This week on the Spawned Parenting podcast we knew there was only one topic we could possibly cover: Sending our kids back to school. It seems to be all any parent is talking about, online, offline, in community groups, and over Zoom cocktails.
To cut to the chic: there’s no right answer. There’s only the answer that’s right for your family, and that may even change by the week or the day.
So we put together a list of considerations you should take into your decision-making process, based on the topics we’re hearing a wide variety of parents discuss right now.
Of course we have to start start by assessing all our options (in-school learning, distance learning, hybrid learning, homeschooling, educational pods…), but also asking some tough questions — including a bunch that you may not have considered just yet.
Yes, it feels overwhelming. But when you break it down into a series of questions like we have here, we think it will help make things a lot clearer for you. You can even write them all down and go through them as a family, which is a big help.
So parents, if you’re struggling with this right now — or just want confirmation that your current decision is the right one (for right now) — we hope you’ll take a listen right here or on Apple Podcasts or your favorite app.
If you enjoy our episodes, please leave us a nice review (we are grateful!) and be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen) so you never miss an episode.
Top photo: Element5 Digital via Unsplash
Related links from today’s episode
Listen: Should you think about homeschooling this fall? (Ep 209)
Op-Ed: Deb Perelman on the struggle of working parents
Research: The disproportionate impact of school closures by race, by Professor Osmudia James
Article: Special considerations for younger children from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine
Poll: State trust of governors across the US
Bookmark: Education Week offers the teacher and educator perspective.
Educational thought leaders to follow for perspective (and we’re open to more!):
Carol Burris (National Education Policy Center)
Valerie Strauss (Washington Post Education Writer)
Diane Ravitch (Education Historian, Former US Assistant Secretary of Education)
Randi Weingarten (President, UFT)
Keep up in your state: The Covid Tracker by Johns Hopkins University
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Our Cool Picks of the WeekÂ
Kristen – The 2020 Babysitters Club reboot on Netflix is making her family very happy. It’s a great throwback to our own childhoods, and it’s been modernized…but not too modernized.
(Plus it’s gotten Liz’s stepdaughter into reading the books! Find them on Amazon, or through Indiebound.)
Liz – For viewing a little more for the adults, a strong recommendation for The Line, written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen and presenting by New York Public Theater. Written like a play, streaming like a documentary-style movie, starring an incredible cast of actors who bring to life the early days of the Covid crisis in NYC, all taken from real interviews with first-line responders and medical professionals. It’s important and it’s riveting.  Stream on the NY Public Theater site or the Public Theater YouTube channel free for a limited time.
CMP is an rstyle affiliateÂ
