It’s the Dog Days of Summer — the last days of August are winding down as we wait for Labor Day and the start of a new school year. Under normal circumstances, Esther and I would be headed to the outlets to buy Cristian’s school clothes and wait for a list of school supplies from his teacher. This isn’t a normal year.
Back in March, schools closed, and they instructed people to work from home to flatten the curve. At first, staying at home during a Global Pandemic seemed like going underground in a dystopian novel.
At first, it seemed like a good idea. Many embraced the thought of hunkering down, binge-watching Netflix, and consuming large amounts of comfort food. If you aren’t a parent.
We didn’t have that luxury — I miss the days before we were parents. Esther and I spent the first weeks keeping Cristian engaged and entertained, hoping he didn’t regress too much. Let’s be honest, all of us, children and adults alike, were getting too much screen time in March.
Parents look to schools for a sense of security, but during those first days, there wasn’t any. As an educator myself, I knew the situation was unprecedented. There was no road map for a Pandemic. It wasn’t the school’s fault, Cristian’s school, The Gersh Academy, teaches students ranging in age from 5 through 21. Creating a new curriculum took time.
As late March became April, Cristian’s school sent us an educational app called IXL. It’s like ABC Mouse.com which already on his tablet. We figured if he was getting too much screen time — let it be productive. Cristian enjoyed playing with his new math and language arts games.
A few weeks later, the school sent us their plan for remote learning. We were less than thrilled. The schedule was overwhelming there were classes, therapy sessions, homework, and IXL assignments. Besides this, Esther is an essential worker, so keeping Cristian educated and entertained fell into my lap.
I don’t want to sound like a lazy parent, but the number of people who thought I could easily devote 12 to 14 hours a day to Cristian’s education amazed me. Teachers, administrators, and therapists were all gung-ho. I had to keep reminding them, “I HAVE A JOB, DAMN IT!”
The answer was always, “Oh yes, I understand,” after withstanding my pissed-off growl. I still wonder if they really did.
We made the most of our situation and hoped for the best. Cristian responds better from structure and routine, so we approached remote learning like a regular school day. Every morning, he dressed for school after breakfast. We allowed him to bring his transitional object, a stuffed animal, and we got him excited about going back to school.
His first remote session was OT with Miss Jess. We love Jess; she bonded with Cristian before the crisis. She truly understands him. When he saw her on the screen, he smiled and said, “Miss Jess, my favorite teacher in the whole world.”
Cristian’s schedule was full. It included a 30-minute morning meeting every day, Occupational Therapy 3 times a week, Speech Therapy, 3 times a week, and ABA therapy once a week for 30 minutes. We also paid out of pocket for a separate 30-minute OT session with a private instructor. Then there was the homework. They sent us six or seven worksheets a day.
Knowing our son, we scheduled his classes early in the day and left a 30-minute break between classes. More than once, I finished one of Cristian’s Zoom sessions at school, before jumping on one for work.
When the Spring semester ended in June, we enrolled Cristian in a six-week summer session. He does better when he’s kept occupied. Summer sessions meant fewer students, more therapy. Besides the spring schedule, he now received ABA five days a week and Physical Therapy twice a week. The memory of holding an iPad in front of my five-year-old son, while the therapist walked him through yoga poses puts a smile on my face.
Remote learning wasn’t always smooth sailing. Cristian had a few rough days along the way. There were meltdowns, and sometimes his ADHD kicked in after the fourth session of the morning. The remnants of Tropical Storm Isaias left one of Cristian’s teachers without power for a few days, cancelling a few classes, but we pushed on.
Cristian starts first grade on September 2nd in a hybrid model. Esther and I worry, but we feel the mix of live classes and social interaction could slow some regression. We do this with some trepidation; we know remote learning is not the best option, but it’s what we have at the time and we wonder how long will it be until we will conduct his entire schedule from home.
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