For many parents, the COVID-19 pandemic has given them a bigger role in their children’s education than ever before.
Now that classes are moving online, parents are required to help facilitate and support their kids' learning, all while handling all of the other complexities of the pandemic.
Some local parents say the support the teachers and schools are offering to support them through online learning is "outstanding."
Lannie Flamond is a parent to a Kindergarten student (age five) and a Grade 2 student (age eight) who attend Sir Alexander Mackenzie School. Flamond said the amount of support teachers are giving her family is “mind blowing” and she is extremely impressed that the teachers have transitioned so smoothly to online learning in just a few short weeks.
“They're doing an amazing, outstanding job. I can't even thank them enough,” Flamond said.
The mom said when this pandemic started, she was struggling with her mental health and the teachers and school supported her through the difficult transition to online learning.
Flamond, a single mom, is working from home and is trying to move. Initially, the thought of having to support her kids through online learning was “alarming.”
She said the teachers are walking them through how to set everything up, step by step, making the transition much easier for parents.
“For them to have to focus on their own families and take care of their own kids, but they're actually taking care of all of their students, kids and their parents as well,” Flamond said. “They're going above and beyond, like completely above and beyond. They’re available to us at all times."
When the mom has questions or concerns about school, they respond quickly and remind Flamond to be kind to herself, not to push too hard, that classes aren’t meant to be stressful and it’s okay to get work done a little bit late.
“The fact that they're really focusing on a lot on our wellbeing and how we're doing as a family is reassuring."
The school lent the family two Chromebooks for the kids to use because Flamond is working from home on her computer.
The mom said that her kids wake up excited to get on their Chromebooks and see what they get to learn about each day. Flamond said she is worried that once school is done in the summer her kids won't have that daily structure and something to look forward to.
For parent Teena Hughson, the transition to working at home and facilitating her young child’s education has been difficult.
Hughson has a six-year-old in Grade 1 and a five-year-old at home. Since the pandemic started, she has had to work from home, supervise her five-year-old who does half a day of Kindergarten, and help support her six-year-old’s online learning.
Hughson said it has been “pretty difficult” to balance her work at home with supporting her kids, but she is learning to adapt.
In order to be more productive, she might get up at 5 a.m. so she can work until her kids get up around 8 a.m. The mom will catch up on emails or reports that she is working on after her kids go to bed. The kids spend every second week at their dad’s house, so Hughson will spend more hours during those days working.
But the mom said the two or three hours the kids are doing their school work gives her a bit of a break.
The mom said her kids are utilizing some apps online that decrease her level of involvement in the learning.
While Hughson said online learning has been pretty successful, she said her kids are missing out on some important in class skills.
“I don't think that this is the best case scenario. I think the kids still need their social interaction,” Hughson said.
“I truly hope this is just a stopgap measure. I certainly don't have the capacity to become a full time homeschooling family.”
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