School looks different for everyone this year, that is for certain. A pandemic will change things and everyone has different ideas on how to make it work. I have friends with kids in school all day, everyday, others are at home all day on their computers and the rest of us are somewhere in between! We have experienced a taste of it all and although we are doing great, I will not miss this school year when it's over!
We started our school year fully online (after being delayed a week when they finally made the decision), so first day of school pictures were done in bare feet, old clothes, and no backpacks-
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| 6th Grade -- Middle school |
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| 3rd Grade |
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| Kindergarten |
They were all a little confused about why I was making them take pictures on the porch when they weren't even leaving the house that day, but we didn't skip any of those first day traditions! We even made sure we had rainbow pancakes for breakfast-
We got each of them set up in a different part of the house because there would be lots of live video calls and privacy was necessary-
Everyone settled in pretty quick and even though little sister wanted in on every moment, we still survived the day-
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| Do I look super excited, or what? Online learning for Eve was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but still hard that I had to stick close while she figured the computer thing out. |
We actually got into a great rhythm with online learning everyday, and just when things started feeling good, they switched things up on us and we began the "orientation phase" to hybrid learning. This meant that 25% of the school's population would go each day (prepping for 50% of the population) for two weeks. Luckily Kindergarten students got to skip this phase and went straight into their "full hybrid" learning which means Eve goes to school Monday, Thursday, and every other Wednesday.
She rode with Cohen and Anabelle her first day of school since they boys were on a different orientation schedule...yes, I've very aware of how weird this all is. But we made it work!
My boys only got to go to school four half days over this orientation phase and were on their own to do asynchronous work the other days. This was harder than full online learning because there were no live classes or check ins because their teachers were teaching in person. They got a little bored/overwhelmed (I didn't know this could happen simultaneously before a pandemic) by the end of it, but they were also glad they were able to spend a little bit of time in school.
And yes, Thad chose to be in band for his music credit and is learning to play the trumpet this year! He is a little bummed he has to carry it around all day on his band days (no lockers cuz COVID), but other than that he loves it! He has picked it up a little faster than some of his classmates because he already knows how to read music and by the end of first week he had taught himself Mary Had a Little Lamb. Love that smart boy of ours!
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| The days of him shooting hoops while he waits for the bus are over now that he has to walk a ways to his stop, but I just think he is so cute walking with his back pack and trumpet. |
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| This boy is just the cutest! He loves being at home, but he is a social butterfly and was so excited to spend some time at school. He was a little disappointed that his half of the class during orientation only had 3 of the 11 kids on his day (they split it up by alphabet). He was done with that orientation phase when it ended! |
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| Love that thumbs up from my handsome red head! |
AAAANNNNDDDD FINALLY after two of those random orientation weeks, it was finally time to go "full hybrid" and we have thankfully stayed there ever since. My boys go every day for half the day and Eve has stuck with the half day M, TH, every other W. We all wish they could go more, but to be honest, none of us ever complain about it, not even the masks, we are all just so grateful they are able to do some in person learning. It looks totally different than any other year (especially for our middle schooler entering a new school during the pandemic), but they're there. And for now, that's all that can matter. It's kind of incredible how a pandemic can give you perspective really quick, even to 11 and 8 year olds.
We will pray we are able to maintain the hybrid schedule for the remainder of the year and will be pleasantly surprised if full day is an option at all during the 2020-2021 school year. I was sad we started school fully online, but to be honest, it was a blessing in disguise because I have no hesitations or worries about online learning because we saw it work (and work well) and will be able to transition seamlessly if the need arises.
2020 will be a year to remember! Even if we want to forget!
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