working or after work, he likes to play some games online that are educational (and free) like Math Prodigy and he found this geography game he really likes. I have no idea what will happen in the fall, he asked to go back to school as he'll be moving up to grade 7 and the high school. Not sure he'll last again, it depends on what restrictions are in place then I guess.

 

[pigletto]

My daughter (who’s position with the school board has her moving schools daily) , has been in FOUR schools with Covid cases in the last five work days. And the one she’s in today has three closed classrooms with no update to the board website to even indicate there is any Covid there at all. Things are getting crazy.
Today is my teenage sons last in person day and then we will play it by ear to see when we send him back. I‘m thinking post lockdown.

 

[dvcdisney]

We have our son in school this week. But his school has been really good at making sure all the guidelines are followed and their classes aren’t crowded. Haven’t had any cases in his school.

But I do think they need to go remote.

Our school has had cases and we are informed each time. But each time they say that it's not from school, but from the community.

I'm hoping the school is following the guidelines, but I agree with you...I think it should be remote....at least for now.

 

[pigletto]

Our school has had cases and we are informed each time. But each time they say that it's not from school, but from the community.

I'm hoping the school is following the guidelines, but I agree with you...I think it should be remote....at least for now.

They are saying the same thing here. I’ve suspected for some time that our board is manipulating the numbers . It’s always one case .. sometimes two . Which seems very unusual for an illness that is spreading like this . I think once a case is detected they send the class home and if more cases are detected from that point they are listed as community cases not school cases . It’s splitting hairs and allows the schools to appear to be doing much better than they sometimes are IMO.
If what my daughter is seeing is any indication we are seeing a major surge. Up until recently I believe being in school was absolutely the right decision in our region and it’s gone relatively well for 7 months . Clearly things have changed for the worse and the variants are spreading like wildfire now .

 

[wdwmom3]

They are saying the same thing here. I’ve suspected for some time that our board is manipulating the numbers . It’s always one case .. sometimes two . Which seems very unusual for an illness that is spreading like this . I think once a case is detected they send the class home and if more cases are detected from that point they are listed as community cases not school cases . It’s splitting hairs and allows the schools to appear to be doing much better than they sometimes are IMO.
If what my daughter is seeing is any indication we are seeing a major surge. Up until recently I believe being in school was absolutely the right decision in our region and it’s gone relatively well for 7 months . Clearly things have changed for the worse and the variants are spreading like wildfire now .

They really do need to be more transparent. I know my region has been very upfront with stuff. They do add more cases after kids are sent home and if there are more then one case in the same class they declare an outbreak.

 

[DiaryofaDisneyKid]

My daughter (who’s position with the school board has her moving schools daily) , has been in FOUR schools with Covid cases in the last five work days. And the one she’s in today has three closed classrooms with no update to the board website to even indicate there is any Covid there at all. Things are getting crazy.
Today is my teenage sons last in person day and then we will play it by ear to see when we send him back. I‘m thinking post lockdown.

Niagara is behind in reporting to the boards website. My children's school had 2 cases and it took 2 or 3 days before it was posted on the website. With more community transmission we will for sure see more closed classrooms but this does not necessarily mean it is spreading in the classroom. The 2 cases at my children's school were siblings one was in my son's Grade 8 class and the other was in a kindergarten class. My son had to self isolate in his room for 14 days and we took him for a covid test on day 10 (public health recommends between days 7-10). He was negative as was the rest of his class as well as all the students in the kindergarten class. I had a nice conversation with the contact tracer who was following up and she was from Ottawa. There are more cases in schools now but most of the time there will be only 1 or 2 students in a class and they had contact with each other outside the classroom (playdates etc.) That is why the school has not been closed down. Only when they find that there was no contact outside of the school between children in the same class who both test positive for covid that it is considered school transmission. I have seen unmasked parents grouped together at the park all letting there children play together unmasked. Some people seem to think if there children are in the same class at school this is okay. I do think if the new variants take hold I will be more nervous about letting my children stay in school. Our medical officer of health Dr.Hirji so far has been correct with his advice and predictions and he thinks kids should still be in school. For now I will take the advice of the medical officer and keep them in unless numbers and school closures rise to a number I am uncomfortable with.

 

[pigletto]

Niagara is behind in reporting to the boards website. My children's school had 2 cases and it took 2 or 3 days before it was posted on the website. With more community transmission we will for sure see more closed classrooms but this does not necessarily mean it is spreading in the classroom. The 2 cases at my children's school were siblings one was in my son's Grade 8 class and the other was in a kindergarten class. My son had to self isolate in his room for 14 days and we took him for a covid test on day 10 (public health recommends between days 7-10). He was negative as was the rest of his class as well as all the students in the kindergarten class. I had a nice conversation with the contact tracer who was following up and she was from Ottawa. There are more cases in schools now but most of the time there will be only 1 or 2 students in a class and they had contact with each other outside the classroom (playdates etc.) That is why the school has not been closed down. Only when they find that there was no contact outside of the school between children in the same class who both test positive for covid that it is considered school transmission. I have seen unmasked parents grouped together at the park all letting there children play together unmasked. Some people seem to think if there children are in the same class at school this is okay. I do think if the new variants take hold I will be more nervous about letting my children stay in school. Our medical officer of health Dr.Hirji so far has been correct with his advice and predictions and he thinks kids should still be in school. For now I will take the advice of the medical officer and keep them in unless numbers and school closures rise to a number I am uncomfortable with.

I‘ve been very much in agreement with your reasoning until just the last day or two. When my daughter kept going to school after school with Covid this past week it’s become apparent that the variants are spreading more rapidly. I worry for her but it’s her job and she’s very careful.
It’s not so much that I’m afraid for my son who is 17 ,as it is that he doesn’t need to learn in person, he just vastly prefers it. So we can pull him out and not contribute to the spread easily. I know that is a way harder decision for parents of younger kids. I will just feel better when the cases are trending downward and we aren’t getting such strong warnings from our public health officials.

 

[wdwmom3]

I‘ve been very much in agreement with your reasoning until just the last day or two. When my daughter kept going to school after school with Covid this past week it’s become apparent that the variants are spreading more rapidly. I worry for her but it’s her job and she’s very careful.
It’s not so much that I’m afraid for my son who is 17 ,as it is that he doesn’t need to learn in person, he just vastly prefers it. So we can pull him out and not contribute to the spread easily. I know that is a way harder decision for parents of younger kids. I will just feel better when the cases are trending downward and we aren’t getting such strong warnings from our public health officials.

I kind of agree with you. I was never concerned about sending my son to school. But i do see signs of things starting to spread. And why should we wait until there is a significant amount of spread in schools?

I think when there is high community cases it’s just too risky and they should go online.

 

[DiaryofaDisneyKid]

I‘ve been very much in agreement with your reasoning until just the last day or two. When my daughter kept going to school after school with Covid this past week it’s become apparent that the variants are spreading more rapidly. I worry for her but it’s her job and she’s very careful.
It’s not so much that I’m afraid for my son who is 17 ,as it is that he doesn’t need to learn in person, he just vastly prefers it. So we can pull him out and not contribute to the spread easily. I know that is a way harder decision for parents of younger kids. I will just feel better when the cases are trending downward and we aren’t getting such strong warnings from our public health officials.

I have a lot of respect for EA's. I volunteered at my children's school helping with home reading up until this whole thing started and EA's have a tremendously difficult job! My children are younger but all excel in school and did fine with online learning but missed learning in class with other students. I witnessed many children having breakdowns in their daily class meetings in my older 2 children's classes! The isolation seemed to be having a tremendous emotional impact on many of them and it was truly heart wrenching to hear! I am pretty sure I remember what Niagara town you live in and your daily case count is way higher then my little town. This could be why our views differ so much at the moment as we are seeing different things in our towns at this time. We have no classes closed in any of our 8 schools at the moment. (High school, public and catholic) This situation is ever evolving though and I may feel the way you do in the near future. I agree cases trending downwards will be a happy day for all of us!!!

 

[DiaryofaDisneyKid]

I kind of agree with you. I was never concerned about sending my son to school. But i do see signs of things starting to spread. And why should we wait until there is a significant amount of spread in schools?

I think when there is high community cases it’s just too risky and they should go online.

That is what I am waiting for, high community cases. My town has one of the lowest amounts of community transmission in all of Niagara. I am a worrier by nature and if I see the cases start rising a bunch I will not hesitate to pull my kids out.

 

[LauraLap]

My kids mental health has suffered a lot which makes our decision easy to send them to school. They are in high school, so they are in the "adapted" format, so they only have about 10 kids in class. They only go in for about 6 hours per week. It gives them a tiny glimpse of normalcy and I'm not taking that away. The bigger scenerio in our case is that our son works at McDonalds. He loves it, it makes it "legal" to be with friends and socializing and so far there hasn't been a case at his restaurant. Hopefully him being an essential worker means he'll get a vaccine earlier rather than later, but I'm noticing they are saying only 18+ for restaurant workers, which doesn't make sense as 16+ are approved for Pfizer and there are many 16 and 17 year old restaurant workers.

Edited to change the term "essential worker" to "restaurant worker" as to not ruffle feathers. I didn't mean his job is life or death

 

[pigletto]

My kids mental health has suffered a lot which makes our decision easy to send them to school. They are in high school, so they are in the "adapted" format, so they only have about 10 kids in class. They only go in for about 6 hours per week. It gives them a tiny glimpse of normalcy and I'm not taking that away. The bigger scenerio in our case is that our son works at McDonalds. He loves it, it makes it "legal" to be with friends and socializing and so far there hasn't been a case at his restaurant. Hopefully him being an essential worker means he'll get a vaccine earlier rather than later, but I'm noticing they are saying only 18+ for essential workers, which doesn't make sense as 16+ are approved for Pfizer and there are many 16 and 17 year old essential workers.

My son is having a lot of trouble mental health wise as well . We opted for counselling and find its helping a great deal. There’s no doubt he’s happier in school but this third wave won’t last forever . Everyone has a different approach.

I would disagree with you that a fast food part time job counts as an essential worker. While it would suck to lose it ( and my 17 year old has had his job cancelled twice now) I don’t think it’s an essential service . Personally as someone doing home daycare for hospital workers kids I would be pretty disappointed if teenagers in food service were prioritized over adults who need to support their families . It’s not my intent to be argumentative, just a different perspective.

 

[mshanson3121]

My son is having a lot of trouble mental health wise as well . We opted for counselling and find its helping a great deal. There’s no doubt he’s happier in school but this third wave won’t last forever . Everyone has a different approach.

I would disagree with you that a fast food part time job counts as an essential worker. While it would suck to lose it ( and my 17 year old has had his job cancelled twice now) I don’t think it’s an essential service . Personally as someone doing home daycare for hospital workers kids I would be pretty disappointed if teenagers in food service were prioritized over adults who need to support their families . It’s not my intent to be argumentative, just a different perspective.

100% agree. No restaurant (sit down or fast food) is essential.

 

[LauraLap]

Ha ha... well, I agree McDonalds isn't essential, but I'm not the one making the rules. Take-out restaurants have not closed down once through all of this. I agree older people should be prioritized, my only point was that if 18 year olds at McDonalds are getting vaccines, so should 17 year olds. I know he is very low risk compared to most. I hope everyone gets their vaccine that needs it.

 

[Sue M]

I’m glad one daughter is able to work from home. Has almost from the beginning. My other daughter works in a daycare in an elementary school. They’ve had several outbreaks in that school. Gov has finally mandated masks for gr 4+. I don’t know why they aren’t vaccinating school staff and daycare yet.
IMO they should have been vaccinated as essential workers.

 

[Carolynleanne]

OY VEY. BC is in rough shape... highest cases YET. EVER.