The Official Coronavirus Discussion

[dan.schumaker]

Every grade except for Kindergarten and 1st grade are 100% virtual in my district. My kid is going into 1st grade, and we have the option to do all virtual, but we've opted for her to do in-person. It's 8:30 - 12 M-F, and the class size is about 10 kids. Small enough that they can actually maintain at least 6-foot spacing. And we've hired our next door neighbor's daughter to do afternoon support. She *just* graduated from college and can't find anything steady work-wise. Win-win, I guess.

That's not a bad situation.  The boy starts school tomorrow (1st grade), and is in a class of 8 kids.  Janey starts preschool a few weeks later and only has 10 or so kids in the class.  It will be hard to tell the preschoolers to stay distanced, so we will see how that goes.  We send the kids to a small school anyway, so the low enrollment numbers will help out making us feel better about the situation.

I don't know how long full time school will go, but if it gives my wife a few weeks break before having to home school, I think we would all benefit. 

[culturejam]

I don't know if full time school will start, but if it gives my wife a few weeks break before having to home school, I think we would all benefit.

Our situation is complicated by the fact that my wife is a high school teacher, but in a not-very-nearby district. Her school decided to go all virtual instruction, but the current (and ever-changing) plan is that the teachers themselves will livestream their lectures from the actual classroom. So she might actually have to drive there every day to stream her class, which is fucking stupid. Hopefully they change their mind, and also as backup she's applied for a medical exemption to teach from home. She's on an immuno-suppressant prescription drug, and we've been told that it will be enough to qualify.

[jimilee]

Every grade except for Kindergarten and 1st grade are 100% virtual in my district. My kid is going into 1st grade, and we have the option to do all virtual, but we've opted for her to do in-person. It's 8:30 - 12 M-F, and the class size is about 10 kids. Small enough that they can actually maintain at least 6-foot spacing. And we've hired our next door neighbor's daughter to do afternoon support. She *just* graduated from college and can't find anything steady work-wise. Win-win, I guess.

Wow, she's that old already? Daaamn where does the time go?


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[culturejam]

Wow, she's that old already? Daaamn where does the time go?

Yep. She turned 6 last week. Honestly, it's felt like 8 years already, haha. But it's speeding up, for sure.

[sjaustin]

Yep. She turned 6 last week. Honestly, it's felt like 8 years already, haha. But it's speeding up, for sure.

Becoming a parent made time speed up for me for sure. My older one is 16 now.    No telling what this lost year (God, please let it just be one year) will do to our sense of time's progression.

[gordo]

I'm a data center engineer and my boss let slip that there's a possibility I won't go back till 2022.

Hard to complain, as I'm still working.  It's making this house sale and move a bit easier.  On the plus side I'm renting a place about 2 miles from here with better internet and I'll have room to bring a reduced version of my workshop with me (much to my wife's chagrin) so there is some silent celebrating going on in my head :-)

[TheDude]

Seeing the options everyone has for school has me jealous. Elementary school district I work in is all-day in-person, mayyybe 1/7 of the kids are doing online, so its almost a packed house, only enforcing 3 feet of separation, no windows are open, teachers are allowed to give 5 minute mask breaks - because supposedly you can't get COVID without at least 15 minutes of unmasked exposure....what the... - lunch is in the cafeteria rather than the classrooms, and at recess I'm to encourage kids to all stay 6 feet away so they can take their masks off, because OF COURSE 5-11 year olds want to play with their friends with 6 feet of separation. Oh, and when I tried to get kids to put their masks on within 6 feet of each other, the principal told me "they're fine, we're outside and they're not physically touching each other." Oh, and because they're children who either cannot fully grasp the reality of the virus, or are taught incorrect info at home, chasing each other around around the playing yelling "I'm giving you coronavirus" is one of the most popular games.

Oh, and the county fair is still on over labor day weekend. Masks will be mandated, but this is rural NW Ohio, we'll see about that.

On another note, anyone have a hazmat suit for sale??

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[jimilee]

Cause you can't get it if you're out side, right.........


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[EBK]

First day of virtual school year with 3rd grader and Kindergartner. 
😬🤞


Edit:
So far, 3rd Grade is going perfectly.  Kindergarten is extremely taxing though.  My son keeps disengaging, which is expected at his developmental stage, but it means we have to 100% supervise to support him.  I need to go do my own work.

[TheDude]

First day of virtual school year with 3rd grader and Kindergartner. 
[emoji51][emoji1696]


Edit:
So far, 3rd Grade is going perfectly.  Kindergarten is extremely taxing though.  My son keeps disengaging, which is expected at his developmental stage, but it means we have to 100% supervise to support him.  I need to go do my own work.

You've got this!

The third grader will do fine so long as they didn't struggle in class. As the year goes on you may need to keep them engaged a bit, but unlikely that the difficulty of the work will get out of hand.

As for your kindergartener, yeah, keeping them on task will be the most difficult aspect. I'm not sure what their online work looks like, but from the people I've communicated with, they've found the most success in trying to combine some of their lessons with things already going on in daily life for the family. For example, they can join you and/or your spouse while making dinner, and using that as a chance to practice counting ingredients, sounding out their names, what letter they start with, etc. Keeps the kid a bit more engaged, applies what they are learning, and helps you kill two birds with one stone.

Like I said, not sure if you can find a way to make that work based on what their work looks like, but hopefully it helps!!

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[matmosphere]

After some going back and forth we decided to homeschool this year. I'm not working this year anyway, so it seemed like the safest bet. If schools would have committed to distance learning I might have gone that route, but I get why they didn't. 

I gotta say, I feel privileged to be able to do it to keep us all safe, but damn it's a lot of work. Two school aged kids. Fifth grade and third grade. On top of "class time" I'm spending a couple hours every night getting ready for everything. I don't know when I'll ever find time to play or turn on the soldering iron again.

I'm just worried what the kids would bring home with them. The college my wife and brother went has had as many cases in the last month as the surrounding area has had since March.

I think I'm just going to stay home for a few years.

[davent]

This is the first, Tuesday after Labour Day, in 56 years my wife hasn't been in a classroom, she couldn't be happier. Retired December 31, 2019, how did she know this mess was approaching.

...
I think I'm just going to stay home for a few years.

My wife went back to work when our daughter was 4 months old, i quit my job and stayed home to look after her, worked out okay.
dave

[culturejam]

So far, in-person 1st grade is going well. It's just half a day, so we've had to hire someone to engage the kid in the afternoons. I work remote full time and the wife is teaching remote (high school social studies), so we're both tied up the whole day. We consider ourselves extraordinarily lucky, all things considered.

This is the first, Tuesday after Labour Day, in 56 years my wife hasn't been in a classroom, she couldn't be happier. Retired December 31, 2019, how did she know this mess was approaching.

Now that's some good timing!

[matmosphere]

This is the first, Tuesday after Labour Day, in 56 years my wife hasn't been in a classroom, she couldn't be happier. Retired December 31, 2019, how did she know this mess was approaching.

...
I think I'm just going to stay home for a few years.

My wife went back to work when our daughter was 4 months old, i quit my job and stayed home to look after her, worked out okay.
dave

That's pretty much how it happened for me. When we had our first son I stopped working. I was still finishing school though. Went to part time and finished a few years later, right after our second was born. I stayed home another few years and started teaching, so number three went to daycare for a while.

On to different adventures and now I'm home again.

It was a good year to retire I guess, but I bet your wife still misses it.

So far, in-person 1st grade is going well. It's just half a day, so we've had to hire someone to engage the kid in the afternoons. I work remote full time and the wife is teaching remote (high school social studies), so we're both tied up the whole day. We consider ourselves extraordinarily lucky, all things considered.

This is the first, Tuesday after Labour Day, in 56 years my wife hasn't been in a classroom, she couldn't be happier. Retired December 31, 2019, how did she know this mess was approaching.

Now that's some good timing!

CJ I'm 100% with you. I think any of us who haven't lost our jobs, a loved one or gotten really sick ourself are lucky right now.

I feel like we really need to look out for each other right now, and I think a lot of that is happening. Unfortunately there's plenty of bickering too.

[davent]

It was a good year to retire I guess, but I bet your wife still misses it.

So far, in-person 1st grade is going well. It's just half a day, so we've had to hire someone to engage the kid in the afternoons. I work remote full time and the wife is teaching remote (high school social studies), so we're both tied up the whole day. We consider ourselves extraordinarily lucky, all things considered.

This is the first, Tuesday after Labour Day, in 56 years my wife hasn't been in a classroom, she couldn't be happier. Retired December 31, 2019, how did she know this mess was approaching.

Now that's some good timing!

CJ I'm 100% with you. I think any of us who haven't lost our jobs, a loved one or gotten really sick ourself are lucky right now.

I feel like we really need to look out for each other right now, and I think a lot of that is happening. Unfortunately there's plenty of bickering too.

I did my best to wring it out of her, "just a little bit?", her, "NOT At ALL!" Even being around me 24/7 hasn't stirred any second guessing in her mind, or just too stubborn to admit it...

She'd had her sights set on that date for a few years, she turned 60 in mid December and with that came a substantial bump up to maximum pension available so she hung in there. Seven years ago she had the combined numbers of age, 53, and years teaching, 32,  to retire but, a daughter doing her university undergrad (and back to university starting yesterday for another four year tour), and still enjoying the job, most of her colleagues students and the pay,  why walk away from a good thing, the pros killed the cons.

Further to watching out for one another, as someone once said, 'united we stand, divided we fall', hoping for the best.
Take care.
dave
dave