Nealey Farrell has three children in the Kingston School District. For most of fall, they attended school in person about half the time and were remote the other half. She said she can clearly see that her children, who attend first, fourth and fifth grades, perform better when they are in the school building.
“The learning situation has been worse,” said Farrell. “We don’t live in a big house, so on school days I have to set up temporary workstations. My oldest daughter mostly stays in her room. Structure is definitely lacking.”
Farrell’s observations are common. As we approach a full school year disrupted by the virus, the grind of shifting schedules and remote learning seems to be taking its toll on local students and parents. Kingston, which has been fully remote since early December, had planned to resume hybrid instruction this week, but instead opted to push that date back to January 19.
Screen time is a major concern Farrell has with remote instruction, Before the pandemic, she always placed limits on screen time, but now “they’re forced to be on them .… They are sitting in front of screens for the better part of the day, I think that’s exhausting for them.”
For each child, it’s a little bit different. Her first grader “just really isn’t into it,” and Farrell has to serve as a proctor. With her fourth grader, she has to make sure he’s staying doing his schoolwork on the computer and not watching YouTube.
“They miss school,” said Farrell. “They miss their friends and teachers and the other faculty and staff that they’ve grown close to. I think going off to school gives them a sense of independence, and they don’t have that now.”
This year is her oldest daughter’s first year in the Bailey School, and she isn’t able to experience it like they had imagined. Even the few days that she was in the building, things weren’t so “normal,” with separated desks, masks and social-distancing rules in place.
“I would like to give credit to their teachers, they are definitely doing a good job given the situation,” said Farrell. While the setting isn’t ideal, her children are still learning.
“From what I’ve seen with my own children, I do think that their teachers are presenting new material,” said Farrell. “There is definitely substance to the lessons, and they are being challenged academically most days.”
How to build confidence
Kristin Kless, mother of two twin boys who are freshmen at Kingston High School, also praised the teachers.
“It’s definitely probably not as challenging as it would be if they were in school,” said Kless. “But I see an effort in presenting new material – it’s not just a review. In the classes I have seen with my kids, the teachers have an incredible amount of patience and resilience to teach this way that I’m in awe.”
Kless is concerned the medium of remote instruction, which uses webcams, might have unforeseen impacts.
“I know with the cameras on, being 14-year-old boys, that’s their major issue – being comfortable enough to have the camera on for other people to see you,” said Kless. “It’s a difficult age to be putting a kid in that situation, which we don’t really know what kind of psychological impact it’s half on them and their self-esteem. Their self-esteem is already low – they’re 14-year-old boys who are awkward, and it’s difficult to build confidence without having a face to face relationships across the board with teachers, friends and peers.”
She said she is sad to know that her sons are missing out a number of experiences, like their first school dance, overnight trips and more.
“I look back at that time in high school and I want them to have a good experience with it,” said Kless.
The YouTube distraction
Justin Spotts has a son in seventh grade and a daughter in ninth grade. He said his son isn’t learning as well with the remote situation, and he hopes to get back in person as soon as possible – both for academic and social reasons. His daughter, on the other hand, has been perfectly fine with learning remotely, which Spotts credited to her self-starting personality.
“The grades are on par from where they were before,” said Spotts. “Although as the year goes on, I think my son is getting more and more distracted with the ability to start up a YouTube video and other things during class.”
Spotts said teachers are doing the best they can to assist parents. One continuing challenge he’s had involves using new software required for remote instruction and navigating the online interfaces where assignments are posted.
“When our kids have trouble, they come to us first,” said Spotts. “When they say they’re having trouble with Freckle – I don’t even know what that is. There are a lot of things we’ve had to learn on the fly.”
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