How I decided between distance learning and traditional brick and mortar for my daughter.

As a teacher during COVID 19, I saw firsthand many of my collogues, family members, and friends struggling to adjust to distance learning. Many educators struggled with making their traditional content accessible for an online platform. On the other hand, parents were not only dealing with work responsibilities along with assisting in educating their children. Some parents, unfortunately, experienced job loss, which was an additional burden to deal with. The students may very well have experienced the greatest amount of trauma. They went from a very structured routine of school five times a week to the concept of school at home. They went from being social butterflies to in isolation overnight.

So here we are just a few weeks before the start of the new school year and we are faced with a difficult decision. Keep your student home for online learning or send them to the traditional brick and mortar. How does a parent make what some say is such a difficult decision?

Below are a few reasons why some parents would send their students to the traditional brick and mortar:

• Children are less like to have severe disease from infection
• Children are less like to become infected or spread the virus
• School provides essential services such as healthy meals, mental health support, and internet access

On the contrary, other parents believe the student should be at home for online learning because:

• Students can learn anywhere
• Students can continue learning while avoiding potentially “potential hot spots” such as public transportation, school buses, classrooms where social distance is not possible
• Children have fewer distractions than in the classroom

There is a lot to weigh out before making a decision. Here are five steps to help you make your decision.

Step 1-Set a deadline

• By giving yourself a deadline you can be sure that you have enough time to research both options in order to make an informed decision.

Step 2-Do some research

• Be sure to keep up with CDCs recommendations along with your local health departments COVID 19 updates. It is important to know how COVID-19 can affect you at the local and national level. 

Step 3-Discuss it with family

• Know that you and your spouse may in fact be on different sided. include your extended family in your conversations to get a different perspective. Doing so will allow you to have talking points when you are ready to make a final decision.

Step 4-Do what is best for your family

• I assure you, whatever decision you make, it will be judged. At the end of the day, you are responsible for keeping your family as safe as possible. Not everyone will agree with the decisions you make so do try and please them.

Step 5-Just do it

• Whatever you decide, just do it. Once you made up your mind, just do it. Unless there was a major change in your family dynamics or in Covid-19 itself, avoid revisiting the revisiting the decision the next day. Doing so could cause unnecessary stress or anxiety about whether or not you are making the right decision.At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong decision. Everyone has to do what will work best for their family situation.

So, either send your students to school or keep them home. Either way, rest in knowing that you have made the best decision based on the circumstances.