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Several school divisions across Saskatchewan have moved to online learning for two weeks due to the spread of Covid-19 variants across the province.
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For some parents, the change has been difficult with having to balance work on top of watching their kids while others have found it easier.
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Father of two daughters, who are in Kindergarten and Grade 1, Tyler Thorn of Moosomin, says that for the first week of online classes, he had to take time off work to watch his daughters.
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This week, however, his wife will be taking time off to watch the kids.
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鈥淚 had to skip work this week in the mornings and my wife has to work at the hospital. So she鈥檒l go to work and I stay at home with the girls through their school sessions in the morning, then I drop them off at daycare in the afternoon,鈥� Thorn said.
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鈥淢y wife took the week off so she鈥檒l be able to get them set up for school. So we do have it covered for these two weeks, but after that, I鈥檓 not sure what we鈥檙e going to do.鈥�
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While the change in schedule was difficult, Thorn says he is fortunate that he can work from home with his job.
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鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say it鈥檚 difficult for us, we鈥檙e fortunate that I can do a bit of work from home and if I am gone for a few hours in the morning the place will still run without me. We鈥檙e fortunate that way, but I know a lot of people are having a lot more difficulties than we do with their schedules.鈥澨�
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Thorn says that his daughters were excited to learn from home and adapted well to the changes.
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鈥淭he kids quite enjoyed taking classes from home on day one. I don鈥檛 know how it will affect them long term if they will still be excited or not, but I think it鈥檚 kind of a unique situation and it鈥檚 something different for them. They got to see their friends and teachers on the computer, and I think the kids get used to it quicker than we do. It鈥檚 less of a change for them.鈥�
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鈥淲e鈥檒l be okay for these couple of weeks, but it鈥檒l be a bit of a challenge for us beyond that I鈥檓 sure.鈥�
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But one thing Thorn notes as a positive to the change has been the ability to watch his daughters learn.听
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He says it is a unique opportunity to see how they interact with their teachers and classmates.
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鈥淥n a positive note from a parent鈥檚 perspective, we get the chance to watch the kids learn. We don鈥檛 get to see them in class when they鈥檙e in front of their teachers or when they鈥檙e getting lessons. We don鈥檛 get to see them interact like that. It gives us a real opportunity to do that, which I found kind of neat to watch how they are paying attention and how they are learning. We get to watch them learn, and I think that is a positive thing.
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鈥淚 also want to say that the teachers and principal we had team meetings with, I think they鈥檙e in a difficult spot but I think they鈥檝e done a wonderful job of getting things scheduled and things prepared for a shift to online learning. Kudos to them.鈥�
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Stay-at-home mom finds remote learning easy
Mother of three, April Sutter, says she is fortunate that is a stay-at-home mom and that she is able to keep an eye on her daughters, aged 13, 11, and six.
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Sutter says that if this change to online learning came later during seeding season, then there would be scheduling issues.
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鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had to change a lot. We would be one of the families that probably have had an easier time with it because I鈥檓 a stay-at-home mom aside from farming. So this time of year I am home to help them. We haven鈥檛 had to make a whole lot of sacrifices, but that might change in a couple of weeks when we鈥檙e seeding,鈥� Sutter said.
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She says that her children had adapted well to the change to online learning, however, some are itching to get back to class.
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鈥淭hey鈥檝e done well with it so far. I think it鈥檚 a mix though, some of my kids would rather be in school with their friends and some of them would be happy to be home more. So it really just depends on the kid within my own house, some are happy with it and some aren鈥檛.
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Sutter notes that one issue they have run into is rural internet, a common complaint that has been voiced across Saskatchewan since COVID-19 began impacting classes.
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She says that in her house, which is located outside of town, their internet is not enough to support three devices streaming classes at the same time.
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鈥淚nternet is probably our biggest struggle here, we just don鈥檛 have the speed of the internet to support three kids being on at the same time.鈥�
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While Sutter says she considered moving to homeschooling during the start of the pandemic, but now she is hoping her kids can return to class sooner rather than later.
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鈥淚 want to get my kids back in class. I did actually consider homeschooling in the fall only because of the uncertainty, I didn鈥檛 want them in and out of school all the time but I think they need their friends.
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鈥淲e鈥檝e done great. Our kids have been in school full-time up until now so it鈥檚 been great. Hopefully, this is just two weeks and hopefully, it doesn鈥檛 become a problem. I don鈥檛 want it to hold out for any longer than that.鈥�
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Some parents have been fortunate through the shift to online learning following Easter break with independent students.
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Jensen thankful that her daughter is independent and self-motivated
Michelle Jensen, whose daughter is in Grade 8, says that she is lucky her daughter is able take care of herself for the most part.
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She says that she understands the struggles that other parents might be facing.
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鈥淚鈥檓 very fortunate because I only have one child that鈥檚 a student, so she鈥檚 very self-motivated. So for me, I have it very easy and I鈥檓 really thankful that I am in the position that I am in right now and that I don鈥檛 have younger kids because I feel that it would be extremely hard to try and work,鈥� Jensen said.
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鈥淔or a lot of parents it鈥檚 a dual-income household, so to do this at-home schooling on top of trying to find childcare now for younger kids is stressful. But for me, it鈥檚 fairly easy.鈥�
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Jensen says she is able to go to work while her daughter remains at home to do her classes, something Jensen says she would not have been able to do if this happened years earlier.
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鈥淚f this was six or seven years ago I would have been panicking as well. But right now I鈥檓 just lucky that this has hit at the right time for me.鈥�
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But it鈥檚 not just the parents who have to pull their weight and adapt to the changes of online learning. Jensen says she is thankful that her daughter is self-motivated, as it makes it easier for her to be independent.
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鈥淲e have a computer, we have internet so we鈥檙e good there. My daughter is very self-motivated, she鈥檚 a smart kid and she doesn鈥檛 struggle in her subjects, so for her, she just goes in and does the work and that鈥檚 that. I just need to make sure as I鈥檓 leaving for work that she鈥檚 up for school and her computer is working,鈥� said Jensen.
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鈥淲e have a computer, we have internet so we鈥檙e good there. My daughter is very self-motivated, she鈥檚 a smart kid and she doesn鈥檛 struggle in her subjects, so for her, she just goes in and does the work and that鈥檚 that. I just need to make sure as I鈥檓 leaving for work that she鈥檚 up for school and her computer is working.鈥�
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Maryfield mother
concerned about at-home learning impacting work
The shift to online learning has been a difficult one for some parents who both work full time.
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Daphne Brady, a mother of two girls ages 10 and 14 that attend MacLeod Elementary in Moosomin, has noted difficulty organizing childcare for the two weeks of online learning.
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鈥淲e needed childcare and we had to go and buy another laptop because we have two kids. We had previously anticipated this happening so we did have this second one purchased already, thankfully, because there was not a lot of notice this time. My husband is at home working, so that helps, but we are trying to calve and he is trying to get ready for seeding so we definitely do not have a lot of extra time to be working with the kids at school. We have made the time, but we did not have the time,鈥� said Brady.
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She says that both she and her husband have had to rely on family members to help watch their daughters when they are busy.
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鈥淢y husband is able to help, but I may have to take days off work if this extends into seeding because he will have to be in the field. We have had to rely on grandma and grandpa, but now with the new regulations saying that we have to stay in our own bubble, I鈥檓 not exactly sure how we鈥檙e going to shuffle this around because we can鈥檛 have grandmas and grandpas come into the house to help.听
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鈥淚f this extends longer than the two weeks, we are seriously considering having to hire a nanny because we can鈥檛 have grandma and grandpa or aunts and uncles to step up and help out with schooling for four to five hours a day.鈥�
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While her 14-year-old child has adapted well to the move to online learning, Brady says it has been difficult for her younger 10-year-old.
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鈥淢y 14-year-old is fine because you set her up with her laptop and she logs in and she does everything, we check on her to make sure she鈥檚 not messing around and she鈥檚 actually doing her work. But our other daughter has special needs. So it鈥檚 something that requires a bit of extra time. Her teacher is amazing and is going above and beyond to make sure she has help. For example, she came on the other day after a class to help out a couple of the students in her class that she saw were struggling on the topic. She鈥檚 awesome, but I got home at lunchtime the other day and my husband was trying to help my daughter understand what they were taught that morning. It鈥檚 just a lot of extra time and effort because they can鈥檛 one-on-one with the kids.鈥�
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While Brady notes the change was easier than the shift to online learning last year, she says that there was little notice given for the change.听
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鈥淭here were a lot of issues last time we were doing online learning. We did not have good internet out here in the country and we were trying to survive on one old computer and a laptop so we were struggling with that. We tried a lot of different things, we were struggling with childcare because I was at work and it happened at a time my husband was trying to get into the field.听
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鈥淭his time was easier, we were somewhat anticipating it however we didn鈥檛 get a lot of extra notice. We were given that week of Easter to try and wrap our head around how we were going to manage things. We set up a couple of desk areas for the kids to do their schoolwork, which probably helped a bit. But it鈥檚 still a struggle to try and go with the flow.鈥�
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Brady says that before the school year started, she and her husband considered moving to home schooling but ultimately decided against it.
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鈥淏oth of our kids are very social kids and with them staying at home with both of us trying to work and farm just is not really an option. We would love to be able to home school but it鈥檚 just not an option for us.鈥�
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