This week on the Spawned with Kristen + Liz Parenting Podcast, we knew there was only one topic we could possibly cover: Sending our kids back to school As in, should we send our kids back to school? When should we send our kids back to school? Ack!
It seems to be all any parent is talking about, online, offline, in community groups, and over Zoom cocktails.
To cut to the chase: 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 14 considerations you should take into your decision-making process. These are all based on the conversations we’re hearing from a wide variety of parents right now.
Of course the first step is to assess all our options (in-school learning, distance learning, hybrid learning, homeschooling, educational pods…) but the next step is to asking ourselves some tough questions — including a bunch that you may not have considered just yet. Breaking it down this way really makes it easier, and we think will help make things clearer.
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 today — or just want confirmation that your current decision is the right one (for right now) — we hope you’ll take a listen to our discussion 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)
The Covid pandemic is screwing working moms. Big time (Ep 213)
What we can do to support our teens through a school year like no other. (Ep 216)
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 Week
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 affiliate
