August 2020 web (with links)

Help with Homework
by Michael Carton Director of Education and Outreach, WQPT Quad Cities PBS
It’s been five months since
the COVID-19 pandemic turned
our lives upside down. Lately,
I’ve mostly been measuring time
in diaper changes for my twins
(1,300+) and loaves of bread our
family has eaten (80+), but I’m still
at a loss for words when it comes
to how I’m feeling about what’s
happened, and when everything
will return to ‘normal.’ I thought
we’d have a much clearer picture
by now of how fall 2020 will look,
but it seems like the future is
cloudier than ever!
My son’s 3rd grade school
year will begin this month, and as
I write this, I have no idea what it
will look like. He may attend in
person 5 days a week, or 2 days a
week supplemented with a couple
days of virtual learning. He could
learn online 5 days a week, or
spend half days in the classroom
and half days learning virtually.
On top of that uncertainty, what is
decided for the 1st quarter could
change in the 2nd quarter! And if
he does go back to the classroom,
we have to prepare for outbreaks
that could then keep him home
for weeks at a time – talk about
unpredictability!
I’m usually a pretty laidback
person and can handle not
always having a plan, but this is
really starting to stress me out!
The only thing that makes me
feel a bit better is knowing that
I’m not alone. There are millions
of parents across the country
who are anxious about what this
school year will look like. We
are all trying to figure out what’s
6 August 2020 I QC Family Focus
best for our children, and for our
families as a whole.
What’s really tough is that
there is no solution that will work
for everyone.
I’ve spoken with a number
of parents who absolutely love
their child’s school, and want
their child in the classroom, but
are considering homeschooling
because someone in their family
has a compromised immune
system. I’ve spoken with parents
who feel like their children didn’t
learn much in the spring with
online learning, and they’re
worried about how another year
of virtual learning might affect
them academically in the longterm.
I’ve spoken with yet other
parents who are concerned about
the lack of socialization their child
has had with peers since COVID
closed the schools.
While there’s no single
back to school solution that
works for every parent in this
unprecedented time, there are
resources that can help us all,
and many of them are online. The
website PBSLearningMedia.org is
a valuable resource for just about
everyone. The site was designed
for teachers, but it’s free to anyone
who wants to use it – including
parents trying to supplement their
child’s education.
From lesson plans and
interactives, to media galleries and
documents, PBS LearningMedia
provides tens of thousands of free
learning resources that can be
filtered by subject, grade level, and
learning standard. The site can
be a great resource for parents,
caregivers, grandparents who
are helping out, and of course,
teachers! I highly recommend
parents start browsing the site
now to see for themselves what
tools might be the most helpful for
their schooling situation this year.
Hopefully, you can use
PBS LearningMedia regardless of
what decision you make for your
child. And in the end, I hope for
some reassurance for all parents
(myself included!) that the school
districts are working tirelessly to
plan for a healthy and productive
school year for everyone. This will
be a unique and undoubtedly less
than ideal year, but parents aren’t
alone, and we’re fortunate to live
in a time when extra tools and
resources are just a mouse click
away.