We are finishing our 7th week of in-person school! After surviving 5 weeks of virtual school, we have been back in real in-person school for 7 weeks and counting. I thought it would be to check-in for how things are going in this new world of Covid school.
Overall, things are going really well - better than I honestly would have guessed or even hoped. The kids don't mind wearing masks at all {which I was super worried about} and everyone has settled into a pretty good routine. There have been 3 Covid cases at school, and none have been in any of our kids' classes.
Trent: Let's start with the good news first. He is having his best year ever! We have had zero hiccups this year, and that hasn't happened EVER for this kid. He had a new teacher this year, but he has settled in and has friends and is very happy every day. BUT his teacher had a family situation get worse and has had to leave the school. I was so bummed! They have a long-term sub who has been with them the past week while the school looks to hire someone new. AND one of his best friends left too. I'm hopeful these changes won't mess up what has started off so great.
Drew: She is loving everything about school! She has a little group of girlfriends and is happy to go to school every day. Her new guide seems to be really nice and a great teacher. Drew is really learning a lot, and I've seen her reading skills and math skills increase a lot already.
Paige: This little nugget is having the hardest start to school, but she is settling in. It was a rough transition to change schools after 6 months at home. She has cried almost every day at drop-off for the first few weeks, but her guide has told me the tears stop really fast. She hasn't cried for the last week but still gets anxious and wimpers and asks for lots of extra hugs. She has several friends she talks about every day {one being a little girl who she LOVES and is the little sister of one of Drew's besties}, and she's happy when I pick her up. Once we can get past our drop-off anxiety, I think we'll be in great shape!
I'm really pleased with how school is going, and while I hate the masks and plastic screens and that they can't use much of the Montessori materials, I know this will just be a blip on the radar. Some positives are the kids are getting extra recesses every day - I love that they get more fresh air, sunshine and exercise, they seem to be learning a lot despite the challenges, and they are HAPPY. What more could I ask for??
3 comments:
I love this happy update! Kids are so wonderfully resilient and it really shows, especially with the masks. I love that Montessori adds extra recess time outside! Outside makes everyone happier.
Oh, I hope Trent's teacher switch goes smoothly for him. That's such great news that so far it's been a really great year for him.
I really hope Paige's drop off anxiety gets resolved. What we all need to remember is for us as adults this has been a long period of isolation but for littler kids, it's really been a HUGE percentage of their lives. They may not even remember back before isolation. I realized that the other day and was trying to figure out how I would react if Covid isolating had been around for 20% (or more) of my life like it has been for four and five year olds.
And yes, I am very impressed with how quickly kids have adjusted to wearing masks all day. They are so resilient.
So glad things are working well this year. It was certainly an unknown for many. I hope little P starts feeling better about school!
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