Remote So Far

We are several days into a most unusual school year and everyone is chugging along.  A few observations:

* Summer seemed to take forever and yet the school year still snuck up on us in terms of getting everyone and everything ready.  In our defense, this fall has meant fulfilling school supply lists as well as the usual assortment of remote materials, like Chromebooks and headphones and desk lamps.

* I still can't fathom what remote kindergarten looks like, and to be sure in-person is vastly preferable to remote for this age group.  But it's been enriching for Asher thanks to his great teacher and the excellent support he receives at his after-school care program, which pivoted on a dime right before the school year started to offer in-school services.

* My older kids are missing the social interactions of course, but also all the other parts of school besides being in the classroom, like extra-curricular activities and school events and recess/lunch.  I've encouraged them to take more initiative in reaching out to friends both virtually and in person (safely, of course).

* Jada does not miss her long commute to Central, so that's a plus, although her dear old dad then weighs in daily to harangue her about going for walks and otherwise moving around to make up for the added sitting around time.

* An important overall takeaway for me is, paradoxically, that I both need to be more involved in actively supporting their learning and yet also use this format to push them to own their own responsibility and momentum to educate themselves.  After all, as they get older our kids need to be more self-reliant, and yet at the same time they need to know their parents are invested and plugged in too.