EDUCATION CHALLENGE
Homeschool supports are in place, but is it enough for a consistent education plan?
Homeschooling faces test
Mark Borre can supervise his children’s online schooling because he works at Fiat Chrysler and the plant is closed due to the pandemic.
But their school, Saint-jeanbaptiste in Amherstburg, is French. Mark can’t speak French.
His wife Christine, a child and youth worker at the Regional Children’s Centre, can. But she’s working, redeployed to Hoteldieu Grace Healthcare.
Their son Xander, who is in Grade 6, calls his teacher for help. Their daughter Alivia, in Grade 3, Facetimes Christine at work, daily.
They all had to learn how to download, upload and attach documents, too.
The real challenge will be if Mark returns to work this month. Will it be safe for Christine’s parents to watch the kids? She doesn’t want to burden them with the children’s lessons, too. So she and Mark will juggle jobs, schooling, the household.
“We may encounter more struggles,” said Christine.
Leanne Pimkowski’s son Isaiah is in Grade 11 at F. J. Brennan. He’s autistic, so she and her husband Ken check whether he understands assignments, if he has questions and when the assignments are due.
Isaiah’s teacher and educational assistant are available online, but “there’s only so much you can replace with online classes,” Leanne said. “That face-to-face, that hands-on experience is really crucial. It’s kind of a struggle.”
Ken will also return to work this month. He works nights at Syncreon Automotive. Leanne, also a child and youth worker redeployed to Hotel-dieu Grace, swings between days and evenings. Isaiah relies on routine.
“That’s going to be the next hurdle,” Leanne said.
Ontario set standards for online learning during the pandemic. School boards loaned tablets and laptops to thousands of children. Parents were inundated with websites. Teachers are calling students. Some schools are making extraordinary efforts, like online morning announcements.
But it’s not the same.
Schools will remain closed until at least May 31, 11 weeks, longer than summer vacation. Even if they reopen in June, it will only be for several weeks.
Everyone faces the same challenge, people figure.
But like everything this pandemic hits, it hits the disadvantaged harder. And these are kids.
“There are going to be kids who will not catch up,” said public school trustee Cathy Cooke.
“We can’t just say now you’re in grade whatever, let’s move on,” she said. “That’s just not going to happen.
“We have to have a plan to help these kids, these families, get back on track, and it’s going to take a while.”
Ontario mandated five to 10 hours a week of online work for elementary students, depending on grade, and 1.5 to three hours per course per week for high school students, depending on whether schools are semestered. It’s a fraction of a normal school week. They won’t cover the curriculum.
So schools are focusing on the basics, the “big ideas,” said Emelda Byrne, the Catholic school board’s superintendent of student achievement. “We had to be strategic.”
“There are definitely going to be gaps,” she said.
So they’ll try to minimize the gaps.
But the real problem is the assumption that all kids have a supportive home where they can learn. Some don’t.
Some parents are educated, have lots of resources, are home and keen. Some try but are overwhelmed. Some are none of the above.
They’re working, trying to supervise online schooling for several children and managing the household. They’ve lost their jobs and are suffering anxiety. They’re in isolation because of potential exposure to the new coronavirus or have lost a loved one to the virus. They have children with special needs.
Some homes are chaos.
Kids who struggled in a classroom will struggle more now.
“Some of these kids, they just can’t do it,” said Cooke.
“I struggled in school,” she said. “I had a very hard time focusing. I could read, but I had a very hard time comprehending what I read. Studying was torture for me. I can’t imagine not going to school every day and being expected to keep up and then move on to the next grade.”
Byrne agreed: “We have to be cognizant of these factors.”
Summer learning will be offered, but it won’t be mandatory.
“I would hope students would participate,” said public school board director Erin Kelly.
Kids with keen parents will probably be enrolled. The ones who need it most? That’s the question.
What about Grade 12 students, who missed the majority of their second semester? No student will be penalized because of the pandemic, the government says. But, as Bryne said, “it’s one thing to get in (to a college or university). Do they have enough content to actually succeed?”
So, teachers are trying to keep Grade 12 students engaged until the end of June.
Publicly funded schools offer one of the biggest chances to level the playing field for disadvantaged children. They need more than just a date when schools reopen. They need a considered plan.