We had hopes that it would start again in September. It was a disappointment, because there were several school-related events that the children were eager to experience.
We had to get used to it. Over the months, Félix, who is in 5e year, has become “super autonomous,” says the mother.
“At first I watched him to make sure he got all his homework back, but after two weeks the teacher told me everything was working so he doesn’t need me as much,” his mother said. .
PHOTO PROVIDED BY LIETTE LOISELLE.
Félix, 10, decided to finish the school year as he had started: from home.
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The full-time distance school takes different forms depending on age: elementary school students are “nervous about showing their house, the cat, the dog,” notes Liette Loiselle. The cameras are activated. In the students of middle school , the equivalent of the first years of secondary school, things are different. “The interactions are very difficult. My daughter often tells me that she is the only one to open her camera ”, illustrates Mme Loiselle.
While homeschooling for such a long time has been a model that “has worked well” for her children, the mother notes that screen time has inevitably increased, with young people “still sitting watching a computer”.
But come to think of it, she is “not sure” that she would have wanted her children to experience the situation in Quebec, with the openings and closings experienced by several schools this year.
Still a lot of distance school in the United States
Seattle-area schools resumed welcoming students gradually in person in mid-February, starting with the youngest. The choice is given to parents to send their children back there or not. In the case of the Loiselle-Rondeau family, Léane has decided to return there part time (and she is “extremely happy”), while Félix prefers to finish the school year at home. In either case, the teachers film themselves live from the classroom.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY LIETTE LOISELLE.
After having done distance schooling for a year, Léane recently returned there in hybrid mode.
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“I find it reassuring to have a choice,” said Liette Loiselle. Sanitary measures are strict: compulsory mask, health form to be completed each morning, temperature measurement, places assigned to dinner.
When it comes to schools and COVID-19, there have been as many decisions made this year as there are US states … and even more, since closures and openings can change by county.
One thing is certain, there are millions of children in the United States who have been out of school for almost a year. The psychological consequences and the accumulated school delays are the subject of much discussion. There are concerns about growing inequalities: Black and Spanish-speaking students are the most affected by school delays and fewer opt for in-person instruction, the US Department of Education recently noted.
Liette Loiselle sighs when asked what she expects for the start of the school year in September. When the schools reopened this spring, “things went wrong,” she said: there was pressure from parents to reopen schools which were strong, from teachers’ unions who refused to let their members return. until they are vaccinated.
“We are all hoping for a return in person in September, but there is a long way to go. We imagine that it will be decided this summer, ”said Liette Loiselle.
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