“I’ve always loved the first day of school better than the last day of school. Firsts are best because they are beginnings.”
Jenny Han
When I was a kid, the night before the first day of school was like Christmas for me. I was so excited to see my friends, wear my new clothes, break out my new school supplies that I would hardly be able to sleep the night before. I’d spend the nights before the first day sharpening pencil crayons, putting paper in new binders and deciding on my outfit for the first day. Then I’d inevitably sweat my ass off wearing that new outfit that was meant for fall weather but we were still experiencing summer.
While our boys have never really shared my love and excitement for school, they’d still work on getting their supplies organized and look forward to seeing their friends with the return of school. But this year feels so different.
Like all kiddos in Ontario, they’ve been home doing online learning since March. We’ve kept an eye on the COVID situation and read every email, social media post and voicemail left by the school board in order to make our decision on what to do for this school year. As my boys are in high school, in our area they don’t have the option to return to school full time. They can either do a hybrid of in school and online or opt for strictly online.
We spent lots of time talking about what option is best for them and their education. I’ve read so many negative things online about how the government is handling things, how the school boards haven’t answered all the questions that parents have and how teachers aren’t sure how to navigate this new learning model. And I’m tired of the negativity. I honestly believe that everyone involved is doing the best they can with the information they have right now. Including parents.
We made the decision (in collaboration with our boys) that they would opt for online learning. Is this an ideal scenario? No. Am I worried about the things they will miss by completing at least a portion of Grade 10 from home? Absolutely. But I keep reminding myself that these are unprecedented times. As parents, teachers, governments, we’ve never had to make decisions like this before. So basically what I’m here to say is if you’ve opted for online learning, that’s the right choice. If you’ve opted to send your kiddos back to school, that’s also the right choice. If you’ve picked one and are thinking about changing your mind, that’s ok. If you start the year one way and want to make a change after having some lived experience under your belt, that’s totally fine.
The moral of this story is to say do what works for you, your kids and your family. Change your mind if you feel like it. Be worried, stressed and concerned about your child’s education. But don’t let others judge you or make you feel like you’ve made the wrong choice. Only you know what is right in this moment and that is honestly the best we can do right now.
While the school year may look different, I find myself worrying about silly details – will this be the first year I don’t get any school pictures of my kids, will it be a challenge for them to complete the required volunteer hours given the current state of things, will their friendships change because they aren’t “seeing” people in person at school every day?
But then I realize that I can’t control a lot of that. What I can control is providing an environment at home that is conducive to online learning, encouraging the boys to take the initiative that is required to complete work from home and monitoring the situation to determine when it might be the right time to return to the classroom and interact in person with their friends and teachers.
Until that time, we will spend the nights before school getting their rooms set up with dedicated work spaces. We will sharpen pencils. We will put paper in binders. And we will buy a new outfit or 2 so they look good and feel confident on their Zoom calls.
I never thought when the kids came home in March that we’d be having this debate 6 months later, but here we are. And even though my kiddos don’t necessarily share my love for school, I think they might even be looking forward to getting back into a regular albeit different routine.
I’m looking forward to the fresh start a new school year brings and the lessons that are available to be learned beyond the physical or virtual classroom – compassion for those trying to navigate this new normal, appreciation for access to education and technology as well as kindness for those around us, including ourselves. And if our kids (and us parents, too) come out of this school year with those things, we all deserve an A+.
