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

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

#131

Post by jeffrallen »

kbutler wrote: post #18

15-year-old: I miss my friends. Want to do my concurrent-enrollment advanced study classes. She's starting school, we'll see how long in-person school lasts. 12-year-old: School over the internet is awesome! Takes me a quarter of the time and I'm not just waiting for the teacher and the class. Doing an online, tech-focused, home schooling program, with in-person advanced math class and drama class.

10-year old: 2 hours of tantrums and regressing, competition with his 2 year old who can be more insupportable, then 5 minutes to finish his worksheet to get 60 mins of TV. Need these kids back in school STAT!

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

#132

Post by mrburkins »

flowerlad wrote: post #14
winphone1974 wrote: post #4

I have 2 in elementary and one in middle school. Our public schools will supposedly open physical classes with an online option as well. You need to pick and commit to one. I'm strongly in the physical camp for many reasons, most importantly the online school in the spring was garbage and a lack of socialization at this age is a very real and serious public health concern-for healthy young kids with no underlying hea…

> lack of socialization at this age is a very real and serious public health concern-for healthy young kids with no underlying health issues maybe as important as COVID itself Lack of socialization - for a few months - is as serious as a disease that's killing people by the hundreds of thousands? Even if the kids themselves are at lower risk, they can transmit the disease to parents as well as teachers, who are much…

Anecdote: my son is 3.5 and has effectively not been around other children since we left NYC in February. Prior to leaving he was beginning to have a friend group. A group of parents have tried to keep them in touch with FaceTimes etc but to this day he still asks when he can see his friends in real life. We’ve also noticed social regression - especially being afraid of people leaving, not sleeping regularly and random bouts of anger. I’ve heard from other parents who’ve experienced the same. So much happens at this age - learning how to deal with anger, learning how to deal with other kids and their feelings etc. I tend to be a more hands off parent than my wife but even I worry. I hope for the best but I worry.

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

#133

Post by burfog »

actfrench wrote: post #79
logicme wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

We are very proud of introducing diversity and inclusion into our program. It's of critical importance that we learn to think deeply about the systemic racism in our society - as students and educators. A good education is well-rounded and helps children understand history and social systems in a broad way, not limited to a certain group or perspective. Race, racial tensions and inequity are some of the biggest issue…

Focusing on race is what keeps people focusing on race. It's fundamentally divisive. Teaching children to think of everything in terms of race is the biggest factor in perpetuating racism.

I suppose there is a market for that, and you're serving it, making money as you divide society.

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

#134

Post by westondeboer »

MontagFTB wrote: post #60

Our school district is 100% distance learning for now. If you find yourself in a similar situation, here are some tips we have found helpful, especially for our 2nd grader: 1) Print out the daily/weekly schedule for the student, and put it up on the wall somewhere. This is one less tab they have to keep open and refer to constantly. Also, a second copy helps parents keep on top of the kids schedule. A color printer h…

Which headphones did you go with?

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

#135

Post by was_boring »

snowwrestler wrote: post #118
jwally wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is awesome info. Literally bookmarking this. Thanks! To your point, my kids fell in love with "Blaze and the monster machines" (a nickelodeon production that I actually like) and the 3 year old would talk about concepts from the shows for weeks after (centripetal force, reciprocating saws, stabilizer legs, metal = hard).

We took our kid to a county park where they keep some animals that were too injured to return to the wild, and give talks about them, etc. My kid was answering a lot of the questions and the presenter said "wow, you know a lot of about animals!" "That's because I watch so much TV!!" my kid said proudly. Bit of a cringe moment in front of the other parents, but then again, my kid did know all the answers... (The relev…

Don’t worry about that. One of the reasons I got really into STEM at a young age was because of educational programs. Started with Magic Schoolbus, graduated to Bill Nye and copious amounts of Discovery (90s when it tried to stay about science)

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

#136

Post by kbutler »

actfrench wrote: post #41
kbutler wrote: post #18

15-year-old: I miss my friends. Want to do my concurrent-enrollment advanced study classes. She's starting school, we'll see how long in-person school lasts. 12-year-old: School over the internet is awesome! Takes me a quarter of the time and I'm not just waiting for the teacher and the class. Doing an online, tech-focused, home schooling program, with in-person advanced math class and drama class.

That's so interesting that your kids have had such different experiences. Do you attribute it to their personality or to the way their teachers/schools are doing distance learning?

Personality, motivation to be with friend group, and availability of interesting/challenging courses.

The 12-yo had been explicitly told he "could miss two weeks and not fall behind", and the teacher tried to forbid working ahead in the math book. (The in-person math class is up a grade level plus "advanced").

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

#137

Post by actfrench »

westondeboer wrote: post #95
joe_hills wrote: post #21

Single dad here in a small apartment with a 7yo whose school went fully remote. I switched to a reduced-hours contractor status at my day job and went "full-time" on my side project so I can make my own schedule. I do the bulk of my focused work either after my kid goes to bed or before she starts school for the day. During the day when she's in class, it seems like every class period, there's at least one or two tec…

This is how I am working also. I have requested that all meetings in the future happen after 3, so the kids will be done with their schooling. Today was the first day of school and my kids are in 3rd grade. Just like you said, there was at least four times that I needed to come over and fix tech support issues. And help them figure out how to do something. I am trying to figure out which is better right now, with usi…

With regards to tech, I run a digital learning pod for kids ages 3-9 and we have a lot of families in product, hardware, software, machine learning and education in our group so we pooled together our knowledge and tried a bunch of different combinations to find what worked best for our group.

My priorities as an educator were for the kids to be able to jump up, lay down and whisper across the room. I also wanted to make sure the devices were safe (for small ears) etc. I wanted the kids to feel as much as possible like they were in the room with me. I didn't want to create an experience where kids had to sit still at their desk or strain to see or hear.

As a teacher, I prefer when kids use a mac laptop because when they screen share or use an app their image does not disappear (which gives less of an in-person feel). I like that they can open multiple windows, so for example, I can be showing them one app, while they're working independently - and I can see their face when they're trying to work independently. Otherwise it makes me feel less like I know what's going on with them.

The big downside with the chromebook is that it doesn't support a lot of amazing apps which are so great for learning, especially at a time when giving kids a fun app they can use independently is a big support to the whole family.

As much as I like a laptop, a lot of our parents prefer the ipad, however, because kids are a bit more free to move about the house. Also, it's considerably less expensive, which makes it easier for all of us to help keep access to our group equitable. We do our best to sponsor any child who can't afford our group but wants to join and we're trying to make this as scaleable as possible so we can offer it to more families everywhere.

Ultimately, this is the winning combo we went with.

Ipad (most recent version or possible)

Wide lens (so kids can move around) https://www.amazon.com/Xenvo-iPhone-Camera-Lens-Clip

Airpod pro (by far the best for sound and most comfortable) https://www.apple.com/airpods-pro

Ipad stand (so kids aren't constantly looking down) https://www.amazon.com/Gooseneck-Tablet-Mount-Holder-Bed/dp/...

Hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any more questions about our findings:)

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

#138

Post by actfrench »

snowwrestler wrote: post #118
jwally wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is awesome info. Literally bookmarking this. Thanks! To your point, my kids fell in love with "Blaze and the monster machines" (a nickelodeon production that I actually like) and the 3 year old would talk about concepts from the shows for weeks after (centripetal force, reciprocating saws, stabilizer legs, metal = hard).

We took our kid to a county park where they keep some animals that were too injured to return to the wild, and give talks about them, etc. My kid was answering a lot of the questions and the presenter said "wow, you know a lot of about animals!" "That's because I watch so much TV!!" my kid said proudly. Bit of a cringe moment in front of the other parents, but then again, my kid did know all the answers... (The relev…

My kids LOVE Wildkratts too (which is also on youtube by the way)

Recently, they've really gotten into live animal cams and zoo channels on youtube.

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

#139

Post by actfrench »

zwm wrote: post #66

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…

I think it is so admirable that you've made such sacrifices to give your child the best education they can possibly have. Have you joined any homeschool co-ops or babysitting co-ops to give you and your partner a little time together?

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

#140

Post by 0x4d0x45 »

Between us my girlfriend and I have four kids (12,9,5,5) that live with us full time.

The 12 year old is doing fully virtual/remote which was fine this spring and we expect no trouble.

The elementary schools in our state are all enforcing masks all day, no cafeteria (lunch in the classroom), avoiding all interactions with students not in your homeroom, maintain 6’, etc.

This will all add up to something untenable for our 9 year old, he’s got sensory and social issues and it’s just an impossible environment.

The virtual option this spring was also largely impossible for him due to the same issues (combined with the uninspired way the school approached it).

The upshot is that we’re homeschooling our 9,5,5 kids, the two youngest being in kindergarten this is basic stuff we’d be doing anyway, sight words and addition/subtraction.

We’re in a house in the country so when it all becomes too much being cooped up together we just throw them out in the yard and lick the doors. :-) j/k

(No seriously we sometimes actually do this for 20 minutes...)

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