Abigail is thriving in her school’s “hybrid” kindergarten program. She has a few advantages compared to her older siblings, which I mentioned before. First, kindergartners get to go to school in person 4 days per week, instead of just 2 days. Because of that, the teacher doesn’t have to teach […]
I interviewed David and Elizabeth about their thoughts on homeschooling v. the public school’s “hybrid” plan, now that they’ve experienced both. Clearly, the “hybrid” plan has its downsides. On in-person days, the COVID-19 safety protocols — wearing masks, keeping 6′ away from others, constantly washing hands — are hard. On […]
I’ll be the first to say that for most students, distance learning can’t replace a great in-person experience. Pure distance-learning is suboptimal. Sal Khan, I Started Khan Academy. We Can Still Avoid an Education Catastrophe. Sal points out 3 shortcomings of distance learning: Kids don’t get the social-emotional experiences that […]
I was raised by politically liberal Boomer parents (anti-Vietnam, “Clean for Gene,” and all that). Until his dying day, my father insisted that Jimmy Carter was the greatest U.S. president of his lifetime. My mother now drives around with an anti-Trump “Not My President” bumper sticker on her car. My […]
Today, Zachary became the first child in our family to return to school during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zachary’s first foray into a formal early learning program was when he started preschool last year, in September 2019. (He was home until just after his 3rd birthday — 4 months with a […]
My mom and step-dad — the kids call them Savta and Saba, the Hebrew words for Grandma and Grandpa — left this morning after a 5-day visit. It’s hard for children to focus on homeschooling lessons with 2 of their favorite people in the house! So last week morphed into […]
Today was supposed to be the first day of school. Instead, our local schools won’t open to students for 2+ weeks, in order to give the teachers time to prepare for “hybrid” instruction. At the same time, the school committee and teachers union still haven’t completed contract negotiations, and the […]
Yesterday, our local teachers’ union issued a press release, stating that they will only begin the 2020-2021 school year remotely — thus unequivocally rejecting the “hybrid” plan that the administration put forth to the parents, the school committee, and the state department of education. What struck me is that the […]
I am a “look before you leap” kind of person, and my “looking” often involves thorough research and color-coded spreadsheets. I believe in trying on clothes in the dressing room, test driving cars, going on campus visits, and making home purchases contingent on inspection. Choosing between 3 relative unknowns — […]
Adam’s a funny guy with a great voice. He recently got his 15 minutes of fame by writing a parody of “You’ll Be Back” from Hamilton, about schools and COVID-19. He captured the zeitgeist perfectly, and between YouTube and Facebook, more than 100,000 people have watched it! Adam’s parody was […]