As a family of two working parents and three kids spanning third through seventh grades, remote learning has been overwhelming at times. It’s a whole new world with many mixed emotions each and every day. However, I don’t expect my kids or their teachers to be perfect every day when things in the world are so imperfect. During this time of change, I find confidence in the learning materials and teacher support, the continued fostering of learning, and the tight-knit community we have at TCS.
The best thing – and most important thing to me – is that my kids are engaged and feeling connected to their friends and teachers. My sixth-grader, Will, looks forward to talking to his teachers, Gabby and Suzanne. He even shows up to office hours even when he doesn’t have a question; he just enjoys the conversations. Right now, that feels especially meaningful to me as a parent and as a family in the midst of social distancing. This connectedness and level of support brings my family a sense of normalcy.
My seventh grader, Taylor, is working independently and enjoying the class discussions as well as her own group chats with her friends. She is also learning responsibility and focus as she is often tasked with helping her sister, Chandler, a third grader, with classroom lessons and questions. All three kids are being challenged with classwork and I’m especially impressed with Taylor and Will’s amount of assignments and creative learning in Middle Grades.
Daily, my kids have moments to look forward to and new things to explore in their virtual learning journey. Their teachers are providing the same care for my kids’ hearts and challenges for their minds as they would normally experience on campus. Although the classrooms look a bit different, the TCS experience is still deeply felt in our household.
Although remote learning isn’t easy, I think it’s even harder to stay connected through it all. TCS teachers are working extremely hard to keep our children connected to their academic work and to one another. As a pediatrician, I talk to many families from every different school system. I find comfort knowing that TCS is ahead of the curve and interacting more with our children than many other schools. I hope we can all find gratitude for our expert teachers, our school community, and ourselves while we navigate this style of virtual teaching and learning. Day by day, we’ll get through this together!
