Editor’s note: This article was written by ALG member Mama Kaditou.
These have been very uncertain times, and we’ve all been thrown into a unique situation; a situation we thought would last a few months at most.
But here we are one year later. All aspects of our lives have been altered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Everything from how we interact socially to our children’s education has changed.
Online learning has been an interesting adjustment. As an employee of Denver Public Schools, I know it was an important and necessary decision for us to switch to remote learning in March of 2020.
My family has adjusted well to online learning. My 15-year-old daughter, Yari, is 100% remote and I haven’t seen a change in her grades. She actually enjoys the flexibility that comes with remote learning. With her asthma, remote learning is the safest choice for her.
I am elated that we as parents have a choice in which format of school our children attend during these times. My son Fasara who, 13, started off the year remotely, but now is hybrid. He also adjusted well to remote learning.
As a paraprofessional, I was working remotely. I saw the difficulties that some families faced first-hand. This was especially true for parents who did not speak English, or could not read it.
I work with first-graders, and focusing on their work at home was hard for some of them due to short attention spans. It wasn’t ideal but it was the best option we had.
One of the things I appreciate about online learning is that I got to see how my children were in the classroom and what kind of learners they are. I saw that my daughter Yari was a very creative individual when it came to how she studied. I also noticed that my son, Fasara, is more confident in his math class than in any other class.
This was a different view into their classroom lives, and it really has helped when giving them academic advice.
Although it was a new and sometimes rocky experience, online learning has been successful in my household. Now that most educators have had the vaccine, I am hopeful that we will all be back in person next year!
