Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall?

#61

Post by roel_v » Mon, Aug 17, 2020, 6:14 PM UTC

Haul4ss wrote: post #17

My kids will be in 9th and 7th grade. My school district is starting 100% distance learning. I did opt for hybrid when it's available. I'm setting up study areas in the house for the kids that are away from each other and me. I'm going to get comfortable headphones for their school-issued Chromebooks. The plan is instructional blocks that include webinars, basically, along with some study time with the teacher availa…

"I'm going to get comfortable headphones for their school-issued Chromebooks"

Have you researched this yet? I'm having a hard time finding good headphones for children.

Re: Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall?

#62

Post by jerf » Mon, Aug 17, 2020, 6:17 PM UTC

logicme wrote: post #59

actfrench wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi:) I can answer this. I'm the founder of Modulo. Modulo can be used as a supplement or replacement for school. If families want to use it as a replacement, they need to register as homeschoolers, but we help families make sure their kids are on track academically and developmentally. feel free to be in touch if you have any questions. My email is manisha@modulo.app

This is a great idea. You probably would get more business if you didn't have workshops for 'undoing white supremacy' and 'racismo' Many of the ppl that will be homeschooling are doing so bc of the blm education being introduced in schools- it isn't just about covid. https://www.modulo.app/notmyidea

The homeschool (or now, "school addon") market is relatively competitive, compared to the public school "market". There's plenty of non-BLM curricula out there, and here I use "BLM" as a relatively narrow point, so by "non-BLM" I mean many things that are still liberal/left-wing, not as a catchall for an entire ideological "side". The choice is overwhelming, if anything.

Re: Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall?

#63

Post by michaelgrosner2 » Mon, Aug 17, 2020, 6:18 PM UTC

We have a 3 year old in NJ (suburb of NYC). His pediatrician and my wife's doc both recommend he go in-person to his preschool. So far schools are re-opening but are 3 days a week instead of 4, with staggered drop off times. We are preparing for a shutdown a few weeks in by lining up a pod of 4 other kids and a teacher.

I honestly think that our area of NJ has a good a chance of making it through in-person for the long-term due to being so slammed by it at first & the pro-social reaction from most of our neighbors.

Re: Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall?

#64

Post by jedberg » Mon, Aug 17, 2020, 6:19 PM UTC

I will start by saying I had the easiest possible situation to start with, and 100% acknowledge that privilege. My wife is a stay at home mom and I've worked from home for five years, and have an office with a door (and we have a yard). Also neither kid was in formal schooling yet in March. One was in preschool, which just shut its doors March 18th and gave us refunds, and the other is only three.

During the summer we enrolled the five year old in weekly art camp (all over Zoom). She had fun doing art and it kept her busy for a good chunk of the day. The camp was only an hour but then she'd spend a bunch of hours afterwards finish the project. She's enrolled in their after school program now which starts in a couple weeks.

She was supposed to start Kindergarten this year, but since we're in California, that's all remote over Google Meet. Right now she has a 1 hour Meet in the morning, and that's it. Starting next week there will be three meets throughout the day, once with the whole class and then two small groups with the teacher or a parent.

So far it's working out. The kinder teacher is embracing online learning and has good activities that work over Meet, and she's totally cool with younger siblings joining in (because apparently 1/2 the class has a younger sibling).

Beyond that, the kids just play with each other all day, and sometimes I take a break to play with them. My wife gets to work on her own projects but has to take frequent breaks to mediate their playtime or help them transition activities.

We have a rule in the house of no electronics when the sun is up. Sometimes we let them break the rule to play educational games, especially right now during the heat wave when they can't even go in the yard. But the rule is a good fallback when they want to use electronics: "Sorry, sun's still up!".

Also we're super lax about cleaning up toys, so I can't walk in a straight line in my house anymore. There are toys everywhere. But it's a small price to pay to avoid the daily clean up arguments!

Re: Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall?

#65

Post by dbancajas » Mon, Aug 17, 2020, 6:20 PM UTC

actfrench wrote: post #35

dbancajas wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is modulo.app the official app endorsed by school? or are you homeschooling?

Hi:) I can answer this. I'm the founder of Modulo. Modulo can be used as a supplement or replacement for school. If families want to use it as a replacement, they need to register as homeschoolers, but we help families make sure their kids are on track academically and developmentally. feel free to be in touch if you have any questions. My email is manisha@modulo.app

how much does it cost?

Re: Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall?

#66

Post by zwm » Mon, Aug 17, 2020, 6:20 PM UTC

Young couple here with a 9yo living in a 900sqft apt. Both of us were fortunate enough to scrape by with above poverty income and government sponsored medical insurance while working from home. What have worked is... (1) 60 mins walk morning and evening, (2) 3 x 180 mins outdoor activity per week, (3) 3-5 x 60 mins tech tickets to be rewarded throughout the day for responsibilities and ability to reset emotions after an outburst; first ticket given in morning for just waking up on time and folding blankets, etc, (4) encourage hobbies such as coding, drawing, guitar, blender which keeps child occupied for a couple 1-2 hr and allow us to build our online business, (5) child diagnose w/ ocd, adhd, and likely mild autism, so we are always on our toes but the strict yet flexible schedule allow us to work with our child's personality, (6) sunday kid day! I think what helps the most is my child can combine hobby time + tech ticket to give me a few hours of uninterrupted time each day. I also try not to feel like the child is neglected and as a parent, I want to spend enough quality time with my child without regret. It's an uphill battle still after 2 years of home school. The toughest part is getting time to spend with your spouse but unlike us, you might be able ease things with family support.

Re: Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall?

#67

Post by dbancajas » Mon, Aug 17, 2020, 6:21 PM UTC

logicme wrote: post #59

actfrench wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi:) I can answer this. I'm the founder of Modulo. Modulo can be used as a supplement or replacement for school. If families want to use it as a replacement, they need to register as homeschoolers, but we help families make sure their kids are on track academically and developmentally. feel free to be in touch if you have any questions. My email is manisha@modulo.app

This is a great idea. You probably would get more business if you didn't have workshops for 'undoing white supremacy' and 'racismo' Many of the ppl that will be homeschooling are doing so bc of the blm education being introduced in schools- it isn't just about covid. https://www.modulo.app/notmyidea

What is your source of "BLM education being introduced in schools"?

Re: Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall?

#68

Post by sarah2079 » Mon, Aug 17, 2020, 6:22 PM UTC

drc37 wrote: post #12

All kids are going to school, but only 4 days a week (I don't know why 1 less day reduces any risk). Masks are optional but recommended. Currently, all after school sports are still going forward as before. The district is offering an homeschooling option but limited on the number. It is already maxed out.

Some schools that are opening for in-person classes this fall don’t anticipate being able to remain open all winter, so they have kept one virtual day to make sure everyone is prepared to switch back to all-virtual when it becomes necessary.

Re: Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall?

#69

Post by bargl » Mon, Aug 17, 2020, 6:24 PM UTC

actfrench wrote: post #35

dbancajas wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is modulo.app the official app endorsed by school? or are you homeschooling?

Hi:) I can answer this. I'm the founder of Modulo. Modulo can be used as a supplement or replacement for school. If families want to use it as a replacement, they need to register as homeschoolers, but we help families make sure their kids are on track academically and developmentally. feel free to be in touch if you have any questions. My email is manisha@modulo.app

I just wanted to say, I had a hard time googling your product. It was easier with DDG. The name made me have to dig deeper with keyword searches.

This looks like a cool service though and I'll be taking a deeper look TY.

Re: Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall?

#70

Post by emidln » Mon, Aug 17, 2020, 6:26 PM UTC

My wife is a stay at home parent and taught my daughter for the last 3 months of the school year last year. My daughter (then in the 4th grade) was attending a private school in the Chicago suburbs. The transition was decent, with her school already having a 1:1 laptop program and Google Classroom integration into her curriculum. The only change was that 4th graders didn't take their chromebooks home, but when school was abruptly closed, the laptops came with. All of her subjects had asynchronous work pages or chapter questions, asynchronous reading, asynchronous projects, and then synchronous instruction, synchronous classmate discussion/talk/project time, and synchronous project presentations. My daughter's grades improved slightly, likely from the additional focus given the lack of classroom distractions at home. My wife was available to answer immediate questions while I was working from home in most subjects, although I helped out when additional perspectives were needed to learn the material (my wife and I had very different education experiences, so our methods tend to be divergent).

This year we had the option of a similar remote program for the first semester or in-person, with the commitment lasting until the grading period is over. We're very fortunate to have one parent who can easily dedicate time during the day and a program conducive to remote learning. I can only imagine the sleepless schedules that would be involved in a less structured online program or with both parents working.

The major reason for not moving to home schooling this year is to guarantee our place at the private school for 6th/7th/8th grade without a significant donation to get back in. It is sorta unfortunate to pay extra to home school our kid, but we enjoy the community in-person when that was available. We're lucky we're in a position to be able to choose this.